You can use WhatsApp Messenger to send messages over WiFi or 3G to anyone else with the app installed on their phone. The software works across mobile operating systems (iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, and Nokia) so it will function with contacts who have other versions of WhatsApp Messenger installed.

The setup procedure for WhatsApp Messenger is a bit fiddly and it can take a few minutes to get it up and running. Once set up, though, it's pretty easy to use. The chat window displays the history of the conversation in linear form. Just type and hit Send to post the message.

WhatsApp Messenger gives you a number of other handy options aside from just sending text. You can attach a picture (taken from your camera or stored on your device), audio, video, contact, and even your location. There's also an option to email your chat history.

The catch with WhatsApp Messenger is that it only works if both people in the conversation have the app installed.

Overall though, WhatsApp Messenger makes for a handy way to chat for free on your Android device.

Download WhatsApp Messenger 2.9.5196 in Softonic

What can you do with Viber?

Viber works in a similar way to Skype, using VOIP to let you talk for free to other Viber users over 3G or WiFi. It also supports free text messaging, allowing you to send and receive short messages from your Viber friends.

There are plenty of features within the chat interface of Viber that help to liven up your conversations. You can send photos and videos, share your location, add emoticons, and choose from a range of fun stickers to insert into the conversation.

You can customize the background of the messaging screen, choosing a photo from your collection or taking a new one. This background isn't shared with the person you're talking to, however.

How to use Viber

Unlike Skype, you don't need to sign up to Viber to use it. You just register your phone number once, and you'll receive an SMS message with a code. Enter this code into Viber and that's it. You'll never need to sign in again.

All of your phone contacts are automatically imported into the app, and a Viber logo is displayed next to any contact who also has it installed. You can then just click on their name to call them for free - regardless of where in the world they are, or even what phone they are using. If a contact does not have Viber installed, you can still ring them through the app, although you will get charged at the cost of a regular call.

The Viber interface is very clearly laid, making it very obvious how to use the app. The program could do with some more features, though, such as conference calling and video calling.

Viber features push notifications to ensure that you don't miss messages or activity.

How does Viber perform?

The quality of calls with Viber is generally very good, and rivals Skype in this respect - although of course, quality isn't usually as crisp as a cellular call. One downside of Viber is that it doesn't give you the option to make video calls like you can with Skype.

We noticed some issues when cropping chat background images using the iOS version, which threw up some errors, but aside from this, Viber appears to be stable and reliable.

What's new in Viber 3.0?

Viber 3.0 features a redesigned user interface which looks great and really makes the app feel like an embedded part of the OS. There are also some new stickers (though the range is still pretty limited), and Viber 3.0 adds the ability to send video messages.

Another boon of the new version is its support for syncing with the desktop versions of Viber for Windows and Mac. Messages and chat history are now totally synced, and you can even transfer live calls from your phone to the desktop app.

The verdict

Aside from the fact that you can't make video calls with Viber, it's just about the perfect chat app for your mobile. It looks fantastic, makes it easy to chat with friends for free and is a lot of fun to use!

Download Viber 3.0.1.3 in Softonic

How does Firefox look on a mobile?

The browser has a resemblance to Firefox for Windows, but it has an interface suited for mobile devices. For instance, pages can be opened simultaneously in the form of tabs, which you access by tapping the number icon next to the address bar. It's an intuitive way to control multiple tabs without filling the screen.

Like the desktop version, Firefox for Android also includes support for extensions, or Add-ons as they're known in this case. These allow you to power up the Android browser with more functionality.

What makes it different from other mobile browsers?

The variety of Add-ons is great to customize Firefox. Just like the desktop version, the variety of Add-ons can improve web browsing or add social media functions.

Other useful tools that are pre-built into Firefox for Android include a slick bookmarks manager and a start page that will show the top sites you have visited. Zooming in and out of pages has improved a lot since the early alpha release of Firefox. Now you can pinch to zoom, or double-tap for a quick in/out view, making page navigation effortless.

Another neat feature of Firefox for Android is its support for Firefox Sync. This grants you access to all the bookmarks, history and running tabs of the desktop version of Firefox, so you don’t have to worry about entering addresses manually.

Improvements from the beta

Firefox has added Flash support for phones, but this official release doesn't support tablets right now. The browser is fast and meets the same performance of Chrome Beta for Android. The only problem that could occur is installing multiple Add-ons could slow the browser down.

