That Google I/O hangover can be a real killer, but there are still untold multitudes of apps being added to Google Play all the time. This is no time to take a break! It's time for the Google Play App Roundup where we bring you the best new and newly updated apps on Android. Just click the app name to head right to the Play Store.

This week we look at Google's new chat service, check out a great tower defense game, and experience a classic.

Hangouts

Google Talk has been a part of Android since its inception, but it’s was largely ignored as redesigns have progressed. And all this despite being a really useful service. As Google I/O approached, we all expected the messaging unification known internally as Babel to be announced, but it turns out to unify very little. Hangouts is Google’s new messaging brand, and it replaces Talk. Let’s take a look at how it works.

Hangouts is basically a replacement for Google Talk and G+ Messenger. To be fair, Google never really said Hangouts was supposed to be unifying messaging on Android -- everyone just really hoped it would. There is no SMS functionality like Apple has in its messaging app, and Google Voice SMS is also excluded. This isn’t a dealbreaker, but I sincerely hope this functionality can be added soon.

As it stands, Hangouts pulls in your Google contacts from Talk, as well as all your Google+ circles and friends. By far my biggest issue with Hangouts right now is that the contact list ends up a bit of a jumbled mess. People with multiple addresses tend to show up more than once (despite trying to merge contacts) and the large contact shortcuts at the top of the app are not configurable. This decision baffles me.

Hangouts uses a sliding UI, which Google seems quite fond of lately. It has a very Holo feel, but I was initially confused about how to get back to the contact list from conversations. Sometimes you can slide back over to it, but other times you need to tap the ‘+’ button in the action bar to get there.

Hangouts includes regular 1-to-1 conversations, group messaging, and video hangouts. It’s good that we finally have all these functions in one place. Android has had video calls built in for some time, for instance, but no one used it because the functionality was buried in the Talk app. Now it’s all Hangouts video chat, which is much easier and more consistent with Google’s services.

One thing that Hangouts gets very right is the read-receipt and typing status in text conversations. Small avatars of your friends float down the side of the conversation view to show you how far they’ve read. This is extremely well-done, as is the bouncing dot animation to let you know when someone is typing.

Also along for the ride in Hangouts is emoji and image support. Yes, you can finally send pictures through chat instead of trusting MMS. This might actually be my favorite feature, because I suspect I’ll use it a lot. The emoji not so much, but I’m sure some folks will be very into it.

The Hangouts app will replace Talk, and that comes with a few sacrifices. Status messages are gone, as is the Away/Screen-off state. You’re either online, or not online. Any apps you had that plugged into Talk will more than likely stop working, as well. Overall, Hangouts is a good upgrade once you cozy up to it... I’m slowly coming around. There has been some trouble getting certain devices updated through Google Play, but all should be well now.

The Google Play Store continues to swell in size week after week, and there's always something new and cool popping up. There's entirely too much stuff happening for one lone user to keep track of, so we scour the web for the best leads on apps you need to see. Just click on the app name to head right to the Play Store.

This week your screen gets more sleep-friendly, a casual puzzler will steal your heart, and the vehicular end times begin.

Twilight

If you ever experience sleep disruptions after spending too much time on the computer or with a phone hanging inches from your face, Twilight might be the app for you (this has nothing to do with sparkly vampires). This app modifies the color temperature of your display to reduce the impact of using a phone or tablet before bed. Why? Some research indicates certain wavelengths of light can have a negative impact on your sleep cycle. It’s science!

LCD screen technology outputs a lot of light that can actually trick your brain into thinking the sun hasn’t set yet. Because sleep cycles are partially controlled by the day/night cycle, using these devices before bed can contribute to insomnia. Twilight keeps track of where you are in the world and slowly changes the display temperature to match the sunset. The goal is to move away from the wavelengths of light that fool your brain as bedtime approaches. This is the same functionality available on the desktop with F.lux.

Just like with F.lux, the filter applied to your screen looks odd at first, but you probably won’t notice it after a few minutes. The app settings allow you to change the intensity and tone of the overlay. Basically, you need to add a red or yellow cast with the temperature slider to see any benefit. Just find a level that doesn’t cause too much distraction, and let the app handle the rest.

