Got a Samsung Galaxy? Whether you just bagged the brand new Samsung Galaxy S20 or are looking after an old faithful, you've got one fancy piece of tech. But a phone is only as good as the apps you put on it. Here are just a few that will help you pimp your Galaxy smartphone.
Adobe Photoshop Suite
Available on: Google Play
You've got the Galaxy's ace camera, now it's time to make the most of it. These completely free apps from Adobe may not have all the power and features of original Photoshop, but for everyday users that's kind of a good thing. Photoshop Express, Photoshop Mix and Photoshop Fix are a user-friendly way to make some professional-grade edits to your snaps. You can compensate for poor shooting conditions, add filters, remove facial blemishes, cut out and combine images, change colours and more.
The exception is Photoshop Lightroom, which seems designed for users with a bit more confidence and knowledge. But if you know your stuff or have a mind to learn, this is also a great tool that will even allow you to see what an effect will look like before you take a shot.
Price: Free. (Some features restricted to in-app purchase.)
See more of our choice apps for photo editing.
Quik
Available on: Google Play
There are plenty of free video editing apps around but the difference with Quik is that it's ... well, quick. And smart. The software is clever enough to add cuts, transitions, effects and music to your video for you. Or you can do it yourself with a few clicks. Choose from over 100 free songs on the Quik music library or use your own.
Price: Free
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Nova Launcher
Available on: Google Play
If you want your beautiful new Galaxy to feel and act like its uniquely yours, you'll be wanting to install a custom launcher, and Nova Launcher is the most customisable of them all. Nova Launcher allows you to control the look and feel of your phone and organise your apps and widgets exactly the way you want them. With Nova Launcher Prime you can also add custom gestures that will launch your favourite apps, trigger actions like voice search or even give you a traffic report.
Price: Free | $5.99
See more of our productivity app picks.
Gboard
Available on: Google Play
Adding Gboard to your Galaxy is a nice little touch to make sure you're getting the full Android smartphone experience. Gboard does everything your Samsung keyboard would do but it also has emoji search, gif search, voice typing, Google translate, one-hand mode, search and share and special gestures for easy text editing. Also, it just feels easier to use.
Price: Free
Pocketbook
Available on: Google Play
If you've just bought a new Galaxy your wallet has likely taken a hit, so it might be time to take control of your finances. There are plenty of budgeting apps around but tracking your spending can be an onerous task without Pocketbook's ability to sync with your bank. Your Australian bank. You can get bill reminders, track multiple bank accounts, auto-categorise spending and use spend history to plan your budget.
Price: Free
For more apps like this, check out our editor's picks for budgeting apps.
Inlk
Available on: Google Play, AppStore
If you love supporting quality journalism but hate navigating subscriptions, paywalls and annoying ads, you might want to check out Inkl. For USD$9.99 per month the Inkl app will give you unlimited, ad-free reading of the news sources curated through its program. Participating sites include The Sydney Morning Herald, The Guardian, Crikey, Financial Times, The Atlantic and The Washington Post. And if you're willing to pay USD$17.45 you can get the Wall Street Journal and Barrons as well.
The Inkl app organises news from all its sources under browse categories like lead stories, your topics, "Inkl picks" and a whole lot more. If you don't want to sign up for the paid subscription you can browse headlines for free and just pay USD$0.10 per article to read.
Price: Free to explore, USD$9.99 to subscribe
For more apps like this, check out our editor's picks for news apps.
Libby, from OverDrive
Available on: Google Play
If you like to read, Libby is definitely an app you need to have on your phone. The app can get you access to free ebooks and audiobooks right on your on your phone. Your library will need to be a participating member and you will need to go in and get a membership card (it's free). But after that, all you need to do is download the app, put in your membership card number and get borrowing.
Price: Free
For more apps like this, check out our editor's picks for podcast and audiobook apps.
Hinge
Available on: Google Play
Hinge positions itself as the "relationship app", claiming that three out of four first dates set up through the app lead to second dates, and that it is the number one mobile-first dating app mentioned in the New York Times Wedding section. And with that bold pitch you should be fairly confident that people you meet on the app will be looking for something serious.
Hinge offers quite a different take on the dating app concept, with profiles that focus on ice-breaking facts like someone's unique skills, best travel story or ideal fake sick day. You get the opportunity to like specific parts of people's profiles to start a conversation and you don't have to match to get in touch. Hinge also offers thoughtful features like conversation reminders to reduce 'ghosting' caused by busyness or just plain forgetfulness.
Price: Free
For more apps like this, check out our editor's picks for best dating apps.
Pushbullet
Available on: Google Play
Extend your Galaxy beyond the confines of your phone. If you work at a desk for long stretches this can be super useful. You can easily send and receive texts and other messages from your computer - particularly handy if you like to share a lot of links to friends. It has other cool features too. For example, if you dismiss a notification on your computer, it goes away on your phone too. These nice little touches make your daily communications just a little bit more seamless.
Price: Free
For more apps like this, check out our editor's picks for best productivity apps.
Smiling Mind
Available on: Google Play
With all this photo editing, video creation, customisation, reading, listening and swiping you're going to be doing, you'll want to be taking some time out to breathe and just be. Smiling Mind is a guided meditation app offering dozens of tailored sessions. They range in length from two minutes to forty-five and some are even designed to be done during daily activities like walking and commuting. There are also meditations for kids and teenagers.
Price: Free
For more apps like this, check out our editor's picks for best meditation and wellbeing apps.
DreamLab
Available on: Google Play
Want to turn your new Galaxy into a phone that literally cures cancer? Every night when you sleep your Galaxy is probably on the charger, connected to home WiFi, right? Why not put that downtime towards a higher purpose? Apparently, cancer researchers need access to supercomputers to process their complex data. The DreamLab turns your phone into a part of that supercomputer - when you're not using it. The app downloads small parts of complex cancer research projects, runs calculations on the data, and sends the results back to the research team. You control when and how DreamLab uses your phone so it costs you nothing and you get to know you're contributing to a very important cause.
Price: Free
Jacqui Dent
Editorial Strategist
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