ABOUT ANDROID S.O.

What is Android and what is an Android phone?

Android is now over seven years old and despite the green robot android peeking out of phone shops up and down the high street, there are still plenty of people who don’t know what Android is.

If you fit into this category then have no fear; this article is your complete guide to understanding what Android is, what it can do and where to find it, including the best Android mobile phones, Android apps, which games you can play on Android devices, the very best features you can enjoy and how to update to the latest version.

What is Android?

Android is the name of the mobile operating system owned by american company; google. it most commonly comes installed on a variety of smartphones and tablets from a host of manufacturers offering users access to google’s own services like search, youtube, maps, gmail and more.

This means you can easily look for information on the web, watch videos, search for directions and write emails on your phone, just as you would on your computer, but there’s more to android than these simple examples.

What can an Android phone do?

Android phones are highly customisable and as such can be altered to suit your tastes and needs; with wallpapers, themes and launchers which completely change the look of your device's interface. you can download applications to do all sorts of things like check your facebook and twitter feeds, manage your bank account, order pizza and play games. you can plan events on from your phone's calendar and see them on your computer or browse websites on your desktop and pick them up on your phone.

Another neat feature of android is that it automatically backs up your contacts for you. when you set up an android phone you’ll need to create a google account or sign in with an existing one. every time you save a number to the address book of your android phone it will be synced to your google account.

The benefit of this is that if you lose your phone all of your numbers will be saved. the next time you get an android phone (or an iphone or windows phone if you prefer) and sign in with your google account, all of your contacts and friend's numbers will be displayed in your new phone’s address book immediately, no need to transfer or back them up anywhere else.

Syncing is a way for your phone to keep all your information; websites, contacts, calendar entries and apps up-to-date. this can happen over your phone's mobile data or wifi connection, seamlessly, in the background.

What apps can I get on an Android phone?

There are hundreds of thousands of apps and games available to download from the google play store (formerly the android market). there are camera apps that allow you to take pictures with artistic effects and music players which allow you to stream music from the web or create playlists. you can customise the appearance of your android handset with a number of wallpapers based on pictures you’ve taken yourself or downloaded from the internet too.

Best free Android apps

Duolingo

Duolingo is the best language learning app out there and that's in part because it gets people started on learning languages. Getting started and staying regular with language learning is so important and this is what Duolingo does best. It does that through engaging and manageable language goals from day to day. 

If you are just starting out learning a language or getting back into one you learned before, Duolingo has you covered. You can start out as an absolute beginner or take a test and start out higher. The app uses the gaming model to teach you a language and this makes it feel less like studying and more like a game. This keeps you coming back for more.

Duolingo a clean interface with simple functions that make it easy to navigate. You can track your progress and see how far along you are to being fluent in the language. If you want to showcase your language learning progress to potential employers you can link it with your Linkedin profile.

Transit App: Real Time Tracker

Transportation schedules can be difficult and delays and cancellations can ruin plans further in your itinerary. Stay ahead of the game with the Transit App. It gives you real time transportation schedules right from one app. It supports busses, subways, ferries, Uber and lots more.

Transit App saves your itineraries and alerts you if there is a problem with one leg of your journey. You can then adjust your plans to make sure you don't miss something important. For instance, if a train is delayed and you have a plane to catch, you can get an early alert so you can order an Uber from the app before it's too late. 

Photos

Google Photos was unveiled at Google I/O 2015 and made headlines for being a free app that offers unlimited photo and video storage (though there are some restrictions on file types).

 Photos combines automatic backup, sharing and editing functions, as well as just about the best photo organization tool you can find, to create a powerful photo app which is hard to beat. Seriously, every gallery app should have 'click and drag' selection, shouldn't it?

Podcast Addict

If I were to recommend a best podcast app, it would be Pocket Casts – it's an extremely well-designed piece of software. But Pocket Casts isn't free; for the best free podcast app, we're recommending Podcast Addict.

Podcast Addict makes discovering and downloading podcasts simple. Though the user-interface won't exactly blow you away, its helpful search options assist you in finding the content you're looking for, even if you don't have a specific podcast in mind.

You can pay a little money to remove the app's Ad banner, but Podcast Addict doesn't restrict any features in the free version. Even if you're not into podcasts now, with this intuitive app, you might soon become addicted.

TOP 20 BEST ANDROID APPS 2016