There is a cool option in Twilight to preview the display color throughout the day. This will give you a good idea how much it changes over time. You can also have the app dim the screen at night.

If at any time you need to do some color-sensitive work, Twilight can be paused by tapping on the notification. Likewise, you can have the app automatically disabled when you open certain apps, like the camera or gallery for example.

All of this is free, but the donation version can unlock a few additional features that might be of use. For about $3 Twilight adds the ability to set custom active times and change how fast the color transition occurs. This is handy if you don’t work a normal schedule.

You should give Twilight a shot and see if it makes a difference in your life. The research on this is compelling, but not definitive as of yet. Other apps do the same sort of thing on Android, but I think Twilight is the easiest to use, and it does a lot for free.

The Play Store is gaining new apps at an astounding rate -- so fast that you could never hope to keep up with all the notable apps. But don't fret. We're skimming the best new and newly updated stuff off the top and dropping it here in the weekly Google Play App Roundup. Just click on the app name to head right to the Play Store.

This week there's a new podcast app worth your time, a game with lots of punching, and an eerie adventure game.

Player FM

It has been a long time since I saw a new podcast app that I liked, but Player FM has some real potential. This app has you sign in to Google+ when you start it up, and then asks you what sort of stuff you’re into. From there, it aggregates a ton of podcasts you might want to listen to, and yes, This is Only a Test is on the suggested list.

The Player FM UI is definitely Android-y, but it’s not just Holo. Player FM is throwing its virtual hat into the ring with the cards UI from Google Now and a few other Google apps. Everyone sees Mountain View going in this direction, so it’s natural for third-party developers to follow suit.

The app is split up into swipable panels, one for each area of interest. You can peruse and listen to any of them you like by streaming, or add your favorites to your main queue. The queue is also a tab in the app, but these podcasts there will be downloaded to your device automatically, rather than streamed from the cloud.

Player FM has a number of settings to control how episodes are displayed and downloaded, but it’s not as comprehensive as something like Doggcatcher. Player FM is best suited to a user that listens to a handful of podcasts regularly, and might poke around in other feeds on occasion. If you religiously listen to 20 podcasts, this might not be the app for you.

When you have an episode playing, there will be a persistent playback area at the bottom of the screen. A notification shade entry also has playback controls in it. My only concern with the interface is the slight lag I see when swiping from one tab to the next. This seems like it would be an easy fix, so hopefully the developer is on it.

Right from the start, I found the experience of using Player FM enjoyable. Searching for new podcasts was a breeze, but many of my prefered listings were presented in the suggestions. I’m actually rather surprised this app is free. I wouldn’t have batted an eye if it had been listed at $1-2. Check this one out if you want a casual podcast app.

The Play Store grows by the day, overflowing with apps and games of varying degrees of quality. Once a week here on Tested, we like to dive in and see what's new and cool on Android, hence the Google Play App Roundup. Just click on the app name to head right to the Play Store on your device.

This week we have a classic alternative keyboard that has finally reached the big leagues, a game with neat space ships, and a casual side-scroller with a ton of cute.

Swype

For the last few years, the Swype beta program has been the least exclusive private club in the Android world. You could (usually) sign up on the Swype website to get access to a sideloaded version of this granddaddy of swiping keyboards. Updates were a pain, and Swype seemed less interested in updating the beta than focusing on its main business model -- licensing to OEMs. Last week, all that had changed. Swype is now in Google Play.

There is a trial version, as well as a paid edition. This time installation is much easier -- no logging in, no downloading APKs, just hit up the Play Store. The last time I was heavily into Swype, there were a ton of options. In this new version, some of that customization is gone, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The keyboard seems more autonomous than it once was.

The whole idea behind Swype is that you can just draw the words you with your finger. Other contenders have implemented this feature, not least among them SwiftKey and Google itself in Android 4.2. With some of the improvements Swype has made, I think it might actually be the best at swiping input.

