Best Android Apps and Games 2019

Best Android Apps and Games of 2019

The importance of mobile apps in our daily life is undeniable. We are so encompassed that now and then we use one or the other app. Among the tons of Android apps available on the Play Store, the following are the exceptional apps Google Play has listed under various categories:

Best Apps of 2019

User’s Choice App of 2019: Spotify
Spotify App

Spotify is a digital music streaming service that gives you access to the content of various artists from all over the world such as millions of songs, podcasts, and videos. Spotify is a premium android app but you can have access to its basic functions which includes playing music which is totally free. It can be played across a range of devices such as computers, phones, tablets, speakers, TVs, and cars. You cannot download music from Spotify in the traditional sense besides you can save it to listen offline.

Best Everyday Essentials of 2019: Boosted: Productivity and Time Tracker
Boosted App

With an easy to use interface Boosted a productivity and time tracker app helps you improve personal and work productivity. This android app comes with multiple features such as time tracking and organizing the activities. You can also view history of your activities in a chronological timeline. Furthermore, you can also back-up and restore your data to Google Drive.

Best Personal Growth App of 2019: Meesho
Meesho App

Meesho is a social commerce platform which enables small businesses and individuals to start their online stores through social channels namely WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram etc. It is used by women entrepreneurs, housewives, college students, as well as shop and boutique owners, and anyone looking for a part-time job or home-based jobs.

Best Hidden Gems of 2019: Appy Weather
Appy Weather App

Appy Weather is an impressive weather app, in particular, the personal touch the developers have provided. You can avail the information in brief or detail as the app provides information in both ways. The app recognizes your current location to avoid manually switching locations as you travel. There’s a feature named Toast Notification which alerts you when it is expected to rain or snow.

Best Apps for Fun of 2019: Ablo
Ablo App

Ablo is a social media chat app that lets you connect with the world and relate with new people across all parts of the world at any time and in any language. With Ablo’s built-in translator there is no language barrier. You just need to type in your language and send. The receiver on the other end will receive a translated message. Overall, the app is engaging, addictive and a great pastime.

Best Games of 2019

User’s Choice Game 2019: Call of Duty Mobile
Call of Duty Mobile

The game is a rival to the most popular mobile game PUBG Mobile. Both games are published by the same Tencent Games. It is the part of popular Call of Duty franchise from the world of PC and Console gaming which is free to play on mobile. This android game comes with five online multiplayer modes such as Free-For-All, Frontline, Team Deathmatch, Hardpoint, and Domination along with newly introduced Zombie Survival mode.

Best Competitive Game of 2019: Brawl Stars
Brawl Stars

Brawl Stars is a fast-paced multiplayer battle game developed by the makers of Clash of Clans, Clash Royale, and Boom Beach. It comes in multiple game modes such as Gem Grab, Showdown, Heist, Bounty, Brawl Bawl including limited-time special events. But you cannot select a particular game mode to play as they are randomly selected.

Best Indie Game of 2019: #Drive
#Drive

DRIVE is an endless driving videogame inspired by road and action movies from the 70s and 80s. As simple as possible, allowing the player to pick a car, pick the place and just hit the road. Just be aware not to hit anything else. No matter where we drive, no matter what we drive or how fast we drive. We simply chose to drive.

Best Casual Game of 2019: 1945
1945 Arcade Shooting

1945 is a long-run shooting game which is a remake of classic arcade experience which includes 16 types of famous WWII combat planes. The game controls are easy to learn and use which gives you the old feeling of playing an arcade game. It comes with great visuals, additional modes, and exciting campaigns.

Best Innovative Game of 2019: Alt-Frequencies
Alt Frequencies

The makers of “A Normal Lost Phone” and “Another Lost Phone: Laura’s Story” has launched a new audio mystery game Alt-Frequencies. The players sail through the radio frequencies trying to uncover government conspiracy acting as a media manipulator. It’s an interesting android game put together with a clean look and convincing set of radio stations.

Google Stadia: Founder’s Edition and more coming this November

Google Stadia Games

A few months ago Google revealed its ambitious cloud-based game streaming service named Stadia at a conference in San Francisco along with its own gaming studio – Stadia Games and Entertainment. But last week ahead of E3 it gave some of the most important information everyone was waiting for such as pricing, pre-order availability, and games which will be available at the initial launch.

Google will launch Stadia with two subscription models called Stadia Pro, Stadia Base, and Founder’s Edition as an initial launch.

Stadia Pro:

It will cost $9.99 per month which gives players access to the highest quality 4K, 60fps streaming with HDR and 5.1 surround sound with the requirement of 35Mbps of bandwidth and access to Stadia’s free catalog.

Stadia Base:

Stadia Base, a free model will be launched next year which is limited to 1080p 60fps with stereo sound. You can also use the existing controllers such as Xbox One or PlayStation DualShock 4 to play the titles.

Stadia Founders Edition:

Initially, the company is offering “Stadia Founders Edition” bundle that packages Stadia copy of Destiny 2, the limited edition night blue controller which alone costs $69, a Chromecast ultra which will allow players to play on their televisions and three months of the pro service for $130.