Firefox is a very good Android browser and it makes for a comfortable way to use the web on your phone.

Download Firefox 21.0 in Softonic

Download the Google Play APK and you'll be able to get access to the app store on your device. Among the benefits of Google Play are the ability to search for apps, notifications, automatic updates, widgets and more. It also gives you access to movies, eBooks and music through Google's various services.

Google doesn't provide independently-written reviews of Android apps (for this, you should check out Softonic Moba), but it does its best to highlight the apps that are most popular, and picks out interesting new ones in its 'Featured' section.

How to install the Google Play APK your phone

1. Download the Google Play APK and move it to your mobile's SD card
2. In the phone's settings, go to Applications and check the 'Unknown Sources' option
3. Open a file manager (Astro File Manager, for example) and tap the Google Play APK file
4. That's it! Google Play is now installed on your phone or tablet

The Google Play APK file can give you access to all the great Android apps if for some reason it's corrupted or missing from your device.

Download Google Play APK (ex Android Market) 4.1.6 in Softonic

Yahoo! for Android is a news browser app that provides news and connects to the larger Yahoo! network. This release on Android coincides with an updated version on iPhone, both of which use Summly technology. The main feature of Yahoo! for Android is short news summaries.

This news feed can be personalized further by toggling on and off related topics found at the end of articles. There is also plenty of social integration such as importing your Facebook likes into favored news topics or sharing stories using Gmail. Both of these do require signing in to a Yahoo! ID, though. Lastly, you can use the app to search the web or browse for videos from YouTube and other sites.

What it does

The main feature of the mobile app is the Yahoo! News feed. The feed can include stories from sources such as Reuters, Access Hollywood, ABC, Healthy Living, and more. Each story includes the title, source, a link to read more, and a drop down menu to dislike or share (via Gmail, Facebook, or Bluetooth services). The dislike option will allow you dislike topics or remove stories from your feed. Many stories also include a summary provided by Yahoo! and a related image from the article. In some cases a stock image is provided, which can be confusing when it has nothing to do with the headline.

Tapping on the "Read more" option will take you to the full article. This often includes an image or video at the top, the news source, and when the story was posted. In the upper right-hand corner is a button to quickly share stories. By default Facebook and Gmail are options, but the app will search for other installed apps such as Google Drive or Google+. Related topics show up at the bottom of the article. If you’re using a Yahoo ID, you can either add topics as favorites or remove them from your feed.

A slight annoyance is that if you scroll too far down, you will be taken to the next related story without a way to quickly return to the previous story. Thankfully the page will snap slowly during this, allowing you to easily cancel the motion.

Customize your experience

The mobile Yahoo! app has many great options for customization. You can disable the visual story feed if you become tired of it. This will cause stories to appear in a simple list with just the headline, source, and possibly an icon sized image. If you don’t want to see every story you can select a specific section of articles ranging from business, politics, technology, and many others. The most impressive feature is personalizing your news feed. In the topics preferences menu you can change which topics you’ve already picked as “My topics” or add them to “Removed topics”. Lastly, you can sync your Facebook likes and interests which imports them into your topic lists. This feature is very convenient and will allow faster customization than having to choose individual topics.

Search and apps

Being a Yahoo! product, there is an option to search the web, naturally. You can browse websites, images, or videos from sites such as YouTube or Mevio. These searches open each page inside the Yahoo! app instead of transferring to another browser or app. Quality and load times of sites are generally fast, though it depends on your connection.

It would actually be convenient if the Yahoo! app detected other apps installed during your search and prompted switching to them. However, there is an extensive apps menu which lets you download Yahoo! related apps, such as Flickr or Yahoo! Messenger, from the Play Store and open them once installed.

Conclusion

The Yahoo! for Android app has a great set of customizable features. If you’re displeased with the visual summaries you can quickly turn them off while still retaining core information. If you really don’t care for the featured news stories, the ability to easily import Facebook likes and interests will make a truly personal news feed. Better yet, your favorite stories can easily be shared across social networks or other apps.

Despite some minor interface issues, the app offers an excellent way to check the latest news.

Download Yahoo! 1.0.1 in Softonic

Mobile security

The jury is still out on the existence of viable virus threats for mobile phones, but no matter where you stand, you're sure to find other, equally useful tools in avast! Mobile Security. The app is relatively lightweight, and easy to use. It starts working as soon as you have installed it and for basic, all round protection, it doesn't even require any additional tweaking.

