Feature
»^ Material world
QuickPic
Calendar
QuickPic has been a go-to gallery
replacement on Android for a
while. It has a clean interface
which makes it easy to use. A
recent update made it even better, with
Material Design animations and integrated
cloud storage backup. Purists might nit-pick
this – though the side panel now slides with a
spinning arrow animation, the panel itself
doesn't cover the action bar, is slightly
transparent and doesn't employ smaller
typography for lesser-used items. Also the
black-and-white colour scheme is slightlyWe’ve avoided including too
many Google apps in this
line-up because you probably
have them installed already, but
Google Calendar deserves mention. Bright
colours, pleasing images and fast, informative
animations all combine to make a great
calendar app experience. Added to the new
colours and animations, Calendar offers
interesting features such as Smart Assists
— the app can suggest titles, people and
places as you type. It integrates with Gmail
and Reminders and can offer photos and
maps of the place you’re visiting. More visible
on the tablet version than Google Calendar for
phone, the app is also packed with
illustrations of everyday events like dinner,
drinks and yoga. Google Calendar's full-month
view is basic, but agenda list and the home
screen widget are wonderfully done.
» Price Free » Requires Android varieswiftkey
Cabinet
Beta
CloudMagic
Everyone’s favourite third-party
keyboard client was quick to add a
series of Lollipop themes to its
collection that imitate Material
gn style. Known as the Material series, the
mes are available in contrasting colours but
the same functionality. This includes one
e best predictive engines for smarter text
correct, as the app learns your preferred
ng style as you use it, to the point where it
guess the next word – or even the emoji
at you’re going to type. Swiftkey’s unique
h controls also make it easy to switch from
ERTY keys to number keys and more, with a
ple long-press. The app is free to download
the Material Design themes will cost 69p
h or £1.99 for a pack of seven.
rice Free + IAPs » Requires Android 2.3While many fi le managers require a
lot of set up, Cabinet is designed to
work right off the bat with basically
no confi guration – and it looks good
while doing so. Moving around fi les is easy with
quick folder shortcuts and an easy multiselect
feature enabled by tapping on the fi le or folder's
icon. An added bonus for superusers is that
Cabinet supports root access, so you can
navigate system directories and fi les in an
equally slick interface. It also supports SFTP.
»^ Price^ Free + IAPs »^ Requires Android 4.0If you like the basics of Material
Design but think the offi cial Gmail or
Inbox by Google apps are garish,
then try CloudMagic Email. It offers the same
one-fi ngered navigation, with simple interface
and slide menus, but with muted tones and less
animations. CloudMagic is geared towards cloud
storage – it supports multiple accounts so you
can view your home and work emails in the
same inbox. You can also attach fi les from your
device and Dropbox, Box and even iCloud Drive.
CloudMagic also integrates with other apps,
such as Wunderlist, Todoist and Instapaper, so“Also in line with Material Design thinking,
CloudMagic offers a unifi ed experience across
different devices, working on your phone,
tablet and Android Wear”
you can save emails however you like and
improve your productivity while you’re at it. Also
in line with Material Design thinking, CloudMagic
offers a unifi ed experience across different
devices, working on your phone, tablet and
Android Wear. You can use CloudMagic Email for
free, but a subscription of $4.99 (approx. £2.25)
a month lets you wipe your data if you lose your
device and priority support for any problems.
»^ Price^ Free + IAPs »^ Requires Android 4.0