I would say that Swype got words correct more than nine times out of ten. No more do you have to hover over double letters, or land exactly on each key. Swype seems a little better at getting what I'm after than stock Android, and much better than SwiftKey. The tracing seems a bit more responsive in Swype than the other options, and it makes fewer common errors. However, you’ll quickly find some tricky key combinations, like the difference between ‘our and ‘or.’ Tapping input used to be very bad in Swype, but in this version it’s actually quite good.

I like the shortcut gestures Swype implements. For example, swipe from period to space to finish off a sentence, or drag up above the keyboard at any time to capitalize the previous letter. I’m not really crazy about the decision to integrate Nuance’s own Dragon voice input engine in place of Google’s, but I can understand the decision from a branding perspective. Dragon works well, but seems a bit slower than Google voice input.

The new Swype has several themes to choose from, including a very nice Holo look. There will reportedly be more themes later, but the ones we have now look far better than the old default Swype theme.

Swype is only $0.99 right now in celebration of the Google Play launch. This keyboard works on phones and tablets, with the latter allowing various layout options. If you’re in need of a good alternative keyboard for your device, check out Swype.

There's always a new app or game coming out for Android, which is rapidly catching up to that other platform. If you seriously evaluated every app of note, it would be a full time job. Best to just rely on the Google Play App Roundup to filter things for you. This is the place you can find the best new and newly updated apps on Android. Click on the app names below to head right to the Google Play Store.

This week we have a completely redesigned file explorer, a great platformer, and a game with lots of explosions.

ES File Explorer

Android has a full file system and there are times you might want to dig around in it. Plenty of apps exist that fulfill that function, but ES File Explorer was one of the first well-known options. It has been around for years, but changed very little. Now ES File Explorer has been updated to version 3.0, and it’s totally redesigned. Not only that, but it’s still completely free.

The new UI has a more modern feel, but it’s not Holo. That’s fine by me as I feel like some of the straight-up Holo apps are starting to look a little generic. ES File Explorer uses an Android-friendly color scheme and simplifies the menu system quite a bit.

The interface is made up of a number of swipable panels, each for a different kind of storage. There is local storage, root, LAN, and cloud storage (Dropbox, Box, SugarSync, etc.). You can see what panels you have open with the icons at the top of the screen, and any of them can be closed with the X in the corner.

Your folders and files in each panel will be in a vertically scrollable list, and I’m very happy with the icons. ES used to have cartoon-y icons and it just looked unprofessional. The new icon set is mature and understated. There is also support for themes, but the only one right now is the “classic” look. No thanks.

Most of ES File Explorer’s UI is easy to figure out, but the function buttons at the bottom are more than they appear. If you swipe across that bar right to left, you get a thumbnail preview of your open windows along with the ability to manage them. Useful, but not terribly obvious. Long-pressing on a file or folder activates multi-select mode. However, if you just start dragging an item, you get corner shortcuts. By dropping the icon onto one of these, you can delete, move, copy, or share a file. This is very cool, but again, not easily discoverable.

Like some other file managers, ES adds extra tools including an app backup manager, download manager, SD card analyzer, and the ability to create a local network server on your device. It’s impressive to see so much included with a free app.

I would say that Solid Explorer is still my favorite Android file manager, but it’s not free. I know that’s important to some folks. So if you need to access Android’s file system, check out ES. It’s virtually the same as the paid alternatives.

Another week has started, and that means it's time to check up on the Android app ecosystem. With the huge number of apps arriving on a daily basis, you could install things all day and not find what you really need. We're here to cut through the nonsense and save you time. Simply click on the app name to head right to the Play Store.

This week we've got a cool new SMS app, a surprise from Amazon, and a game with invertebrates.

Ninja SMS

You've probably heard all the fuss over Facebook Home in recent days, and one of the more interesting features of Zuckerberg’s new project is Chat heads. These are floating popups that appear on your screen when you get a Facebook message. But what if you don’t really use Facebook messaging, but like that functionality? Well, Ninja SMS does it for (you guessed it) your text messages.

If you’re using an alternative SMS app like Go or Handcent, you’ll have to disable it to use Ninja SMS. When first run, the app will have you select which contacts get popups. I’m incredibly happy you can choose only select contacts -- I don’t need every random text message interrupting what I’m doing. Ninja SMS automatically selects your most frequent contacts, but you can add or remove people as you see fit.