Bunches of security features

To get the most out of avast! Mobile Security, of course, you need to take a look around the settings. Once in the app, you'll see just how flexible it it. The antivirus is there, of course, as is a firewall, app manager, privacy shield, call filter and anti-theft function, among others.

avast! Mobile Security is a very attractive app, with a clean interface that will make personalizing these features very easy. Simply tap on the area you are interested in, and avast! Mobile Security will show you your options. For example, you'll be able to schedule the virus scanner for automatic scans, view the apps that track your location (as well as other possible privacy invasions), enable and disable various shields and filters and more.

Anti-theft and Firewall

avast! Mobile Security's anti-theft is really something to be reckoned with. It's an app that, obviously enough, needs to be set up before your phone is stolen. Once you configure it correctly, you will, among other features, be able to geo-locate it, wipe your personal details, trigger an alarm, and enable various remote actions. avast! Mobile Security's anti-theft features are also virtually invisible to the thief, and therefore extremely difficult to get rid of.

There are two things to bear in mind when using avast! Mobile Security. For one, if you want to enable the firewall, your phone must be rooted, which not all users will want. Secondly, the anti-theft features are extensive. This is great, but will require a little effort on your part, making it by far the most complicated part of avast! Mobile Security.

Even Android virus skeptics will be amazed by the efficacy and breadth of avast! Mobile Security.

Download avast! Mobile Security 2.0.4675 in Softonic

Unlike uTorrent Remote, which downloads files via the uTorrent software on your PC, this uTorrent client for Android downloads files directly to your mobile device.

Programs like uTorrent and BitTorrent are almost the fastest methods to distribute files over the internet. Millions of users across the world use the software to download media and files, which is now also possible via mobile phones with Android.

uTorrent works in a very simple way: after installation, a smart menu appears, from where you can search for torrents and see what's being downloaded. On the left side of the screen you will find include a search button and the app's settings.

As with aTorrent uTorrent nestles in the system and connects itself with your phone's browser. Visit a web page with torrents on it and they will appear as clickable links. You can just click on a link to open the torrent in the uTorrent app right away.

Although it works well, uTorrent eats system memory on your Android device and there's the chance that files will fail when downloading them. This is not such a problem in aTorrent, though it's an alternative that's loaded with ads.

Despite a tendency to slow your phone down, uTorrent offers a very simple way to download torrents on your phone.

Download uTorrent Beta 1.15 in Softonic

With the Adobe Flash Player plug-in installed on your device, you will automatically be able to load Flash videos, animation, games and applications from the web. Android's support for Adobe Flash Player gives Google's operating system an advantage over big rival Apple, whose iOS system still doesn't support Adobe Flash.

For a more complete view of the web, install Adobe Flash Player on your Android phone.

Starting August 15, 2012, new installations of Adobe Flash Player will not be allowed. However, you can download the Flash Player APK from Softonic

Download Adobe Flash Player 11.1.115.54 in Softonic

Already supremely popular as a desktop app for Windows and Mac PCs, Spotify's mobile app was once exclusively aimed at Premium subscribers. Now it's available to everyone, which places it squarely in competition with other popular music discovery apps like Pandora.

This version of Spotify looks gorgeous and makes it easy to start enjoying Spotify on your Android device. If you login via your Facebook account, you'll also be automatically be given a free 48 hour trial of Spotify's Premium service that lacks the ads and radio commercials of the free version.

Once installed, you can listen to anything from Spotify's huge and expanding library. You can sync with playlists you have on your desktop, create new ones, or just listen to albums, or artist selections. Unfortunately, it's not possible to browse music by genre or category, which would've been a nice addition for people who don't always know what they're looking for.

Spotify's Android interface is really easy to navigate. Searching is simple, while song results are easy to browse and well organized. Any track you listen to can easily be added to playlists, which themselves are easy to edit, reorder, and shuffle. Album art looks crisp as well.

There is support for offline listening too, although obviously you can't use saved music in any other app. The Spotify app is also quite a battery drainer when you're streaming via 3G.

In addition, Spotify now also offers the ability to start a Radio station based on your favorite playlist, album, artist, or song. Much like Pandora, you can now also vote songs up or down, based on how much you enjoyed listening to it. Hopefully Spotify will learn your musical tastes over time.

Spotify really gives other music discovery apps a run for their money with its intuitive interface and impressive song library.

