Productivity Apps for Android

Enhance your productivity with the best productivity apps available on Android:

The Play store has a lot to offer in the way of being productive: it isn’t all fun and games!

No matter your profession you’re likely wasting the potential that your smartphone provides to allow you to help get stuff done.

Let’s take a look at the 5 very best productivity apps currently on the market.
(Note that this list will not include official Google apps as most come pre-installed with new phones anyway)

Counting down from 5 to 1:

5. Office for Android

Documents and spreadsheets on the go.

When it comes to a complete office suite, most people look at Google Docs. Docs is a superb product and the integration with Google Drive makes it a must have for Google fans.

However, a lot of people don’t use Google services and- while Docs is still quite nice on its own- they’d prefer to use something a bit more familiar or that integrates with other services.

For PC users Office is a no-brainer.

If you’ve used Microsoft’s Office range of software before (and you probably have), the user interface will look instantly familiar. In fact, Office has almost all of the functionality of the desktop editions and a strikingly similar UI.

It’s this ease of use and familiarity that earns Office for Android a space on this list, and possibly a space on your smartphone or tablet!

Download now!

4. Pushbullet

Connect all of your devices and make them feel like one single device.

Pushbullet is likely to become the best buddy of Google’s new Project Fi. Why? Well, something that Project Fi promises to fix is the disparity between the way that we use our phones, tablets and computers.

Anyone who has worked in a situation that requires constant use of both a computer and a smartphone will know that switching between the two can be a complete pain.

Pushbullet removes this tribulation by allowing notifications and files to be communicated across devices.

Getting called? It’ll pop up on your desktop. Received a text? Reply without so much as touching your handset. You can also send files and web pages between both: no more faffing about with USB cables and the like.

Pushbullet doesn’t rely on having a fast internet connection, either: data is sent across locally wherever possible, lending itself well to both speed and security.

Pushbullet is the sort of thing that you try out once and soon thereafter struggle to live without. It’s completely free, too, so that’s a bonus.

Download now!

3. Hashnote

The most simple of note apps.

There is a plethora of note taking apps currently on the market: Google’s very own Keep, Evernote and various proprietary apps offered up by manufacturers like Samsung and Sony.

These are all good and provide nice tools, but none are quite like Hashnote. The best way to describe Hashnote would be “social note taking”.

You don’t simply create notes with Hashnote: you categorise, organise and direct using hashtags and @ mentions.

For example, you want to remember to call your father. You could assign “Dad” to a contact and then create a note saying “Call @Dad #tonight”. You’d then notify @Dad (provided he, too, is using Hashnote) and create a new category: #tonight.

On it’s own this is useful, but the inclusion of a homescreen widget and a recently redesigned material UI makes Hashnote a must have for both personal and professional use.

Download now!

2. Trello

A great collaboration tool for teams.

Organisation is key to the success of almost any project. You can use sticky notes, a white board, something like Google Keep and noting down your to do list, but it’s a real hassle to categorise and share such things.

This is where Trello comes in. The idea is that everything is categorised as a card within a list within a board. Things like images, colour coding, dates and comments are all supported, as well as synchronisation with other people on your team.

Trello is cross platform, working across Android, iOS and any computer using their website.

Literally anything can be organised, with cards being movable across lists (so, for example, from a “To do” list to a “Done” list.

Trello is a key tool for any project regardless of size and scope and, once again, it’s completely free!

Download now!

1. Slack

The complete collaboration suite.

Another team collaboration tool that also caters to team communication. Our favourite!
When it comes to team management, there is no shortage of options; G+ Hangouts for chatting, various email clients for more serious messaging, spreadsheets or similar for task sorting. Or, you could simplify everything and rely on only one product.

Slack is something different. It isn’t just for individuals or teams and doesn’t just integrate with a single service (looking at you, Docs!) but a ridiculous number of services both big and small.

At the heart of Slack is a highly modified IRC (internet relay chat) system and network that allows for teams to easily connect and self-manage, as well as share files, ideas and webpages.

For example, you may have a group of people dedicated to the graphical assets of your project. The leader of the team can create a #graphics channel and chat and use, for example, Google Drive separate to the rest of the team.

Slack works cross platform, allowing everyone to take part. The team leader sets up the team and then invites others by email address or sending them a link to create an account.

Once setup, Slack enables a greater degree of organisation allowing for higher productivity. It integrates with everything on this list, too, minus Hashnote.

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