The settings also contain a few useful options for how the app behaves. There are quite a few themes to choose from, which is nice to have. The default theme is a black/green number that isn’t the most attractive.

The popup will intercept the SMS notification for your chosen contacts each time you get a message, but the text will still go into the stock messaging app if you want to review later. The popup has a small conversation view, input field, send button, and a few controls hanging off the left side. The top button toggles partial window transparency so you can see more of what’s going on behind the popup. Below that is a full-screen toggle for easier viewing. This makes Ninja SMS feel like a full-scale app.

At the bottom is the minimize button. This turns your conversation into a floating “Chat head” that you can place wherever you want for quick access to the conversation. Unlike Facebook Home, this app lets you place the floating disembodied head wherever you want. And yes, you can have multiple floating windows up at once.

I haven’t experienced any slow downs with Ninja SMS on my Nexus 4, but there are still a few bugs. Minimizing to the head-only widget sometimes makes the app go invisible. This has only happened twice in a few days, but I had to force stop the app to rectify the error.

Ninja SMS is $0.99 in Google Play. If you send a lot of SMS and don’t want to bounce back and forth between apps, this is a recommended purchase.

Another week is upon us, and that means it's time to check out the state of the Google Play Store. Your phone is only a shadow of itself without the best apps, so it's a good thing we're here to save the day. Just click on the app name to pull up the Google Play Store so you can try things out for yourself.

This week you can learn about a way to always know where yo left your car, a game with lots of zombies, and a post-apocalyptic shooter with robots.

Valet

It’s rare to find an app that is both utilitarian and attractive, but Valet seems to fit the bill. This is an app that can quickly place a GPS marker on your car after it’s parked so you can find it later. It’s not the first app to do this, but it has some interesting features (and did I mention it’s gorgeous?).

The app has a stripped down interface that’s very easy to use. Simply open it and tap “park my car” at the bottom. An embedded Google Maps frame at the top of the UI shows your current location with the Valet marker. This window is not static, but lets you zoom and pan around. This is handy to have when you need to get your bearings.

Once your car is parked in the app, a row of buttons pops up at the bottom of the screen. They are Maps, alarm, cancel, and share. The Maps button calls out to your installed mapping apps (like Google Maps) to search for your car’s exact GPS coordinates. This is how you’ll find your way back when the time comes. Using Google Maps, you can jump right into walking navigation to get back to your car. It’s probably smart that Valet doesn’t try to do this itself -- Maps is always going to be better at it.

The alarm button can be used to set reminders for meters and other parking-related cutoffs. The cancel button can be used to remove the Valet marker. The sharing option is useful in a number of ways, but not so much in the context of parking. You can use this to offload your car’s GPS coordinates into other apps. For example, you might want to use this to direct others to your car’s location if you’re giving them a lift.

Valet costs $0.99, which I think is totally reasonable. There is, however, and in-app purchase that can be made if you want a certain advanced feature. The auto-park button in the lower right corner ties Valet into your device’s Bluetooth connection. If your car has Bluetooth, Valet can detect when you disconnect, and automatically “park” the car. Very cool, but the feature costs you $4.99. I feel like that’s a bit steep.

Overall, Valet is a beautiful app that does its job well. The basic app is definitely worth checking out.

The Android platform gives app developers the ability to access all kinds of data and settings. Apps don't have to act like self-contained bubbles -- they can interact and change the way your device works. Finding the best apps can be tough, though. But that's why we have the Google Play App Roundup every week. Just click the app name to head right to the Play Store to check things out for yourself.

This week we rethink the home screen, sneak around, and monitor the system.

Action Launcher

Android has had custom launchers for as long as it’s existed. Most of the current crop offer similar functionality, and even look very much like one another. Then, there’s Action Launcher. This app came out a few months ago, but it just added a feature that takes home screen management to an entirely different level.