Download Spotify 0.6.0.17 in Softonic

Grand Theft Auto 3 is set in Liberty City, which is loosely based on New York. You star as Claude, a criminal who must work his way up the crime ladder of the city before confronting his ex-girlfriend who betrayed him during a bank heist.

The story plays out in the form of an open world action game. Grand Theft Auto 3 has elements of shoot 'em up and driving games, and the original console game was seen as a forerunner in the 3D sandbox game genre.

This is an excellent conversion of Grand Theft Auto 3 for mobile devices. The 3D graphics look just as good as they did on the PS2, there are lots of cut scenes with speech, and a diverse range of radio stations to choose from as you drive around.

The controls in Grand Theft Auto 3 are based around a series of action buttons (for shooting, sprinting, entering cars, punching, etc.) and the ability to look around you by running your finger around the screen. By default, steering is done using a left and right button, which we found a bit fiddly owing to their small size. Thankfully, the controls in Grand Theft Auto 3 are customizable and you can switch to analog - or even tilt-based steering if you like.

The graphics and scenarios in Grand Theft Auto 3 are extremely adult in places (such as the ability to pick up prostitutes and do car jackings) so parents should be aware that GTA III isn't for younger players - you must be 17 or over to download this game.

It's worth noting that the installation process of Grand Theft Auto 3 on the Android is a little clunky. The app which you download from the Market includes its own downloader which doesn't advise you if you're running out of disk space - it just crashes. We also experienced a few bugs and minor gameplay glitches, especially related to collisions when testing on an HTC Sensation.

Grand Theft Auto 3 is a great conversion of the controversial console game of 2001 on which it's based.

Download Grand Theft Auto 3 1.4 in Softonic

Dolphin Browser makes it easy to browse for sites and enjoy their content on your mobile, thanks to its excellent browsing features. Pages are opened in the form of tabs (you can have up to eight open at once). You can flick between sites effortlessly by clicking on the tabs or sliding the screen down to access the thumbnail window view, where previews of all the currently-open sites are displayed.

Other helpful browsing aids in Dolphin Browser include a bookmarks panel, which slides out from the left of the screen, giving you quick access to your favorite pages. You can easily customize the order of the bookmarks by clicking and dragging them around the list.

Dolphin Browser includes a Speed Dial for fast access to commonly visited pages. There's also a Webzine feature for reading Facebook, Twitter and news feeds in a comfortable way, through timelines with thumbnails.

Touch friendly

Dolphin Browser features full multi-touch support. You can navigate around sites with the flick of a finger, zoom in by tapping or pinching (a feature which is sorely missing in Opera Mini and Firefox Mobile.

On the subject of touch, this latest version of Dolphin Browser HD adds even more support for touch gestures. This allows you to draw a letter or a symbol on the screen to access a particular site or perform a function. For example, writing an 'f' will open Facebook; or drawing left and right arrows will move you back or forward through pages. You can even create your own custom gestures!

Getting around quickly

Handily, Dolphin Browser includes address auto-complete, which speeds up URL entry by suggesting likely matches from your bookmarks or from the web. There is no search bar to speak of in Dolphin Browser, but if you type a word into the URL bar and hit Enter you'll be taken to a Google search results page. There's even a voice search feature powered by Google, which works very well.

Dolphin Browser is very quick and it includes full support for HTML5. Unlike Skyfire, Dolphin Browser doesn't support Flash video within the browser, and instead it'll prompt you to launch a separate player.

Plug in to new features

There aren't a huge amount of advanced features built into Dolphin Browser, which may be part of the reason for its streamlined performance. However, you can beef up its capabilities by installing add-ons, which are accessible from a slide-out panel on the right of the screen. Among the downloadable extras are a password manager, YouTube search, ad blocker and Google Translate.

Given its slick performance and ease of use, we rank Dolphin Browser as the best alternative browser for Android.

Download Dolphin Browser 9.4.1 in Softonic

There are practically more browsers for Android phones than there are phone models themselves, but if you still haven’t found the one for you, check out UC Browser.

Features

UC Browser has a number of features that help it stand out. For a start, the home page has a selection of quick-access links, helpfully divided into topic areas, like Entertainment and UC's own recommendations. It goes without saying that there's also tabbed browsing, and plenty of tab management options. It's also got a nice window browse function, and a bunch of options that display clearly when your hit the Menu key.

