Best Android Apps of the Week: Google Maps 8.2, CloudMagic 5.0, Duolingo, and More

Today it’s Monday and this means that we are ready to bring you another edition of our Best Android Apps of the Week column. We started the Best Android Apps of the Week column back in January and here we are, more than half a year later, sticking to the promise of presenting you the best apps available in Play Store.

Our loyal readers may know that the Best Android Apps of the Week column contains both new apps and older Google Play Store entries that received noteworthy updates.

Some of the applications featured in our column are free, other may be payed apps, and some might have in-app purchases. Without further ado let’s have a look at this week’s best apps.

Jink – Free

Let’s see you need to meet up with one of your friends and to make this easier you want to share your location with each other. You already have a similar option in Hangouts, but Jink it’s a bit easier to use.

After you open the Jink app on your smartphone, all you need to do is invite your friend share his/her location with you, then after the invite is accepted, both of you will be able to see each other’s location in real time. You also have the option to send each other messages. After the two of you meet, location sharing ends automatically.

Jink for Android is still in beta, but we’ve found the experience quite smooth and bug free. You can try it from Google Play Store at this link.

Google Wallet – Free

Google Wallet has received a major update over the past week and, as usual, it’s US-only.

The new Google Wallet update introduces store gift cards and the ability to instantly check your gift card balance, allows you to request money with Google Wallet app, or to send money for free using your debit card.

The new version also introduces support for Spanish language, while select gift cards will notify you when you’re near an eligible store.

Google Wallet is free and if you are from the States you can try it from Google Play Store at this link.

Chrome – Free

Chrome is probably the most popular web browser for Android and it has been updated to version 36.

Even though Chrome 36 doesn’t arrive with mouth-watering improvements, the new update is meant to improve the browsing experience. Version 36 arrives with improved text rendering for those websites that don’t have a mobile version, along with bug fixes and performance improvements.

The new update is already rolled out to users and you can also check it in Google Play Store here.

LocalCast – Free

As you may know, Android allows users to cast content on things, but, without a third-party app you will only be able to send media to Chromecast.

LocalCast is one of the best third-party Android casting apps and, after the update to version 3.0, it’s capable of streaming content to Apple TV and DLNA renderers like XBox 360. Anyway, the biggest change brought by LocalCast 3.0 is the new Material Design-inspired user interface.

LocalCast is available for free in Google Play Store. You can download it here.

Duolingo – Free

Duolingo is, in my opinion, the best way to learn a foreign language. It’s like the teacher you’ve always wanted: it’s calm, always happy to start a lesson from the beginning, and it reminds you to practice.

Duolingo got an update last week receiving support for new languages. You will now be able to learn English from Greek, Korean, Indonesia, Chinese, Japanese, or Vietnamese, or to learn French if you already know German, or German if you are a Spanish speaker.

Check out the updated app in Google Play Store at this link.

DoubleTwist Music Player – Free

DoubleTwist is one of the best music players available for download in Google Play Store, but you will have to spend some money to gain access to all its features.

The latest DoubleTwist Music Player update introduces support for streaming Magic Radio to AirPlay and AllPlay devices. Anyway, an upgrade worth $8.99 is needed to access streaming.

DoubleTwist is free and you can check it out in Google Play Store at this link.

Unified Remote – Free / $3.99

Unified Remote is a pretty useful app as it allows you to control your PC using your Android device. Well, Unified Remote got updated to version 3.0.

The new update arrives with a new interface, new navigation, server manager, quick switch menu, and new mouse overlay. Furthermore, the update to version 3.0 brings new extended remotes lists, new extended keyboard board, new media bar, new widget editor, and new quick actions editor for the full version of Unified Remote.

The free version of the app can be downloaded from Google Play Store at this link. If you have $3.99 to spend on Unified Remote Full you can purchase it from here.

CloudMagic 5.0 – Free

CloudMagic got a huge update from v1 to v5.0 last week. After it received support for Android Wear a while ago, CloudMagic received even more features now.

CloudMagic 5.0 gives you access to your complete mailbox, to Spam folder and option to move emails to spam, along with quick filters, or the ability to choose color for each of your email accounts.

The new update also allows users to choose the email alert notification tone and to set nickname to email accounts, while cards speed has been improved. Furthermore, it adds a default option to “reply” an email instead of “reply all.”

Google Maps 8.2 – Free

Google’s Maps has been updated to version 8.2, which introduces a couple of options that would pleas cyclists.

The new update introduces voice actions in navigation mode, bicycle directions now show elevation (including elevation comparison for multiple routes), Your Places now appear in the slide-out navigation bar, while the Voice icon replaces the “person” in search bar that used to load Places.

The Google Maps 8.2 update is now being rolled out to users. You can check the full changelog here.