Before we get to the crazy, paradigm-shifting new stuff, let’s talk about how Action Launcher works. The app drawer is gone, replaced by a more spacious hotseat area. Instead of the app drawer, there is an app list icon in the upper left corner as part of a home screen action bar. Tap it to get a scrollable list of your apps. You can also do an edge gesture (swipe in from the extreme left of the screen) to open the app list. Also in the action bar you’ll find search, settings, and a Google Play link. This is an unusual setup, but you will adjust and maybe even find it is much faster for you.

Action Launcher still comes with all the panel settings like grid size and the number of screens. Folders have a second function in Action Launcher as “Covers.” A cover takes the first item in a folder and makes it the default icon. Tap on the Cover, and the app opens. Swipe up or down on the icon, and the folder view opens. This is insanely useful.

Okay, now keep in mind how Covers work as we get to the new feature, which is called “Shutters.” Any app icon (in a folder or on the home screen) that has a widget will automatically act as a Shutter (denoted by the small horizontal lines next to it). Tapping on a Shutter opens the app, but swiping up or down on the Shutter opens the widget... in a window... on the home screen.

So you can access an app’s widget without taking up a bunch of space, and it only takes a single gesture. This is great for something like Gmail or Messaging. You can get an overview of the information present in the app without opening it. It will completely change how you make use of apps and widgets on your phone.

Action Launcher is also just as snappy as the competition swiping through home screens. I have no complaints about battery life, or lag at all. It is a little light on customization options, and could use a better way to manage home screen panels. This home screen replacement comes with support for both phones and tablets, and it’s only $3.99. It’s currently my favorite launcher, so take a look.

It's time for another installment of the Google Play App Roundup. This is the weekly event where we tell you what's new and cool in the Google Play Store. Fire up your phone and click the app names to head right to the Google Play Store so you can try things for yourself.

This week we've got Google's newest service, a game that combines many genres, and a shooter that's sure to eat up your time.

Google Keep

There is no shortage of note taking apps on Android, with Evernote being perhaps the most prominent example. Now out of left field comes Google Keep. This is a web and Android tool for taking notes that are synced with your Google Drive account. Is Google about to run Evernote out of business, or is Keep the next Google Reader?

The main advantage of Keep, from where I stand, is that the app (and web interface) is incredibly clean. It works on both tablets and phones with a large tile UI that reminds me a little of Windows Metro (or whatever they’re calling it these days). There is also a single-column view available in the settings which is a bit more information dense.

At the top of the UI is a bar that lets you add a quick text note. You can also select a special template for a list, image, or voice note. Keep also allows color-coding of notes for organizing your thoughts That, however, is the extent of categorization in Keep. This is really what separates it from Evernote in my day-to-day use. Instead of tagging notes or splitting them up into notebooks, you just search Keep for what you want. It works okay in that respect.

Keep ties into Google Now voice search in a very cool way. In the past, saying “Note to self,” would send you an email with the voice transcription. Yeah, not very useful. Now Google Now will drop the transcribed text right into a new Keep note. It even stores your voice recording as a note attachment in Google Drive. You can remove the audio file if you want to save space. But this is really cool.

Google Keep also has a pair of widgets that fit in perfectly with the Android style. There is a 3x1 with shortcut buttons to making various types of notes, and a larger 3x2 with the same shortcuts along with a scrollable list of existing notes. Both of these widgets are resizable too.

I think Google Keep is a good service for people that don’t need to advanced features in something like Evernote. It’s fast to add notes, and the UI is solid. I wouldn't be surprised to see the often overlooked Google Tasks service folded into Google Keep. Keep is, of course, free.

The next generation of Android phones is fast approaching, so now is a great time to see what's cooking in the Play Store. There are always new apps and games that you're going to want on your next super-phone, and the weekly Google Play App Roundup is the place to find them. Just click on the app name to head right to the Google Play Store so you can test things out for yourself.

This week you can watch where you're going, carve up some demons, and blast through some zombies.

Sidewalk Buddy

Your phone probably does a lot of cool stuff, but it can be hazardous to go walking around with your face buried in it. It’s just not safe. Sidewalk Buddy offers an alternative to tripping over things and running into people, though. With this app, you can place a small live camera view in a floating window on top of whatever app you’re using. Now you can see where you’re going while using your device.

