Sreenshots| December Favorites

These are our favorites from December. They are, of course, in no particular order. Have a look and click on the link to get more information about the set up. Leave a comment below of which has been your favorite. To see more, head over to simply-android.deviantart.com

"Android Yosemite" by fuckyeahlucas

"Winter" by jeetlebuice1

"Tilt" by jettlebuice1

"Da Mix" by in2uition

"Nexus Face" by vr-17

"Creation of Earth" by denis-29

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DEALS| Google Play End of Year Games

Take a look at the deals and head over to Google Play and spend that holiday money. 

Notable games:
Rayman Jungle Run - $0.10
NBA JAM by EA SPORTS™ - $0.75
Threes! - $0.99
Angry Birds Star Wars II - $0.99

Vector Full - $0.49

Need for Speed™ Most Wanted - $0.75

Source: https://play.google.com/store/apps/collection/promotion_30010e5_premium_games_sale

TIPS| Google Play Tips

Today I will detail some of the tips that I've learned from using the Google Play Store. Feel free to add your own in the comment section below.

Tips:

1. Deals on albums are refreshed every Tuesday. There you can find some classic albums for reduced prices. The same applies to movies.

2. Every week Google posts "Free Album of the Week". This week, for example, Google posted Linkin Park's "The Hunting Party" for free. 

3. Always read the reviews from users to see any problems before buying or updating the application. You can also click under more options and select your device to read reviews from people who have the same phone as you.  

4. The biggest tip most people don't know is: You have 2 hours to get a refund on a purchased app. *Note: some developers allow an extra refund period. 

REVIEW| Veronica - Icon Pack

App Name: Veronica - Icon Pack (Squared Lab) 

Price: $1.34

Description: Veronica is an icon pack designed to give a fresh and modern look to your device. This icon pack features more than 740 icons including several colorful / minimalistic wallpapers. 

Review:
If you are in the market for a colorful minimalistic theme, then this icon pack will suit your needs. It brings over 700 icons that provide you with a fresh new take on minimalism. ‘Veronica - Icon pack’ has multi launcher support so you can apply the theme with any custom launcher you use. There are 16 available wallpapers for your choosing, so you’ll never get bored with just one option. 

With many similar icon sets, why should i buy this one? Simple, the developer is attentive to the icon set. Updates every saturday will make sure all of your icons are themed. You can also request icons within the application. 

The bad: I can’t find anything bad with this icon set. However, I would prefer the icons to have some more saturation but thats a personal preference. 

Overall rating: 4.8 stars out of 5.0


Link:https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.squaredlab.veronica

 ***IMAGES COURTESY OF DEVELOPER AND GOOGLE PLAY***

REVIEW| Three

App Name: Three (MINIGAME)

Price: FREE

Description: Three is a simple puzzle with endless challenge. Match pairs of numbers to try to get the highest number you can. Use power ups to help you get even higher scores. Just like the wildly popular game "1024" or "2048". -(Google Play, developer).













Review:

First off let me start by answering the question why i am reviewing an app that is considered a ‘rip off’ of Threes!. Well it is simple. The game costs nothing compared to $1.99 and when you are a college student strapped for cash, there is not option to spend cash.
This game is simple. Match the pairs and add them to increase the card ‘value’ and your points. (e.i. 2+1=3, 3+3=6, 6+6=12, and so on). I’ve found myself playing this game for hours while waiting in between classes or riding the bus. Believe me, it might seem like a boring game but once you get in the groove, you’ll want to keep getting a higher score.

What’s good:

Price. Once again i find myself saying that age old phrase: “Nothing beats free!”
Gameplay. It is a simple, lightweight game to play by yourself or challenging a friend to beat your score.

What’s not so good:

Nothing is bad about this game, unless you want to count the ugly icon you will have on your launcher. Besides that I would only complain that there is no background music during the actual gameplay, but that is just my personal taste.

Overall rating:

4.3 stars out of 5.0

Link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.minigame.three&hl=en

REVIEW| Min - Icon Set

App Name: Min - Icon Set (RyanMKelly)

Price: FREE

Description: Min is an icon set for various launchers, it is designed to be small. 

Features over 930 icons and wallpapers

What's good: This icon set provides the end user with a set of simple minimalistic icons.This icon set themes all of the popular android apps and more. The developer provides timely   updates, ensuring that all apps will be themed eventually. The best part is that this icon set works with various android launchers. 

What's not so good: Nothing bad about this icon set. Unthemed apps will look weird but not too much. Being a free theme, there is not much to complain about. 

Overall rating: 4.1 stars out of 5.0 

Link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ryanmkelly.me.min&hl=en

Recommended for those users who want a minimal home screen and don’t want to pay for an ‘expensive’ icon pack.
***images courtesy of the developer and Google Play***

REVIEW| Dock & Share WiFI Music Player

App Name: Dock & Share WiFi Music Player (EtrokTeck)
Price: Free / $2.99 IAP
Description: Dock & Share gives you the ability to dock one Android phone or tablet to your stereo system, share it, and control the music from a separate Android phone or tablet that is connected to the same WiFi network. View and play music that exists on either device, view and change the play queue, control the volume, seek through a track, shuffle the songs on an album, etc.
Review: If you are anything like me you like to listen to music whenever you can. However, I refuse to invest in a Bluetooth speaker. I do have a stereo in the living room that I use to listen to music. While I do not spend time in the living room, most of my time is spent working on the office PC, I find myself too lazy to get up and change the volume, track, etc. When I found this app, my music experience totally changed. I no longer found the need to get up every time to lower the volume or skip a track.
What’s good: This application allows me to take control of music playback from anywhere in the house, as long as there is Wi-Fi of course. If I have to take a call or watch a video online, I have the ability to pause the music without interrupting my activities. As long as you have your music on any android device you can use it to broadcast the music. So I can use either my phone or tablet to play the music. Swiping from the bottom will reveal the queue where you can remove the songs you want to skip. You can even you this application as your default music player.

What’s not so good: You have to remember to share your device every time you want to share. Maybe it’s just me but I think the app should remind you at startup. The interface on this application is slow. It takes a couple of seconds for it to load the artist/album pictures at the initial startup. There is no ‘search’ functionality. So if you want to play “Zero” by the Smashing Pumpkins, you will have to scroll down all the way to the ‘Z’ to select the desired song. There is no playlist section so playing your favorite playlist will not be an option. The good thing is that most of these “grievances” can be resolved with an update.

Overall rating:
3.8 stars out of 5.0
Play Link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.etroktech.dockandshare&hl=en
*images courtesy of the developer and Google Play*