UC Browser also has a number of features that other browsers don’t – namely a night mode and share by SMS/Whatsapp. Even so, it doesn’t have any quick features for sharing by other, more common means, like Twitter or Facebook.

Usability

Unfortunately, UC Browser’s main problem is the display - it’s plain ugly. Ok, so it’s clear and easy to read, but webpages viewed with the app look like something from 1993 – at first, we thought we had a connection problem! We also had issues displaying video while using UC Browser, but couldn’t tell from the developer’s website which video formats are supposed to be supported.

Conclusion

UC Browser is a mixed bag – strong in areas, and weak in others. We think prospective users would be better off waiting an update or two before trying.

What's new

Better Homepage: You can add more websites you like on your homepage. You can also find more interesting websites and services by using our site navigation page.
Auto Reconnection for Download: In an unreliable network environment, UC Browser will reconnect failed download tasks for you automatically.
Improved Language Display: Persian, Arabic and Korean text can be displayed normally on webpages.
Memory Optimization: Less memory usage when opening many tabs.

Installation

By pressing the Download button, you'll be taken to the Google Play Store from where you can download this app

Download UC Browser 9.0.1 in Softonic

The interesting thing when these dogs and puppies are in question is that they have come out of one of the most famous animal games in the world – Dog Dress up game. This free app has only a limited number of styled dogs, while all the rest are in the pet salon game.

If you are one of the dog lovers and you like to have animated wallpapers and backgrounds you will then most certainly love the doggies in these cartoon live wallpapers.For boys and girls,old and young...for everybodey!

Download Dog Live Wallpaper 1 in Softonic

Before you start, there are a few things to bear in mind about Swype. This is Swype beta, which means you will have to register and follow the process detailed on the website to install. It's also software that doesn’t come from the Android Market, which means you’ll have to specifically allow your phone to install it. This doesn’t mean the software is dangerous, but it does mean that you install Swype at your own risk.

Now that we have the serious stuff out of the way, we can start on the fun part. Swype has excellent help, and the 'getting started' tutorial is highly recommended, as it will show you how to add "advanced" characters like double letters, punctuation and new words.

Once you have completed the Swype tutorial, you just need to get practicing by using the app. Obviously, you use it wherever you write on your phone – emails, SMS, any apps you write in – and once you have enabled it, it will kick in automatically.

There are extensive Swype configuration options, and it’s worth taking a look so you can change languages, enable and disable advanced settings and tweak the speed/accuracy ratio.

Swype is an excellent app that manages to combine coolness and utility. Download it now!

Download Swype Trial 1.5.0.15186 in Softonic

If you can't bear to not be blogging while you're away from your computer, then why not install Wordpress on your phone?

This official Android Wordpress client brings the power of the blogging platform to the palm of your hand (well, a little bit of that power, anyway). Essentially, it's a tool for quickly adding and editing posts, checking comments and creating pages.

The Wordpress user interface is pretty easy to get around, making use of tabs to section off comments, posts and pages. Instead of just tapping an item to view it, you need to hold your finger on it for a couple of seconds, before you're presented with a pop-up Actions menu.

Editing posts in this Wordpress client is pretty straightforward, although you are very limited in what you can do. There are few formatting shortcuts, no visual/HTML differentiation, and the category selection menu doesn't seem to work at all. There is a button to add pictures stored on your phone to your posts but, bizarrely, the alignment options are found in the main system settings rather than in the Post window.

You won't find any options for editing your Wordpress account settings. In fact, there are no advanced tools or options in the app at all.

Wordpress for Android makes it pretty easy to post if you're desperate to blog while you're out and about. However, at the moment it's severely lacking in features.

Download Wordpress 2.3.1 in Softonic

Our mobile devices are more than just for making phone calls. Our digital lives and tons of personal information is stored on our phones. Lookout Mobile Security aims to secure your phone against viruses and theft.

Lookout Mobile Security comes with a robust antivirus scanning engine. Every application you install, even from the Play Store, will be scanned for potential threats. While viruses are quite rare on mobile phones, it's nice to have peace of mind, especially if you install apps from unknown sources. Lookout Mobile Security lets users opt into giving information about the scans they do on their phone to add to their Mobile Threat Network, which helps detect any anomalies and quickly updates Lookout's virus database.

Lookout Mobile Security also features backup features. It will back up your call history, contacts, and photos to their servers. If your phone ever gets destroyed or is lost, you can get back your most important data with ease. You can trigger a restore from the Lookout website.

