What is the best alternative keyboard? The best calendar app? Discuss and vote for your favorites here.
Mar 13th, 2014, 8:57 am
Mobilism's Best of 2013 Apps Awards

Based on the votes of Mobilism users in the Best Of... section (be sure to vote and post about what you like this year), we present your choices for the best apps of 2013. A list without pictures is available at the bottom.

Alternative Keyboard

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SwiftKey (Runner-up: Swype)

eBook Reader

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Moon Reader (Runner-up: Aldiko)

Browser

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Dolphin (Runner-up: Chrome)

File Explorer

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ES File Explorer (Runner-up: Root Explorer)

Music Player

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PowerAMP (Runner-up: Winamp)

Video Player

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MX player (Runner-up: VLC)

Calendar Widget

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Simple Calendar Widget (Runner-up: GO Calendar)

GPS Navigation Software

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Sygic (Runner-up: iGO)

Home Launcher

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Nova (Runner-up: Next Launcher 3D)

SMS/Text Message App

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GO SMS (Runner-up: Sliding Messaging)

Email App

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K-mail (Runner-up: Inomail)

Security App

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Avast (Runner-up: Eset)

Tracking App

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Cerberus

News App

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Feedly (Runner-up: GReader)

Weather App

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Beautiful Widgets (Runner-up: eWeather HD)

Battery Saver

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Greenify (Runner-up: DU Battery Saver)

Offline Dictionary

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Merriam Webster (Runner-up: Goldendict)

Full List:
Alternative Keyboard: SwiftKey (Runner-up: Swype)
eBook Reader: Moon Reader (Runner-up: Aldiko)
Browser: Dolphin (Runner-up: Chrome)
File Explorer: ES File Explorer (Runner-up: Root Explorer)
Music Player: PowerAMP (Runner-up: Winamp)
Video Player: MX player (Runner-up: VLC)
Calendar Widget: Simple Calendar Widget (Runner-up: GO Calendar)
GPS Navigation Software: Sygic (Runner-up: iGO)
Home Launcher: Nova (Runner-up: Next Launcher 3D)
SMS/Text Message App: GO SMS (Runner-up: Sliding Messaging)
Email App: K-mail (Runner-up: Inomail)
Security App: Avast (Runner-up: Eset)
Tracking App: Cerberus
News App: Feedly (Runner-up: GReader)
Weather App: Beautiful Widgets (Runner-up: eWeather HD)
Battery Saver: Greenify (Runner-up: DU Battery Saver)
Offline Dictionary: Merriam Webster (Runner-up: Goldendict)

Users can create new categories in Best Of... section that were not included this year. If there will be enough votes they will be included in the Mobilism Apps Awards of 2014.
Mar 13th, 2014, 8:57 am
Online
Mar 15th, 2014, 3:01 am
A few comments...

Alternative Keyboard: SwiftKey (Runner-up: Swype)
I disagree. I hate Swiftkey's layout, even though they have a selection of them, none are normal keyboard layouts. This may just be my opinion but people who don't like Swiftkey will almost certainly like a.i.type because of the opposite style of keyboard. I have tried them all and have anyways gone back to a.i.type! It has everything.

eBook Reader: Moon Reader (Runner-up: Aldiko)

Browser: Dolphin (Runner-up: Chrome)
I keep hearing that Dolphin is the best but the new version drove me insane! I couldn't navigate it and couldn't find all the old options. Also found out Dolphin is not as compatible with some sites. Also could never get flash working with Dolphin. I am split between firefox and chrome, am using chrome now.

File Explorer: ES File Explorer (Runner-up: Root Explorer)
Tried a bunch, agreed! by far the best.

Music Player: PowerAMP (Runner-up: Winamp)
Music apps depend on what you're looking for. Some apps are way too complex and try to manage your music. I simply want to play files I choose from my file manager so that gets annoying. Have not found a favorite yet but just wanted to say, it depends on the type your looking for.

Video Player: MX player (Runner-up: VLC)

Calendar Widget: Simple Calendar Widget (Runner-up: GO Calendar)

GPS Navigation Software: Sygic (Runner-up: iGO)
wtf, really? Google maps has everything. No reason to use anything else unless you want offline maps.

