Top 5 Android Launcher Apps review

No. 1: Nova Launcher

Nova Launcher claims 10,000,000 to 50,000,000 installs and has an average Google Play Store rating of 4.6 stars out of a possible 5 from 251,197 reviewers. Requires Android 4.0 and up.

Nova launcher is an extremely customizable launcher app designed to speed up performance.

Neat tricks include substituting KitKat-styled icons for the aging Ice Cream sandwich versions. KitKat is the latest incarnation of Android.

Adding splendid, depth-inducing subtle shadows to the home screen border is another example of why this launcher reigns.

No. 2: ADW

ADW claims 10,000,000 to 50,000,000 installs and has an average Google Play Store rating of 4.4 stars out of a possible 5 from 120,657 reviewers. Requires Android 1.6 and up.A massive subculture of skin designers, plus compatibility with very early versions of Android, account for the popularity of this launcher.

Themes from third-party designers include Black Glass, Ubuntu, Minimalist and themes that base themselves on replicating existing hardware, like the Samsung Galaxy S4 and Galaxy Note III themes.

Got KitKat and miss an old Android OS like Gingerbread? Then use ADW to recreate it.

No. 3: Action Launcher

Action Launcher claims 100,000 to 500,000 installs and has an average Google Play Store rating of 4.3 stars out of a possible 5 from 9,159 reviewers. Requires Android 4.0.3 and up.Chris Lacy's Action Launcher is nipping at the heels of big dogs Nova and ADW with some innovative interactions. They include a way to create and launch widgets by swiping at an app's icon.

Quickage lets you launch a Home page from the right edge of the screen; Covers is an advanced form of folder that lets you group icons; and Shutters lets you group widgets on the home screen.

No. 4: Apex Launcher

Apex Launcher claims 5,000,000 to 10,000,000 installs and has an average Google Play Store rating of 4.4 stars out of a possible five from 94,962 reviewers. Requires Android 4.0.3 and up

Another major Launcher, this skin provides elastic scrolling and a lockable desktop to prevent changes.

Transition effects, multiple drawer styles, and an advanced theme engine with icon packs and skins from third-party developers, including a copy of the much-loved HTC Sense UI, round out the mix.

No. 5: Transparent Screen Launcher

Transparent Screen Launcher claims 10,000,000 to 50,000,000 installs and has an average Google Play Store rating of 3.9 stars out of a possible 5 from 33,050 reviewers. Requires Android 2.2 and up.ForU naveen's Transparent Screen Launcher is a wonderful idea, with an unfortunately misguided execution. The concept is that your home screen becomes transparent, using the device's camera. It's a kind of augmented reality where you can see behind the phone as you're looking at the screen.

The developer pitches it as ideal for pedestrian safety -- you can look at your screen while seeing where you're going.

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Top 11 Photo Editor Apps for Android reviews

Photo editing on Android is still in the stages where you can do only the most basic edits. However, apps are coming out all the time that add more and more functionality and mobile photographers have more options than ever before when it comes to editing photos on your Android device. In this list we’ll explore the best photo editor apps for Android.

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BeFunky Photo Editor – Tablets

[Price: Free / $2.99]
First on our list is a fun little photo editor called BeFunky. In this simple editor, you have access to dozens of effects and editing tools, including filters, sharpen, and exposure, among others. Where this app really shines is how much you can edit. With this you can literally add unlimited affects to your photos so you can make them look however you want. It’s widely popular and highly rated. There is also a free version you can check out to see if it’s for you before picking up the paid version. The version we have linked is the tablet version, there is also a version for just phones.

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Cupslice Photo Editor

[Price: Free]
Cupslice is a photo editor with a little more tact and polish, even if the features aren’t as heavy as some of these others. It comes with over 50 effects to start along with your basic editing tools. It also includes a number of stickers you can add to photos and that number gets updated every week. It’s a nice, simple app that should suit the needs of most people.

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Pho.to Lab

[Price: Free / $3.99]
Pho.to Lab is our first really heavily-featured app on the list. It comes with over 500 frames for your photos if you enjoy frames. It also comes with a myriad of backgrounds, photo filters, collage features, and even the popular human-to-animal montage that turns your face into an animal’s face. The free version has watermarks and advertisements whereas the paid version does not, so you can at least give it a shot and see if you like it before you buy it. It has a metric ton of things you can add to photos, even if the actual editing features are pretty basic.