All you have to do is open the Sidewalk Buddy app and enable the camera view. It’ll spin up in about a second, and you get a window in the middle of your screen with live images from your rear camera sensor. The initial size of the video feed is a little small, but you can just tap the Window Setting button to change the parameters.

You can change the overall size of the window, but the ideal volume is probably going to depend on the size of your display. If you’ve got a Note II, you can probably afford to have a pretty big vide feed. The default Window Size slider will preserve the aspect ratio, but you can uncheck a box to alter the width and height independently. There is also a zoom control

At any time you can drag the live feed box around on your screen. It’s probably best to scoot it off to the corner. You can’t change the size of your feed without opening the Sidewalk Buddy app, but you can double tap on the window to bring up the app and close the camera feed.

I make no claim that everyone needs to install this app, but at the very least it’s fun to play with. It handles the problem better than similar apps that overlay video feeds in a full-screen transparency layer. I don’t notice any device slowdowns on my Nexus 4, and no crashes either. Sidewalk Buddy is free.

Just when you think Android app developers have found all the angles to make compelling apps and games, another installment of the Google Play App Roundup comes out to prove you wrong. This is your weekly look at what's new and cool in the world of Android. Just click on the app name to check out the Play Store listing for yourself.

This week we send files faster, save the universe with swords, and find a dog in space.

SuperBeam

If you have a device with Android Beam, it can be a really cool experience. Just tap phones together, and files, apps, and more can zip right over. The downside is that file push is negotiated over Bluetooth, and that’s a pretty slow way to move large files. Enter SuperBeam, which uses WiFi and NFC to accomplish the same task in a fraction of the time.

SuperBeam integrates with the Android sharing menu, so you can send your large files from any app that supports it. Just trigger SuperBeam, and hold your phone up to a second device (also with SuperBeam installed), and magic happens. The transfer happens lightning fast, and I’ve had no issues with reliability.

SuperBeam currently requires you to have both devices on the same WiFi network, but there is an interesting experimental alternative. If you enable Hotspot mode in the settings, you don’t need a regular WiFi network. In Hotspot mode, the sending device toggles on its Android hotspot, and the other device connects automatically. The file is pushed, and both devices disconnect. I tried this with great skepticism, but it worked flawlessly between my Nexus 4 and Nexus 7.

This app does not use WiFi Direct, which is what I expected when I first downloaded it. The developer plans to integrate WiFi Direct in an upcoming release, but the standard is still awkward to use and tends to be prone to bugs (I agree there).

The app itself has almost no UI, but will show you a progress bar if the file you’re sending is especially big. I’ve been testing it with videos, and it cuts the transfer time from multiple minutes with normal Beam, to about 10 seconds with SuperBeam. You can tap on the SuperBeam notification to see a list of files transferred. There is also a toggle for light/dark Holo modes.

SuperBeam will work on any phone running Android 4.0 or higher with an NFC chip. The Hotspot mode might cause issues on phones with heavily modded carrier skins. If the stock Android tethering menu has been moved somewhere else, it might cause your device to reboot. Otherwise, go crazy. SuperBeam is free.

You work hard, don't you deserve the best mobile apps? The answer to that is surely yes, so read on for this week's Google Play App Roundup. Inside, you'll find the best new Android apps and games. Just click on the app name to head right to the Google Play Store.

This week we look at a pro-level photo editor, a game with sleds, and an abstract arcade experience.

It's time again to dive into the Google Play Store and see what apps we can find. Every week we find the best new and newly updated apps for the Roundup, and this week is no exception. Just click on the app name to head to the Play Store.

This week we've got an app for convenient app launching, a game where you make the rules, and a relaxing puzzler.

Quickly

As a rule, I try to keep my notification shade from getting too cluttered. After all, it’s supposed to be for notifications. However, developers are always trying to find new uses for that space, often with limited success. A new app called Quickly might actually offer the kind of functionality that earns it a place on your phone or tablet, though. This app puts a miniature app launcher where you can always access it -- in the notification shade.

Before we get started, this is a Jelly Bean app only. If you’re not running 4.1 or 4.2, it won’t work. Why? Quickly relies on the more robust expandable notifications deployed in Android 4.1. Configuration in the app is very simple. Just choose the number of 4-icon rows you want in your Quickly notification, and start picking apps from your installed list.

