Top 15 Android Applications of 2022

It's time for some enjoyable year-end roundups now that another year has come to a conclusion. Android apps aren't as popular as they once were. After all, it's challenging to establish yourself in a market where there are already so many top-notch apps. However, we believe that quite a few did well this year, and we will discuss them. The top Android apps of 2022 are listed below.

For this list, we looked through more than 200 apps; many others were left out. Apps released on or around December 10th did not pass our threshold this year since we were unable to adequately test them beforehand. Thank you for your patience.

The final three apps on this list, which we selected as the top Android apps of the year, are not in alphabetical order. We sincerely hope you enjoy reading.

The beta version of the PlayStation 2 emulator AetherSX2 was released in late 2021. In 2022, the first complete release was made. There are a number of reasons why this software is great. It's the first PlayStation 2 emulator for Android. It also functions fairly well. The typical emulator features like save states and hardware controller compatibility are among them. Additionally, you'll receive things like per-game options, widescreen patches for specific titles, and 1080p upscaling.

You do need a PlayStation 2 BIOS file, but for obvious reasons, the creator doesn't give one. Other than that, it appears to function fairly well on the majority of top-tier current phones. Your results may vary, the developer warns, as Mali and PowerVR GPUs don't run the emulator as well as the more well-known Adreno GPUs. In any event, it's great that Android now has PlayStation 2 functionality in addition to all the other top emulators.

A launcher for mobile players is called Console Launcher. Your games appear as sizable tiles in an interface designed to resemble that of a Nintendo Switch. A couple of the launcher's features are geared toward gamers, such as gamepad support, which allows you to scroll between your games with the flick of a joystick. It's undoubtedly a cute little feature for gamers who frequently use controllers, but it's somewhat specialized otherwise.

Its drawbacks include a lack of customization, subpar accessibility support, and a less comfortable use experience without a controller. Although it's not something we'd use as our daily transportation, the premise is interesting. Kodi is, after all, a multimedia platform. Why can't there be a launcher only for games? The launcher features no in-app purchases and a fixed price of $4.99.

Although it seems strange to include a journal app on a best-of-the-year list, this one is actually rather good. Daily Diary performs all the functions you would expect from a good diary app. This consists of a biometric lock, the option to attach photographs to journal entries, a calendar, a mood tracker, reminders, and a pleasingly simple but contemporary user interface. Most people find the smooth, subdued hues and simple controls appealing.

The pricing of the software is one of its best features. Numerous diary apps rely on a subscription service. With no additional in-app purchases or advertisements, this one costs just $2.99. It achieves this by backing up your diary to Google Drive so you can transfer devices without losing any data. That helps set it apart from the majority of the other top diary apps, combined with the exceptional implementation. Although diary apps aren't the most widely used category of smartphone apps, we're writing about them because they're undoubtedly some of the best.

DanceFitme is a hybrid exercise and dancing software. You may access a range of videos that will teach you how to dance while you lose weight if you sign up for an account and subscribe. The app provides training routines and videos of different dancing styles to assist you in reaching your fitness objectives. Of course, as you practice the different dances, you'll pick up the steps.

The software can also perform the standard fitness tasks like tracking your advancement and customizing your routines based on your level of competence. If a subscription-based fitness app didn't include those features, we wouldn't suggest it. Although I'm not really into this type of exercise, I can see why so many people this year jumped on board. Due to the fact that many fitness apps cost $9.99 or more per month, the subscription fee is also not too bad.

DeepL Translate is an international language translator. 29 languages are now supported. There are numerous translations that are possible. To get direct translations, you can speak to the app or type words into it. You can also use your camera to look at text. The UI is straightforward but functional and has a few contemporary flourishes, so it doesn't appear old.

Compared to the industry leaders like Google Translate or Microsoft Translate, it doesn't cover as many languages. The fact that this app supports more than two dozen languages is still quite impressive considering that other applications have years more of development maturity than this one. In our testing, the translations were efficient and precise. It's good to have a third translation option that isn't a Google or Microsoft offering.

Children can study with the learning app Duolingo ABC. As the name suggests, this one aids in the teaching of reading. It essentially applies the successful methodology of Duolingo to reading. Children read books that contain bite-sized lessons for them to learn. The program features a total of over 700 reading courses.

The program also has offline functionality, no advertisements, and education for children up to first grade. It goes without saying that older children who have reading issues can still benefit from the program. A lot of educational software for kids features similar content presented in similar ways. This is an easy suggestion for teaching kids how to read; Duolingo does it slightly differently.

