Best Android Apps of the Week: NextSong, Facebook at Work, AcDisplay 3.0

Best Android Apps of the Week: NextSong, Facebook at Work, AcDisplay 3.0, and More

Another week went by and, as usual, a lot of new apps have been released in Google Play Store. Our Best Android Apps of the Week column is once again here to help you improve your collection of Android apps.

If you are a loyal reader of our blog you would probably know from our previous Best Android Apps of the Weeks posts that here you will be able to find both new apps and older apps that received noteworthy updates in a week’s time.

It’s also worth noting that some of the apps in this post may be payed apps, others may have in-app purchase, while some could be free apps. We are also inviting you to let us know in comments whether you believe that certain apps were wroth being mentioned in our list.

NextSong – Free / $0.99

With so many Android owners using their devices for listening to music, I am wondering why it took so long for an app like NextSong to hit the Pay Store. NextSong takes advantage of the heads-up notifications system implemented in Android.

NextSong is compatible with devices running KitKat or higher and it’s basically a heads up notification for every new track, also giving you information on what’s playing. If you pay $0.99 for the full version you will also be able to enjoy quick control buttons for play/pause, back, and next.

The free version of NextSong can be downloaded from Google Play Store here. The full version is available for download here.

Facebook at Work – Free

The folks at Facebook are trying to bring their social network into your office life. Not that there aren’t enough people already using Facebook at their jobs.

Facebook at Works enables you to communicate to your co-workers, but, unlike the standard Facebook app, it’s only compatible with work accounts. Therefore, if your employer uses Facebook at Work, you would be able to interact professionally without having to friend your co-workers with your personal Facebook account. The interface is identical to the one of the standard Facebook app.

Facebook at Work is available for download for free here. Remember that your employer must set up an work account for you to be able to use the app.

Wikipedia – Free

The Wikipedia official Android app is available in Google Play Store for quite a while, but it hasn’t received an UI-focused update in a while. Since Lollipop is a thing now, Wikipedia’s UI got some Material Design elements.

After you update Wikipedia to the latest version you should notice the “contextually-relevant image at the top of each article” (with parallex-scrolling), the “Read More” feature at the end of the each article, and better search functionality. You should also see the new image viewer that allows users to view a large version of any image via a pop-up panel.

The Wikipedia update is already being rolled out to users. You will be able to download the app from Play Store here.

AOL Starlike – Free

If you have a lot of internet-friends and on only like what some of them post online, you might want to try Starlike. Starlike is a free app developed by AOL and you might actually enjoy it.

AOL’s Starlkike enables you to import feed from Twitter, Facebook, and Linkedin in order to see posts that are marked as favorites by your friends. You can also use the app to share or bookmark a post that caught your attention.

Starlike is a free app. You can download it from Google Play Store using this link.

Parallels Access 2.5 – Free

There aren’t many Android apps that can help you control your desktop machine with success, but Parallels Access certainly does a good job. The app has recently received an update to version 2.5.

Among others, Parallels Access 2.5 brings a built-in file browser, which definitely comes in handy when it comes to opening files remotely.  The update also comes with support for Samsung’s S Pen stylus for Galaxy Note phones and tablets.

Parallels Access is free to download here, but you will only be able to use it for one week. The app requires a $20 a year subscription.

Google Maps 9.3 – Free

Google’s Maps service got updated to a new version last week. The new update bumps it to version 9.3 and brings a couple of interesting changes.

The main new feature introduced by the Maps 9.3 update is the ability to share directions. After the new update you will also be able to permanently dismiss the GPS navigation dialog. You will also have to give the app access to some more settings such as Bluetooth or the ability to run at start up.

The Google Maps 9.3 update is already being pushed to users. You can find the app in Play Store here.

Google Translate – Free

Google’s Translate app got a big update last week. The new update is available for both iOS and Android users, but, of course, we will focus on the Google Play version.

Google introduced Word Lens in 2014 and now it has been integrated into their Translate app. Within the Google Translate app you will be able to point your camera at something with printed words and get an instant translation. For the time being it has support for English to and from French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. The new update also brings significant improvements the conversation mode.

The new Google Translate version is currently rolling out. You can find the app in Google Play Store here.

AcDisplay 3.0 – Free

Motorola has received a lot of positive reviews for their Moto Display feature, but if to don’t own a Motorola phone (including the Nexus 6), you might want to check out AcDisplay. The got updated to version 3.0 last week.

Among others, AcDisplay 3.0 brings “initial Lollipop support” and “basic Jelly Bean 4.1 and 4.2″ support. The app also got a Material Design interface, and, of course, bug fixes.

AcDisplay is available for download for free. You can download it from Google Play Store using this link.