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Photo Editor by Aviary

[Price: Free]
Photo Editor by Aviary stands out on our list because it has a slightly more composed set of actual editing features. There are still things like stickers, filters, and the like, but the app has extra tools for editing including things like fixing red-eye, whitening teeth, etc. It’s a fairly solid app overall although it won’t have that appeal for fans of Instagram-style filters as it will for people who want just a good looking photo.

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Photo Editor Pro

[Price: Free]
Photo Editor Pro is a very solid photo editor app even if there’s nothing over-the-top about it. It features a one-touch enhance feature, filters, frames, and the basic photo improvement tools like color balance, crop, and rotate. Again, there’s nothing overly special about it, but it is a solid option for people who just need to do a little touching up here and there.

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Photo Effects Pro

[Price: Free]
Photo Effects Pro has a few more fun features than many of these other ones. For instance, you can insert meme pictures to make funny pictures, finger paint on the photo like you can with S-Pen on the Galaxy Note 3, and of course the standard tools, filters, and frames features. It’s another very solid (and totally free) offering that should fill the needs of most people. It also boasts that it only uses the internet to share photos.

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Photoshop Touch for phone

[Price: $4.99]
With a name like Photoshop, you expect greatness right? Well, before you get your hopes up too high, you should know that this isn’t nearly as powerful as the desktop application. You can do some of the basic Photoshop things like working with layers. However, It’s mixed in with more conventional mobile photo editing features like filters and mild adjustments like color correction. There are some cool features like camera fill and compatibility with desktop Photoshop using the Adobe Creative Cloud. So if you’re a big fan of Adobe products, this app should be useful.

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PicsArt Photo Studio

[Price: Free]
When it comes to photo editing features that focus around things like collages, there are few apps that are better than PicsArt. It does focus primarily on collages and, thus, has a bunch of features for that. However, there are still the basic photo editing things like filters, controls, and adjustments along with some unusual features like finger-painting and stickers. It’s a solid free app and a must-have for collage fans. However, if you’re looking for something a little more in depth, you may want to try something else.

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PicSay – Photo Editor

[Price: Free / $3.99]
With well over ten million downloads, it’s pretty clear that PicSay is among the most popular on our list. It offers the basic features that you’ve seen us talk about a multitude of times already and that’s what you get with the free version. In the paid version, you get additional content likemore filters and more actual features like pressure-sensitive drawing, removing red-eye, and others. It’s a solid and vastly popular option that’s worth checking out.

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Rage Comics Photo Editor

[Price: Free]
We all know why this is here. Rage Comics and memes are hilarious. This is essentially just a photo editor with sticker and text features. It includes over 300 meme faces. It doesn’t have any of the other features these other apps have, but it is definitely the funniest one on the list. If you’re looking for something more serious, you should pick of these other apps but if you’re down for a laugh, this can help do that.

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SnapSeed

[Price: Free]
If you’re a fan of Google and want to use only Google apps, we recommend using Snapseed as your photo editor. While the photos app on Google+ has its own small editor, Snapseed is owned by Google and it is, without question, a whole lot better than the Google+ photos app. With this app you can auto-tune and auto-correct images quickly if need be. There are also the standard filters, adjustment features, and frames. It’s a fun and solid app that’s perfect for Google fans.

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conclusion

Photo editing is still coming into its own on Android, so most of these apps have features that are very similar to one another. This isn’t a lack of ingenuity but rather a temporary ceiling in the genre itself. As the platform expands and becomes more complex, we’re sure more vibrant and robust photo editing will be available but for right now, if you’re looking for something more complex and in-depth like Gimp or Photoshop, you’ll have to keep using Gimp and Photoshop because there is nothing quite like that on Android just yet. As always if there’s a great app we happened to miss, let us know in the comments!

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Moto G Receiving Android 4.4.3 KitKat over-the-air (OTA), Update in India review

The Motorola Moto G has according to developer and user reports started receiving the Android 4.4.3 KitKat update over-the-air (OTA), for both its single SIM international variant and dual-SIM India variant.

Motorola had earlier this week announced the start of the roll-out of the Android 4.4.3 KitKat update for its range of Moto E, G and X smartphones.

The good people at the XDA Developers forum have reported the the Android 4.4.3 KitKat OTA update for both Moto G variants is now rolling out, and have noted it to be 169MB in size, and bring the system version to 210.12.32.

Users have also brought to our notice that the Android 4.4.3 KitKat update is rolling out both on the Moto G's single SIM (international) variant and dual-SIM (India) variants.