The app of the year on Google Play is Dream by WOMBO. It's also really good in our opinion. It is a piece of artificial intelligence art software that may produce many interesting visuals. It specializes in dreamscapes that resemble the posters that you used to be able to get from Spencer's in the 1990s in some way. These pictures work well as backgrounds or for social media posts.

Similar to a search engine, it operates. You enter the nouns you wish to see. Then, using those nouns, the program creates a dreamscape. The functionality was a little sporadic, in my opinion. On occasion, it would create the artwork as described, and on other occasions, it would skip keywords. There are many apps on the Play Store that are comparable to this one, yet despite its flaws, it still performs better than its rivals.

The biography website Linktree exists. It is used to build a profile page. After that, the website generates a brief link that you insert into your social media profiles' bios. Links from Linktree have probably appeared on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok profiles. The app is a supplement to the website and allows you to create exactly the same things that are available there.

In fact, there isn't much there, and it rather reminds me of a MySpace profile. You can include your name, details about yourself, preferences, and other standard information. The fact that you can link things like playlists, videos, podcasts, and music is what makes me think of MySpace. We frequently find people utilizing these because they were created primarily for websites with brief profiles.

The number of downloads for NoteIt Widget actually surprises us. Currently, the app has had over ten million downloads. It's a fresh idea. The program establishes a connection and then downloads a widget to your phone. Once finished, you can write messages or do small drawings right on the widget and send them to that other person.

We discovered that it's a cute little app for lovers or best friends, but it won't obviously replace the functionality of conventional texting apps. Similar to Snapchat, the app tracks streaks, and if you break a streak, you may use in-app payments to get it back. Although this game is a little bit more buggy than we'd want for a best-of-the-year list, those download statistics speak for themselves. It's popular with people.

An alternative fitness app is Recover Athletics. Not helping you get in shape isn't the main idea. As an alternative, it supports a healthy recovery from your physical training. The app provides a ton of advice, techniques, and instructions for treating pain while staying safe. Other features include a Strava connection, a digital recovery coach with tailored advice, and custom routine creation to help you organize your recovery.

The application is quite good to use. Most fitness applications require some getting used to, but it takes a moment. There is a monthly fee involved with this. It's less expensive than the majority of fitness applications, but considering that this is designed to complement your main fitness app, we wish it had been a little less expensive.

A music player for cloud-based music is called Symphony. You can connect to Kodi, Subsonic, Emby, Jellyfin, Plex, and more using the app. It functions by allowing you to play music from your computer's music library, just like you would with any other music app. This app is on this list even though it seems specialized because there aren't any others like it on Google Play. According to our knowledge, the app excels at what it does better than any rival.

Song ratings, intelligent playlists, intelligent filters, compatibility for Android Auto, the ability to play music offline, lyrics support, and an equalizer are some other features. Once you have everything set up, it looks and functions just like any other music player. This one is great, and we predict it will appear on some of our best lists in the upcoming year.

In April 2022, Mastodon released its official app. After Elon Musk bought Twitter a few months later, Mastodon experienced a huge growth in users. There isn't a release that could have happened at a better time. The program performs admirably. You may log into your instance, post messages, and see what your followers are up to. Once you're set up, it's a simple experience that isn't very challenging to utilize.

The setup procedure is when users typically report bugs. After that, everything is fairly simple. Although the program could use a little polish to keep up with contemporary social media apps, it actually functions just great as is.

The app of the year on Google Play is BeReal. It's a social network that limits users' posting time to a few minutes each day in an effort to eradicate bogus content from online forums. You can't really plan when you post because the software selects that for you. You simply snap a photo of what you're doing and go. It pleases me that influencers have some difficulty using this site.

The software is fairly easy to use. You simply follow your pals, have a look at their posts, and move on. You have to leave when you're finished because there isn't a steady stream and you have nothing else to do. With BeReal, that sort of adds to the appeal. The software itself functions largely without issue, although it is considerably hampered by obnoxious notifications and sporadic network issues.

DynamicSpot is Android Authority's app of the year; we're going to say that out loud. a customizing tool that resembles Dynamic Island on the iPhone. It may be configured to interact with a variety of apps in a number of different ways. We like it because it allows you to experiment with the notch or pinhole camera that is present on the majority of Android phones. In addition, it functions well and is, to our knowledge, the only Dynamic Island app on the Play Store.

You can personalize DynamicSpot in a variety of ways, including by adding iOS-style music controls, a countdown timer, battery charging, and the ability to reply to notifications from the pop-up. You can also create your own custom interactions. Additionally, unlike BeReal, this app was actually released in 2022, it addresses a trend from that year, and it's actually entertaining to use. Happy birthday, DynamicSpot!