Home Launcher: Nova (Runner-up: Next Launcher 3D)
I found Nova to be clunky to use. I have always used Go Launcher. I switched to Next Launcher for a while and now went back to Go Launcher because it's basically the same thing but with more options! Very few things Next can do that Go Launcher can't.

SMS/Text Message App: GO SMS (Runner-up: Sliding Messaging)
I have tried them all! Go SMS was my favorite till they began spamming ads. Now it's downright annoying to try blocking them all. Hangouts wasn't bad to use but was missing some features. Pansi (now called Easy SMS) is now the best. Fast, and still has all the options Go SMS had. The other top SMS apps are just too slow.

Email App: K-mail (Runner-up: Inomail)

Security App: Avast (Runner-up: Eset)
Security for your phone really does nothing but slow you down unless you're somebody who downloads a ton of random stuff from websites nobody has ever heard of before. I did want to mention a new security app however called SnoopWall. It ran on my phone faster than the other security apps and seemed to do a great job.

Tracking App: Cerberus

News App: Feedly (Runner-up: GReader)

Weather App: Beautiful Widgets (Runner-up: eWeather HD)
Tried a bunch, agreed!

Battery Saver: Greenify (Runner-up: DU Battery Saver)

Offline Dictionary: Merriam Webster (Runner-up: Goldendict)
Mar 15th, 2014, 3:01 am
Mar 15th, 2014, 3:11 am
I keep hearing that Dolphin is the best but the new version drove me insane! I couldn't navigate it and couldn't find all the old options. Also found out Dolphin is not as compatible with some sites. Also could never get flash working with Dolphin. I am split between firefox and chrome, am using chrome now.

I tried going back to Chrome several times but every time ended up back with Dolphin. It leaves more space for the site and its tabs are better designed, two crucial things for me.

wtf, really? Google maps has everything. No reason to use anything else unless you want offline maps.

Offline maps is a pretty huge feature.

Security for your phone really does nothing but slow you down unless you're somebody who downloads a ton of random stuff from websites nobody has ever heard of before. I did want to mention a new security app however called SnoopWall. It ran on my phone faster than the other security apps and seemed to do a great job.

Agreed.
Mar 15th, 2014, 3:11 am

★★★★★
Mar 15th, 2014, 3:47 am
I agree with most of them, although dolphin browser & mx player crashes quite a bit . They are still very good at what they do .
Mar 15th, 2014, 3:47 am
Mar 15th, 2014, 3:56 am
kamuih wrote:I agree with most of them, although dolphin browser & mx player crashes quite a bit . They are still very good at what they do .


Crashes on MX? I've never had any myself. I have used MX for years now and do not even mind the ads that pop when my movies are paused anymore. I do agree. They are great at what they do.
Mar 15th, 2014, 3:56 am

SUPPORT DEVELOPERS. IF YOU LIKE IT, BUY IT.
Mar 15th, 2014, 4:10 am
I love Aldiko, bullet proof and is easily the best for me. I tried moon reader first but while it was ok, Aldiko was more intuitive and worked smoother. Very subjective topic though.
Mar 15th, 2014, 4:10 am
Mar 15th, 2014, 2:41 pm
Would help readers were D4m to include his reasoning behind each selection along the lines of what OutlawCecil shared.

Bottom line: Plaudits for too many questionable apps. (Dolphin, really?)
Mar 15th, 2014, 2:41 pm

Currently reading...

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Mar 15th, 2014, 6:13 pm
ephemeral wrote:Would help readers were D4m to include his reasoning behind each selection along the lines of what OutlawCecil shared.

Bottom line: Plaudits for too many questionable apps. (Dolphin, really?)

The reasoning is the first line of this topic (139 people voted for Doplhin to 131 for Chrome, and that in spite of Chrome being installed on most devices by default). Personally I also agree that Dolphin is better.
Mar 15th, 2014, 6:13 pm
Online
Mar 15th, 2014, 8:25 pm
My two cents worth with the keyboard and the reader.

I think Swype is superior to Swiftkeys and it contains many foreign languages that you can use .