Speaking of the website, you can locate your lost or stolen phone from the Lookout Mobile Security website. This requires a yearly subscription, which also includes a security advisor and browsing protection. From the website, you can remotely lock or wipe your phone, send it a message, or make it "scream," which is a useful feature for when you forget to take your phone off silent and can't find it.

If your phone's battery is running low, the new feature called 'Signal Flare,' can help blast off the coordinates of the phone before it dies. This is handy as Lookout Mobile Security will give you the last known position of your phone.

Lookout Mobile Security also has a feature called Lock Cam, which will take a photo using your device's front facing camera if the lock screen password has been entered incorrectly 3 times. Users will receive an email with the photo and a map of where the phone is to help make retrieval easier.

Lookout Mobile Security delivers a comprehensive package for protecting your phone against digital and physical threats.

Download Lookout Security & Antivirus 8.7 in Softonic

Hardware dependent

The minimum system requirements for 3DMark start are Android 3.1+, so Honeycomb, Ice Cream Sandwich, and Jelly Bean users are potentially able to run the two tests included in the app. The app includes two benchmarking sequences called Ice Storm and Ice Storm Extreme. They include identical benchmark simulations with Ice Storm Extreme unlocking more visual effects and additional physics tests.

3DMark's hardware requirements aren't that high with 1GB of RAM, OpenGL ES 2.0, and 300 MB of storage required. But these specifications don't really take into account older mobile devices. Testing on a Nexus 7, Nexus 4, Galaxy Nexus, and Galaxy S3, all devices except the Galaxy Nexus could run the program. The app would just crash on the Galaxy Nexus.

Another nice feature of 3DMark is that the app will pull device information so you can see the specs of your device. It's more in-depth than regular system settings because it can determine the specific CPU and GPU in your device.

The tests run an overall simulation and then focus on specific parameters like graphics and physics. At the end of the test, it assigns a score and compares it to other devices.

Single purpose

The app is designed to test mobile hardware and doesn't have other options. You can see multiple benchmark scores and also see other scores based on the device that was tested on. There are obvious issues with 3DMark on Android, just like the PC version because performance can be affected by apps are running in the background and how much of the system is being used by other services.

3DMark is a good preview into the potential of a device, but it shouldn't be taken as a concrete benchmark for any device it is used on. Developers can optimize apps for different hardware and 3DMark is designed to be an all-encompassing benchmarking tool.

Works well with new devices

The app is a large download at 300 MB just to run benchmarks. It's apparent why the app is large because of the visual quality of tests.

The problem is that 3DMark may not work on older devices and while it supports Android 3.1, tablet devices running that version of Android are already dated. 3DMark also didn't take in account older devices that were updated with Android 4.0+. The Galaxy Nexus can download and install the app, but crashes the moment it attempted to load either test included.

It may have been smarter to optimize 3DMark for Android 4.0+ and look at various devices updated to 4.0 and above. Just with the tests on newer Nexus-branded devices and the S3 show that older hardware doesn't have the power to run 3DMark effectively.

Test once and forget

3DMark is an amusing tool to benchmark new devices to see the arbitrary potential of the hardware. It doesn't really coincide with real-world performance because many of those are optimized for specific devices while 3DMark casts a net over devices that meet the minimum requirements.

There's nothing to gain or lose by downloading and installing the app, except for the temporary loss of space for the app installation.

Minimum Requirements

Minimum Requirements

• OS: Android 3.1 or later


• Memory: 1 GB (1024 MB)


• Graphics: OpenGL ES 2.0 compatible


• Storage: 300 MB

Download 3DMark 1.0.0-875 in Softonic

What does Hike do?

Hike allows you save the cost of sending SMS by exchanging free messages with anyone else who has the app installed, regardless of what smartphone platform they are using. Hike can even send SMS messages for free to someone, though this service only works in India at present.

Besides just chatting via instant messaging, you can attach images, video, audio and voice messages to your chats with Hike. There's also an option for sharing your location with the person you're chatting too. Hike includes a group chatting feature too.

Hike includes a wide selection of fun emoticons that you can add to your chats, which are grouped into three different types of character. There's something for everyone in there.

How easy is Hike to use?

The setup process for Hike is very similar to that of WhatsApp or Viber. You need to enter your phone number and you'll be sent an activation code via SMS. Enter this into the field provided and you're away.

