Breathe new life into your Android phone with these excellent apps and utilities.
Turn your Android into the coolest smartphone on the block with these awesome apps!
Of all the great features that come with Android, I think perhaps my favorite is endless customization.
If you don't want to root the device to go deep into modifying, there's still so much you can do with just apps. For example, you can give yourself a fancy home screen.
I've gathered a small handful of my favorite home screen apps here, but nothing that requires root access. Rather, these are the sorts of apps you can install and play around with on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Come next weekend, you just might have a completely different-lookingAndroid experience.
Nova Launcher Prime is one the more feature-rich launcher apps for Android.
(Credit: Scott Webster/CNET)
In a nutshell, Nova Launcher alters the way your phone behaves when tapping the Home button. Specifically, you can define how many panels you have, the number of icons that fit on the home screen, scrolling effects, and much more.
I also appreciate the way I can sort my app drawer, hide unused titles, and organize content into tabs. Other minor touches include infinite scrolling panels, custom grouping, menu transparency, and transitions. Suffice it to say, I'm constantly backing up and restoring fun layouts all the time.Among Nova Launcher Prime's options is selecting the grid size (number of rows and columns), placing a persistent Google Search bar, and tweaking margins. I love using the launcher's revolving door effect. It looks much cooler than a simple slide. Additionally, users can opt to remove icon labels, allow for widgets to overlap, and lock the desktop in place.
A particularly fun, and easy, way to spice things up is to replace the icons representing apps and games. There are innumerable icon packs or themes that one can download to adjust the overall aesthetics. Some of the more popular ones I've encountered along the way are Tersus,Snack Pack, and MIUI 5. Again, hit up some forums or search Google Play and you'll find some rather inspiring stuff.
Nova Launcher Prime isn't the only option for those looking to customize the home screen; the free version is a great way to take advantage of most options and settings. At nearly 5 million installs, the free Nova Launcher is a popular and feature-rich home screen launcher. Others you may enjoy include Go Launcher EX, Apex Launcher, and ADW.Launcher.
Three clock widgets made easy with Ultimate Custom Widget.
(Credit: Scott Webster/CNET)
Indeed, it might feel a bit daunting the first few times you try to design your own widget with all your choices for color, transparency, shapes, and fonts. I suggest looking around for templates and already-existing widgets being shared by the community. Poke around the Google Play Store and forums for UCCW UZIP files and go from there.
One of the features I appreciate most is the ability to mimic the feel of other smartphone experiences; it's a breeze to sample the HTC Sense 5 UI or Motoblur without much effort. Once you're feeling confident, try overlapping a couple of widgets (like time and weather) for a nice layered effect.
Regardless of whether you're looking to add a full-screen weather and combination widget or a simple app shortcut, HD Widgets does it in style. Users have myriad options to choose from, including text colors, fonts, background transparency, and layout.
The developer, Cloud.tv, recently rolled out an entirely new subset of themed widgets that adds another 60 free templates to the mix. Centered around the aesthetic of Android Jelly Bean, theColourform pack features Google's Roboto font and even more ways to jazz up the home screen.
SO.HO. puts your Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram feeds on your home screen.
(Credit: INQ Mobile)
If you like the idea of a Facebook Home experience, but aren't quite ready to go all-in, you might enjoy SO.HO., a free home launcher that provides a similar effect.
In addition to displaying Facebook status updates, this app also lets users pull in Twitter and Instagram feeds on the home screen. Indeed, one can Like, tweet, comment, and check-in without having to open the app individual apps. It's a neat way of delivering your social network feeds in one place and it gets better with each iteration.
Setup is painless and you can mix and match wich social media account to pull from. Things work best, however, for those who use all three.
DashClock Widget works for Android 4.2+ smartphones and tablets.
(Credit: Roman Nurik)
Among other bits of info, DashClock Widget provides users with current local weather, missed calls and unread messages, unread Gmail and/or priority e-mails, and your next calendar appointment. What I like most about this app is that it can deliver all of this on a single panel. Rather than swiping through various screens, DashClock Widget puts it all in one, easy-to-read spot.
Also worth noting is that the app is extensible, meaning it plays nice with other apps. Developers are able to take advantage of extensions that add relevant details to the lock screen. Two such apps that I've found to be helpful are DashClock Keep Extension and DashClock Battery Extension.
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