Best free Android apps of 2019 (plus a best-free-apps list of our own making)

[arlen holder]

This post is meant to be both "informative" & "somewhat cynical", where I
mainly post as a "discussion point" that the "clickbait" goes into high
gear on the first of every year, it seems.

As you know, I test free apps all the time where I factory wipe about
monthly, so that I may test anew, so, fresh from a factory wipe today, I
figured I'd test some new Android apps by searching for the best of 2019.

:)

Googling, I find a HUGE amount of articles, dated this week, titled:
o 10 Must-Have Android Apps for 2019
<https://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2374865,00.asp>
[Comixology Comics, Dashlane, Evernote, Google Drive, Netflix, NordVPN, Pocket Casts, Signal, Snapseed, Spotify]

o The 100 Best Android Apps for 2019
<https://www.pcmag.com/article/362295/the-100-best-android-apps>
[Too many to list here.]

o 15 best Android apps of 2019!
<https://www.androidauthority.com/best-android-apps-312570/>
[1Weather, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Assistant, Google Play Music,
LastPass, Nova Launcher, Pocket Casts, Pulse SMS, Solid Explorer, SwiftKey,
Tasker, TickTick, Walli, Zedge]

o The best Android apps to download in 2019
<https://www.techradar.com/news/best-android-apps-2019>
[WidgetDrawer, Safe, PhotoWatermark, StoryZ, KineMaster, Moment, IGTV,
PhotoDirector, Lens Distortions, LightX, TouchRetouch, SKRWT]

o 15 best free Android apps of 2019!
<https://www.androidauthority.com/best-free-android-apps-329422/>
[1Weather, AppLock, BitWarden, BlueMail, CreditKarma, Feedly, Gboard,
Google Drive, Google Opinion, Imgur, Google Maps, Waze, ProtonVPN, Quik
TickTick, Zedge]

o 30+ Best Root Apps for Android in 2019
<https://techbeasts.com/best-root-apps-android/>
(too many to list)

o Top 5 Best Free Drawing Apps for Android 2019
<https://itechhacks.com/best-drawing-apps-for-android/>
[ibis Paint X, MediBang Paint, ArtFlow, RoughAnimator, PaperOne]

o Best free Android apps of 2019
<https://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/70-best-free-android-apps-2013-687252>
(too many to list)f

o 5 Best Android Auto Apps in 2019
<https://thedroidguy.com/2019/01/5-best-android-auto-apps-in-2019-1095758>
[ScannerRadio, WhatsApp, Waze, AudioBooks, IHeartRadio]

o The best Android apps (January 2019)
<https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/best-android-apps/>
(too many to list)

o Best free Android email apps for 2019
<https://dexblog.net/best-free-android-email-apps-for-2019/>
[MS Outlook, BlueMail, Nine Mail, EdisonMail]

o Top Best Free Android Apps For 2019
<https://techincidents.com/best-free-android-apps-2019/>
[Google Opinion, NovaLauncher, 1Weather, GoogleAssistant, Samsung Pay]

My observation?
1. I think they "plan" this stuff to 'ship' on the 1st of January each year
2. I think the lack of overlap means, mostly, they're almost all bullshit
3. I think the "best apps of 2019" are similar to "best apps of 2018"

My "best" free apps are, from memory, something like this (alphabetical):
o 010 Minute Timer (a single press - nothing more - runs the timer)
o AddressToGPS (which anonymously scrapes the Google map db)
o App Backup (mobi older version automatically backs up - no ads)
o Applications Info (generates non-editable app exact name & version)
o Call Recorder (a bunch of apps do this nowadays)
o Contacts (the F-droid version - much better than the stock app)
o F-Droid repository (does not require a log in account)
o Jota Text Editor (lots of good text editors exist though)
o K9 Mail (will allow you to be different than the Android ID is)
o List My Apps (generates editable text file of app short & unique names)
o MapFactor Navigator (there are lots of good offline road map apps)
o My Apps - App List (generates editable text file of all installed apps)
o My App List ("manages" all apps, permission lists, uninstall, run, etc.)
o NewPipe YouTube Red Clone (nothing beats this for YouTube watching!)
o Nova Launcher (nothing beats this free app launcher, IMHO)
o OpenCamera (the one from F-Droid works best)
o OpenVPN client (get free config files from ProtonVPN or other outfits)
o Orbot/OrWeb officially sanctioned Tor browser bundle
o QKSMS (or Pulse SMS, both work better than the stock SMS/MMS app)
o SecScanQR (I would like a better one, if you know of one)
o US Topo Maps (there are lots of good offroad offline USGS topo map apps)
o WiFi Analyzer (there are lots of good free ad-free wifi analyzers)
<https://groups.google.com/d/msg/comp.mobile.android/w0ze6GZoOOc/4fp-9sTuAAAJ>

Missing is a good free ad-free link-creating default-setting basic Android
filesystem "file manager", where I removed (with malice) my original copy
of ES File Explorer APK before they went over to the iTunes-like dark side
while "file cleaner" blows away APK files without doublechecking with you
first.

Also missing is a good unlimited free ad free "file redirector", where
"File Redirect" by "Tobino" no longer seems to exist:
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tobino.redirectsfree>

(Are any of the newer free ad-free apps worth testing on your part?)
*What best-of-the-best free app software do you like most?*