You can have up to three rows for a total of 12 icons. It will start as a collapsed notification, but you can expand it to get all your chosen links. If your shade is looking a little full, you can also collapse it back down to get the links out of the way. When you launch apps from Quickly, it acts just like launching from a standard icon. There is no intermediate Quickly screen, and no delay.

You can control how the notification is presented in the Quickly settings as well. By changing the priority of the service, you can keep the notification at the top of your list with a persistent icon in the status bar. If you don’t want the icon, you can lower the priority and let Quickly organize itself within other content that might show up in your pulldown. The priority control options are much appreciated. Developers have just started utilizing this feature in Android, and it makes persistent notifications so much easier to use.

Quickly hasn’t caused any perceptible slowdown on my Nexus 7 running Android 4.2.2. Both the notification drawer and home screen are unaffected, even with 12 links in Quickly. According the the developer, this app uses only 800kb of memory, so even more resource constrained systems should be able to run it just fine. This app will run you $0.99 in the Play Store.

Your phone does cool stuff out of the box, sure. But it's not truly yours until you find the apps and games that make it distinctly you. While we at Tested can't claim to know everything about you personally, we've got a pretty good handle on what apps are going to be a hit in the Google Play App Roundup. This is the place where you can find out what's new and cool in the world of Android apps. Just click on the app name to head right to the Google Play Store.

This week your your clock gets better, we have platforming robots, and we show rogue apps who's boss.

DashClock Widget

When it comes to the addition of lock screen widgets in Android 4.2, opinions are strongly divided. I think that the reaction would have been overall more positive if DashClock had been available when 4.2 arrived. This app (for Android 4.2 only) cleans up the stock clock widget and adds various bits of data from apps and services. Even better, developers can build their own DashClock extensions to add functionality.

DashClock can be used on the home screen or the lock screen, but let’s check out how things work when the device is locked first. DashClock uses a clean Roboto font to spell out the time, but you can choose from different combinations of weight and spacing. Just to the right of the time are three slots for extensions of your choosing. DashClock can tell you about the weather, how many unread emails you have, new SMS, alarms, and more. You can choose which items are shown and what order they should be in. More than three extensions can be added so that if one has nothing to report, it will make way for the next one on the list.

If you drag down the widget to expand the lock screen, it offers up extended information about your various notifications. Tapping on any of the icons will open the corresponding app, which is really handy. The only real difference between using DashClock on the home and lock screens is that the home screen treats it as a standard resizable widget. It starts as a 4x2, but you can expand it to get the more detailed view.

DashClock already has enough going for it to earn a place on my lock screen, but it gets even better. The extension system is already gaining traction among developers. There are standalone DashClock extensions, as well as extensions bundled with full apps. For example, the great Twitter client Falcon Pro has already added a tweet counts extension to the app.

Make sure you also take a swing through the settings for each extension. I was surprised how configurable it is. It made me very happy that I could restrict the Gmail unread count to a specific account. DashClock is free, open source, and made by a Googler. If you are one of the select few with Android 4.2, download this now.

Google doesn't do the greatest job of surfacing new apps, but here at Tested, we want you to have the best. That's why every week we bring you the best new and newly updated apps from the Google Play Store. Just click on the app name to head right over to the Play Store so you can download the app fro yourself.

This week a new music player cleans up your music, a parkour game jumps into the store, and someone's got to shoot those aliens.

AMP+

Google Music is a better app now than it was in the Honeycomb days, but not by much. Most of What Google Music has going for it is its cloud syncing chops. If you don’t have, or don’t want to use Google Music in the cloud, you’d do well to use a more attractive and feature rich app to listen to your tunes. In that vein, AMP+ is a new music player in Google Play. This is a slick Holo themed app that looks the way Google Music is supposed to.

The interface is straightforward -- really. If you’ve ever used a Holo app before, you’re going to feel right at home. There are scrollable columns for albums, artists, songs, and playlists. At the bottom is a persistent playback bar with controls. You have your choice of light, dark, and mixed Holo themes. The app is overall clean and very Android-y.

