Best Android apps of 2016: 27 apps you must try [Part 2]

This is the continuation of previous post about Best Android apps of 2016: 27 apps you must try [Part 1].

Best app for watching TV and movies on Android

Hulu is an excellent app for watching movies and TV shows on Android. It's a free service that relies on ads, but there are some great shows available. You need to pay a subscription fee to access all of the content, but there is a range of excellent shows available without subscription, including classic US comedies such as Family Guy, Seinfeld and South Park.
It's currently restricted to the US, but hopefully we'll see Hulu appearing in more territories soon. 

Best camera app for Android 

Camera360 Ultimate made its way onto our best Android camera apps list because it offers so many features, including more than 200 filters, NFC photo sharing and tons of one-touch fixing tools. These adjustment options are both powerful and easy to use, making Camera360 Ultimate a great choice for new and experienced photographers. It's a comprehensive free app that ensures you get the best out of your Android camera.

Best image-editing app for Android

PhotoDirector is the whole package. It has everything you could possibly need to edit your photos. The tools range from simple text bubbles and filters, to more complex things such as HSL and curves, and they're all heavily adjustable, helping you get the best out of your photos. It's for messing around on and seeing what you end up with.
The app is developed by CyberLink, a large Taiwanese multimedia software company, so they have the money to splash on an app, and it shows. Highly recommended for novices and pros-on-the-go alike.

Best video app for Android

The default video player on your Android phone will probably 'do the job' and play most standard video formats without much fuss. But if you're playing niche formats or enjoy tinkering with the video settings to get the perfect picture, then you'll need to branch out.
VLC for Android supports a huge number of video formats and has a slew of adjustable settings to create the viewing experience you desire. You can also use hardware acceleration to take full advantage of your smartphone's processor. The gestures are simple and intuitive, and the audio player is also highly capable. Check it out.
 

Best education app

Khan Academy is a portal to a higher educational dimension, and is the place to go if you're interested in learning pretty much anything science-, math- or physics-related. The app is still pretty fresh-faced – although Khan Academy itself has been going strong for almost 10 years – but it puts more than 10,000 videos at your fingertips, covering all learning levels in an admirably approachable way.
There are also courses on art history, economics and more. It's all completely free, so we highly recommend you give it a go.

Best GPS and navigation app

HERE is Nokia's own map app, which it used on its devices once upon a time. It provides everything you'd expect, including turn-by-turn navigation, search and satellite imagery, but the main draw is its offline feature. You can download maps of entire countries and use them almost exactly as you would online, without wasting precious MBs.
This is really an indispensable app if you travel a lot or frequently find your data usage going over the limit. The only downside is that you have to register to download maps, but it's totally free, and once you've done it, you can go nuts and download the world.

Best Android file manager app

ES File Explorer has been our go-to file explorer for years. If you're having trouble tracking down documents or pictures in your internal storage or microSD card, this is the app for your.
ES just works. It offers myriad extra features, but the reason it's so widely used it because it has nailed the basic sorting of files. You can find all of your music, images, videos and more without having to dive through layers and layers of subfolders: the most common types of files are all accessible with simple shortcuts on the main screen.
The subtle animations are great, it rarely bothers you with notifications and it provides a one-touch way to clear out old and unused files to free up space. In short, ES File Explorer is the best way to keep your data organized on Android.

Best Android-exclusive app

iOS is a fierce rival to Android and offers a range of great apps and features, but it doesn't offer everything that Android does. Nova Launcher is one of our favorite Android-exclusive apps because, in many ways, it underlines what is so great about Android.
Nova is an alternative launcher compatible with Android 4.1 onward. It lets you customize the entire look and feel of your operating system, from changes to font size, to the number of apps that can appear on the lock screen, to the way in which your app drawer scrolls. Nova Launcher is a prime example of how Android can be molded to suit individual tastes and preferences, in a way that iOS cannot.
If you wish you could make a few simple changes to your current interface, then give the free version of Nova a try. Nova even lets you adopt the look of any other phone - Galaxy, Xperia, HTC, LG, even iOS if that's your thing.

Best app for musicians on Android 

Do you find yourself bobbing your head along to the rhythm of the train when you're sitting on it, or composing silent melodies in your head that you know would sound amazing if only you could record them at that moment? Then you should check out Caustic 3, the latest version of the popular mobile music-making machine. Using this powerful tool, you can use one of 14 different synthesizers, vocoders and drum machines to create that perfect sound on the move. Caustic 3 is a deep and complex app, so be prepared to put some time into, but the results are great.

Best Android app for kids

There are a whole bunch of educational apps, games and books that you can download on your Android phone or tablet, you just need to hit the 'categories' section in the Play Store and select an age group, or subcategory such as 'education'.
Once you've installed some suitable apps, we recommend downloading Kids Place. This app allows you to assign the particular apps and games you want to give young ones access to, and restricts them to a screen that shows these apps only (until a PIN code is entered).
Kids Place also prevents children from sending messages or purchasing other apps while using the device, and you can set a time limit for how long access is granted; think of it as temporarily putting your phone or tablet in safe mode.

Best app you won't find in the Play Store

Sometimes you have to venture beyond the Play Store to find the best apps. From our collection of favorite apps found outside the Play Store, our number one was Videoder. Using this app, you can download YouTube videos to your device in various formats and resolutions – including 1,080p.
Anything you download will automatically be saved to the video section of your gallery, and be instantly ready to watch, stream to Chromecast or otherwise do with as you please.

Best cloud storage app for Android

Cloud storage is so commonplace now that its name doesn't sound quite as mystical and ethereal as it did a few years ago. That doesn't make it any less useful, as storing your personal data online is - for the most part - much safer than keeping it on a fragile old hard drive.
We're prepared to accept accusations of bias here, as our favorite cloud storage app is Google Drive. it's baked into most Android devices, Google is always giving extra GBs of storage space away for free, and it's synced up with the handy Google Docs office suite. It's the undisputed champ.

Best messenger app for Android 

There are some obvious contenders for 'Best messaging app' on Android – WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger to name a couple. To suggest something a little different, Dasher is often at the forefront of the messenger universe, introducing unusual features before any other app.
It lets you transfer money to contacts, and you can share and play YouTube videos and GIFs in the app itself, to name just a few of the features.

Best alternative to the Play Store

The first thing you should know is that the Google Play Store is not the only place you can get Android apps. Sure, it's the biggest and the most official, but there are lots of apps out there that never quite made it to Google Play or that simply exist elsewhere (like in the Amazon app store for example).
Our favorite Google Play Store alternative is Humble Bundle, which offers pay-what-you-want bundles of high-end games. The games are for Android and PC, and all the money made is split between the developers, the site itself and a variety of charities.