You can easily view all your friends on Hike by tapping the contacts button. This will pull up a list of people from your phone contacts book who have Hike, as well as allowing you to invite friends who don't yet have the app.

Is Hike better than WhatsApp?

Ultimately, Hike is very similar to WhatsApp. It shares almost all of the same features, though I would say WhatsApp is a bit more polished. Although the user interface of Hike looks great, it doesn't have the customization options of WhatsApp, which allows you to change the background image of the chat window. WhatsApp has a more varied range of emoticons, too.

In our tests of Hike 1.7.1 on a Galaxy Nexus S, we had problems with the activation process, which the developer said was not working due to "high demand". Eventually we managed to register and test the app. In general it runs very well, but we experienced a couple of crashes.

Hike is a fast and easy way to chat for free with your buddies on your phone. Whether you choose Hike over WhatsApp, LINE, Viber and the rest will depend ultimately on which service most of your friends are using.

Download Hike 1.8.3 in Softonic

Working with Astro File Manager is a joy thanks to the program's clear, customizable user interface. It allows you to perform a wide variety of tasks via a sliding toolbar at the top of the screen. The main window shows you all of the folders on your system and perusing the files in these folders is made easy by the inclusion of Up, Back and Next buttons to navigate through the directories.

Astro File Manager lets you choose to view files and folders either in traditional list format, or as icons, which feels a lot more like the Windows Explorer. Files and folders can be sorted by name, date, size or type. Astro File Manager also includes a reliable search tool for quickly finding a specific file.

Among Astro File Manager's other features are its ability to open ZIP and TAR compressed files, although the app doesn't currently support RAR files, which is a bit of a shame.

Manage your apps

Astro File Manager comes with a very handy application manager and backup tool. Here you can view a list of all your installed apps, then choose to uninstall them or back them up to your SD card at the tap of a button. There's also a process manager, where you can view currently-running apps, services and process, and kill them instantly if you wish.

You'll find a wealth of preferences within Astro File Manager that make managing your files all the easier. you can customize the toolbar, set your preferred home directory, edit file extensions, enable/disable browser downloads, and clear the internal caches in your Android phone.

Astro File Manager is arguably the best file management app for Android, and it gives you a lot more control over your device.

Download Astro File Manager 4.3.467 in Softonic

Trello is an Android productivity app that will keep you connected with your colleagues. This Android version of Trello shares many of the features of its web app counterpart. With the use of lists and cards you can inform others of your work ideas and plans. Trello easily lets you update information on your Android, or communicate with people on computers and other smartphones.

Features

After creating or logging into your Trello account you will first need to select a board. You may create your own Trello board and invite others to collaborate or join a colleague’s board. Once on a board you will be able to make lists to categorize your plans, goals, and actives. Within a list you can add cards for specific tasks. Cards are the most detailed part of Trello. Here you will be able to add notes, tags, due dates, attachments, and assign members. When a card is updated the assigned members will receive notification e-mails.

You can also inform others of your Trello activity by sharing across social media and web services. By default the Android version allows sharing across gmail, Google+, and text messaging. Trello will also scan for social media apps installed on your Android and allows sharing to them. When a task card is completed it can be saved into a Trello archive. If your assignment is canceled it can also be deleted to remove clutter.

Usability

Trello on Android uses an interface similar to the web app version. You can scroll across lists with swipes, move cards by holding and dragging, and edit cards with simple taps. Within a card there are many dropdown menus to add comments, change due dates, and vote. Unique to the Android version of Trello is a separate menu to add members, attachments, and labels.

At the top of the app are quick buttons to check board activity, view members, and share your cards. If you’re new to Trello, the app also provides guides and help menus to get you started. One lacking feature on Android is that there is no convenient button to access your archive. Instead you will need to fumble through various menus.

Quality

Trello’s visual design is a mashup of the web app and Google standards. Trello on Android uses the same blue and white color scheme found on its web counterpart, along with text, borders, and menus matching Google designs. Trello does not have any obvious bugs, functionality issues, or slow downs. When a card or list is changed on Trello for Android it will also quickly update across all your devices.

Conclusion

Trello is a great means of staying connected with coworkers and collaborators. The Android version functions similar to other versions, making a smooth transition for Trello users. Even if you’re new to Trello, the app includes plenty of help to get you ready.

Download Trello 1.3.36 in Softonic