I like Aldiko more than Moonreader mainly due to the lighter interface. I always feel like I'm looking at a tombstone when I use Moonreader but I'm sure there are people who prefer the dark interface.
Mar 15th, 2014, 8:25 pm

Asus Transformer - KatKiss KitKat 4.4.3
Sony Xperia ZL, Z2 - Stock
Nook HD+ - Stock
Nexus 5 - Stock
Samsung - Galaxy S6
Nexux 7 - Stock
Mar 23rd, 2014, 9:49 am
this thread is excellent..thanks a lot.
Mar 23rd, 2014, 9:49 am
Mar 23rd, 2014, 8:17 pm
I agree with most all the choices that came top and pleased to say have at least 60% of them on my devices.... my only gripe is where's Aviasoft Nature Explorer That should have been included as it's a fantastic app and keep getting better by the month(at time)... Such a strong app.....May be you should include a category that includes apps that are not in the main stream so would cover devs like Sarah...
Mar 23rd, 2014, 8:17 pm

Proudowner 106 PDA's Psion, Palm, Symbo, WinMo & Android.12GPS's!
Mar 23rd, 2014, 11:32 pm
ES File Explorer:
I tried loads always went back to ES luv it

Video Player: MX player (Runner-up: VLC)
MX is great. but there is so much more to VLC than playing movies/songs, so although I like MX. because of the networking capabilities I use VLC more often.
Mar 23rd, 2014, 11:32 pm
Mar 25th, 2014, 8:37 am
Alternative Keyboard: SwiftKey (Runner-up: Swype)
I disagree. Swiftkey's word correction and suggestion has always been worse than Swype but it does have the advantage of being able to move away from the dock however I prefer Minuum on both my phone and tablet.

Browser: Dolphin (Runner-up: Chrome)
Naked Browser Pro has always been a whole lot better, more private and faster than Chrome. Instead of trying to look good it is more functional and does exactly what a browser is supposed to.

File Explorer: ES File Explorer (Runner-up: Root Explorer)
I always hated the layout of ES when compared to Solid Explorer it just feels more clunky with less options.

Music Player: PowerAMP (Runner-up: Winamp)
I always had an issue with PowerAMP since whenever i'm in my song list and hit back instead of taking me to my homescreen or previous app it takes me to library or some other place, I highly recommend Vanilla Music over it since its smaller and still offers quite a lot of features.

Video Player: MX player (Runner-up: VLC)
My main problem with VLC being here is it can't match MX in video playback since it can't even show MKV typesetting properly when MX can although with some lag, also MX doesn't do the stupid scan when it is first loaded instead you can direct to where your video files are.

Calendar Widget: Simple Calendar Widget (Runner-up: GO Calendar)
No mention of Jorte? It works without needing to sync to Google each time which is something I found missing in Android.

Home Launcher: Nova (Runner-up: Next Launcher 3D)
Action Launcher would've been a better runner up, it tries something new that isn't offered in most launchers with the app drawer to the side as well as the quick panel which eliminates the need to have more than 1 page.

Security App: Avast (Runner-up: Eset)
Correct me if I'm wrong but these apps don't really do anything on Android and is nothing more than a waste of space.

Seems like a pretty mainstream list to me that misses out on some of the newer apps that do the job a lot better.
Mar 25th, 2014, 8:37 am

★ Link dead or not working? PM me and i'll provide a new one ( ´ ▽ ` )ノ
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Mar 25th, 2014, 5:54 pm
@OutlawCecil, never tried Dolphin although I tried Firefox and found that it seemed to take just a wee bit longer for web pages to load vs. Chrome. I never had an issue at all using Chrome (may need to look at Dolphin since everyone speaks highly of it).

LOVING this thread; great job to all who have posted. I did have a question about security; it is REALLY necessary to have an antivirus app installed on phone? I've heard yes and also no. I use to have Dr. Web, then someone recommended switching to Avast free. Along with that, I also have foresafe scanner (just to scan the .apks before installing) and CM security installed as well. I'm sure this constitutes as overkill and paranoid. I really only download apps from this website and no where else. Is it safe to say having antivirus apps on phone is a placebo, just sort of there not really doing too much except for draining the battery since it's constantly running in the background? Keep up the informative posts fellow mobilism-ers.
Mar 25th, 2014, 5:54 pm
Mar 26th, 2014, 1:11 am
lowpro3210, there is no benefit to having an anti-virus app on Android in general mainly because that isn't how malware/adware/viruses work on Android however if you do want to be more secure then I recommend using something such as App Settings or xprivacy in combination with xposed and limiting the different permissions that each separate app has access to.
Mar 26th, 2014, 1:11 am