Games:

According to Google, the company is geared up with 31 games which come from 21 developers and publishers. Following are the games:

Bandai Namco – Dragon Ball Xenoverse – 2

Bethesda – Doom Eternal, Doom (2016), Wolfenstein: Youngblood, Rage 2, The Elder Scrolls Online

Bungie – Destiny -2

Capcom – TBA

Coatsink – Get Packed

Codemasters – Grid

Deep Silver – Metro Exodus

Drool – Thumper

Electronic Arts – TBA

Giants Software – Farming Simulator 19

Larian Studios – Baldur’s Gate III

nWay Games – Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid

Rockstar Games – TBA

Sega – Football Manager

SNK – Samurai Shodown

Square Enix – Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Final Fantasy XV

2K Games – NBA 2K, Borderlands – 3

Tequila Works – Gylt

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment – Mortal Kombat 11

THQ – Darksiders Genesis

Ubisoft – Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey, Just Dance, Trials Rising, Tom Clancy’s The Division – 2, The Crew – 2, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Breakpoint

Playing stadia on mobile devices will be restricted to Pixel 3 and Pixel 3A at launch but you can play in the Chrome browser on your Mac. It will be expanded to other phones over time and probably to other hardware. It is still unclear what Google is going to do with multiplayer titles.

At launch, Stadia will be available in the following countries: USA, UK, Canada, Belgium, Finland, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, and Sweden.

Snap Games: Snapchat’s real-time multiplayer gaming platform

Snap has launched its gaming platform Snap Games at Snap Partner Summit in Los Angeles. This platform will allow users to play multiplayer games in real-time while texting and talking with their friends. Such instant games is a huge hit in Asia with platforms like Kakao and Line. Snap games platform is based on PrettyGreat an Australian game studio which was acquired by Snap in 2017. Snap has rolled out the games for both Android and iOS users. 

Snap games will compete with the likes of Facebook Instant games and Apple iMessage games. As there are no in-app purchases in Snap games, so to generate revenue from it Snap has added 6 seconds of un-skippable advertisements to the games. Watching such un-skippable adverts will be irritating for users but these adverts will reward them with power up or points which will help them to stay ahead in their game.

Snap has teamed up with several developers having huge success in mobile and online games including Spry Fox, PikPok, and Zynga and along with these developers, Snap will develop its own games. Following are the games which Snap has debuted with:

  • Bitmoji Party by Snap inc. – Bitmoji party game is similar to the most loved Mario Party game where users can play with 7 friends simultaneously. It includes four fast-paced mini-games: Pool Party, Kick Off, Spin Session, and Zombie Escape. In these games, players can appear in their Bitmoji characters. 
  • Alphabear Hustle by Spry Fox – A fast-paced cooperative word game. Players can work together to spell words, collect bears and build their personal village.
  • C.A.T.S (Crash Arena Turbo Stars) by ZeptoLab – It is a multiplayer racing game. Players can use boosters to race faster or slow down opponents and can collect new vehicles from C.A.T.S universe.
  • Snake Squad by Game Closure – A multiplayer battle royale game. Players can choose their favourite avatar to go onto battle and guide their snakes around the battlefield with the squad and grow larger to eliminate competitors.
  • Tiny Royale by Zynga – Players can play it solo or in a squad. It is a 2 minutes round game where players need to loot and shoot their way to victory.
  • Zombie Rescue Squad by PikPok – Enter the front lines of the zombie apocalypse with friends, rescue survivors from the hungry hoards, and gather as many supplies as you can.

To make Snap games easily accessible Snapchat has provided a rocket ship button to the chat bar, also there is no need to install the games. Users can see which of their friends are playing games and can send them a chat or can talk with them with live voice chat. 

Snapchat is a platform where users visit very frequently and adding games will engage users spending more time on Snapchat. More games will be added down the road.

Google Stadia: Cloud based game streaming platform

Google Stadia: Cloud based game streaming platform

Google revealed its cloud-based game streaming platform named Stadia at a conference in San Francisco. It, also, revealed its own game studio-Stadia Games and Entertainment. Stadia games and entertainment will develop games exclusively for Stadia. Stadia is the first gaming platform which Google has developed with game streamers in mind. Streamers can stream right to YouTube with the dedicated button on Google’s own Stadia controller.

Stadia, is a cloud based gaming platform that will bring gamers, developers, streamers and YouTubers together. Stadia will challenge the big names in gaming market with a vision to provide high quality games which have been played on video game consoles and PCs. 

Developers can make multiplayer games that can work across multiple devices such as laptops, PCs, TVs, tablets and smartphones. In order to speed up the development of games Google will work with both big and small developers.

According to Google, Stadia runs on Linux operating system. Therefore games compatible with Linux will be easier to port to Stadia. Stadia will support 4k streaming at 60 frames per second. Google has its vast data centres which will support the cloud that can handle the processing of games at 4k resolution.

Having the advantage of cloud it is easier for gamers to access Stadia without the need of any physical disc or downloads. Cloud gaming has a lot of appeal as there is no need to download gigabytes of data, which helps in reducing all sorts of loading and downtime that comes into play while playing a traditional video game.

For Stadia, Google has its own game controller which comes with a dedicated button for Google assistant powered voice features and capture video of your game play. The controller connects directly to Google’s data centre, therefore, you won’t need to re-sync it to the laptop or to other devices.

Google wants to change the traditional video gaming market with Stadia by providing users with lag free gaming experience. Since, taking the contribution from all kind of developers, not only will it amlify creatvity but also, it means for users there will be tons of game options. All in all, Stadia could be a game changer for Google.