While one Moto G single SIM (international) user stated, "Motorola has started pushing the 4.4.3 update for Moto G. Looks like the download server is also taking a pounding," a dual-SIM Moto G user in India tweeted, "Here it is! 4.4.3 update for Moto G (India). Thanks @MotorolaIndia."

The Android 4.4.3 KitKat update for the Moto G (Review | Pictures) brings three main improvements to the handset. The update gives users the flexibility to pause video recording; a new phone dialler, and access to the Motorola Alert app, as stated in the official changelog and the screenshot seen above.

According to Motorola the Android 4.4.3 KitKat update for Moto E (Review | Pictures), Moto G and Moto X (Review | Pictures) also brings stability, framework and security fixes, as well as enhancements to the power profile capabilities.

The Android 4.4.3 KitKat OS update for Moto G is being rolled out at roughly the same time as the update for the range of Google Nexus devices. On Friday we confirmed the Android 4.4.3 udpate for Nexus 4, Nexus 5, and Nexus 7 has started rolling out over-the-air in India. Google released the Android 4.4.3 factory images for the Nexus range of devices earlier this week.

The Moto X (T-mobile) variant has also been receiving the Android KitKat update, and this too should soon roll-out in India, as well as the update for the popular Moto E.

Google Play Edition devices such as HTC One (Review | Pictures), Samsung Galaxy S4 (Review | Pictures), and Sony Xperia Z Ultra are also said to be receiving the Android 4.4.3 update.

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10 Best Spy Apps For Android That Are Free review

1. Cell Tracker

Have someone you need to track? Like a delivery guy or a sales rep for your business? If you give them a company phone, having cell tracker on it can log down their location, where and when they have been to a place, every half hour. Cell Tracker automatically collects the location of the device holder through WiFi/GPRS. Tap on ‘View Now’ to see the list of location the target device had visited.

2. Children Tracker

Environments change and a parent’s worse nightmare is finding that their community’s crime levels have risen and their children could be victims of crime. Paranoid or not, if you are not against the idea of tracking your child’s whereabouts (for their safety), Children Tracker is a fine trackingsolution to have. All you need is to install the app to the phone, run it and lock/hide the app thentrack the phone online.

3. Ear Spy

Ear Spy lets you appear immersed in your music but in secret, it amplifies the sounds around you via your device microphone all the way to your earphones. Have your earphones in your ears and under your hoody, but leave your smartphone bare to pick up conversations in its surroundings. The app also has an equalizer to enhance the listening conditions of your surroundings.

4. Mobile Hidden Camera

What spy list can be complete without a hidden camera app. Activate it then tap on the black screen to grab a fast snapshot with no one the wiser. You can also capture videos on it. Once you enter video mode, it will automatically record the feed until you stop it. This app covers a variety of camera features while still keeping the app minimal and easy to use.

5. Sneaky Cam

Appear like you are working on something else on your camera with this sneaky cam. Choose and fix a background of your choice to show when Sneaky Cam is on. The background image can be a browser or even a shot of a music player. Tap on any part of the screen to start capturing images, and not worry about anyone catching you in the act.

6. Spy Message

Want to send a confidential message to your business partner but doesn’t want it to be kept in his/her phone? Time your message to be automatically deleted over time without leaving a trace. Spy Message allows you to exchange secretive messages and appointments, then have the message self-destruct (minus the explosions) after a configured time frame.

7. Secret Calls

Protect your contacts and keep your call activities safe with Secret Calls. This app can easily hide your phonebook contact icon to prevent anyone from seeing them, and automatically delete all outgoing and incoming call logs so no one can trace them, even they have your phone.

8. Spy Video Recorder

As a spy, you would want your recording device to be appear turn off to avoid anyone knowing they are being monitored. This app does that on top of keeping you updated with before and after pictures of the place you are monitoring, e.g. when there is unauthorized movement.

9. Secret Agent Fake Call

If you want to create a fake call that comes in in an opportune time, this app is for you. Secret Agent Fake Call ‘calls’ you and prepares pre-recorded conversations, customized messages and you can even schedule when the call can come in. Complete the illusion by selecting the secret agent identity you want to be, and use it to prank your friends.

10. Secret Agent

This last app is Secret Agent, a complete toolbox that every spy should have. It contains useful tools and sensor features for you e.g. a spy torch, a fun (fake) infrared-style camera filter, a compass, a spectrum analyzer, secret audio recording, sensor data and many more!

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