AMP+ comes with a few features that you won’t find in the stock player (other than not being ugly). For one, you can have the app fetch missing album artwork automatically from LastFM. I tested this, and it works very well. You’ve also got Scrobbling and gesture control on the now playing screen.

Like the stock player, AMP+ has expandable playback controls on Jelly Bean devices. It’s the same story with the lock screen controls. The widgets in AMP+ come in two forms, a 4x1 and a 2x1. The larger of the two has album art and a full array of controls. The smaller one is just the track and limited controls. The widgets are sharp and mostly transparent, but you can adjust the transparency level to suit your taste (a nice touch).

The full version of AMP+ is only $0.99 and it’s a solid app. There is really nothing negative to say about it. This app knows what needs to be done, and it does it. The only thing I’m missing is Google Music in the cloud, but that’s not possible with third-party apps right now. A note: the developer has announced on his Google+ page that a trademark claim on the term ”amp” (seriously) is going to force a name change. Just don’t be surprised if AMP+ gets a new name soon.

Android apps are not just self-contained bubbles of code restricted to a basic set of operations. No, Android developers can build apps that improve your device in a more fundamental way. The gaps left by Google can be filled in and the experience made better than ever. Although, you don't want to get in over your head with apps that aren't up to the task. That's why the Google Play App Roundup exists. Each week we go over the best new and newly updated apps on Android. Just click the app name to head right to the Google Play store and check things out for yourself.

This week we've got a serious backup utility, a game about shapes, and an app for the advanced user.

Carbon

Android does a lot of things really well, but backing up your apps is not one of them. In fact, Google has done a very poor job of getting developers to support its limited cloud backup system. Rooted users have long been able to use apps like Titanium Backup to keep app data saved, but it’s clunky and not ideal. ClockworkMod has finally made the process easier with no root required. Carbon lets you save and sync your app and game data between devices and save it in the cloud.

If you’re a long time reader of Tested, you might recall a while back I covered a little-known feature in Android 4.0 that allowed ADB backups of app data. This is the same feature that Carbon takes advantage of, but it makes the process much easier. While root is not required, it does make the setup process much faster. When you install Carbon, you’ll have to plug your device into a computer if you’re not rooted. Use the desktop app available from the ClockworkMod site to enable the backup utility. Root users just have to tap the allow button.

After things are up and running, Carbon will suggest you configure your Google Drive account to store your backups. However, you can also plug into Dropbox or Box. If you prefer local backups, the SD card directory or a PC can be used. Now, there are free and paid versions of Carbon, and the paid version is required to really use the aforementioned cloud storage. Sure, you can upload all you want, but you need the pro key to restore app data from the cloud.

However you’re going to save data, just go down the list of apps and choose the ones you want backed up. I tested this with a few games that I had made progress in with my Nexus 7. I just backed up the data to save space, and then restored that data to my Nexus 4. Sure enough, my progress and stats transferred over flawlessly. To be clear, this same maneuver is possible with Titanium Backup, but it’s a pain in the butt. Again, the Pro key is needed to connect multiple Android devices.

From the Restore and Sync panel (this is a very Holo-style app), you can connect instantly to your other Android devices (assuming they are online). Carbon on the remote device will fire up a server so you can slurp up the app data instantly. This is a killer feature, and again, pro only.

If you want to make sure that you always have the most recent data for some of your apps, Carbon can be set to do scheduled backups. Just pick your apps, then instead of using Drive or Dropbox, choose Scheduled Backup. This is handy, but can you guess what you need? Yep, the pro key.

One issue is that Carbon won’t work on Motorola devices. According to the developer, Motorola’s build of Android has a bug that prevents the backup system from working properly. You can give Carbon a shot, but don’t expect anything until Motorola fixes the bug.

So Carbon is fabulous -- I’m really enamoured with it. It’s fast, effective, and feature-rich. As for that pro key you keep hearing about, it’s $4.99. Just buy it. Seriously. It adds so much to the app, like multiple device support, cloud restores, and scheduled backups. If you switch phones a lot, or have both a phone and tablet, this app is now essential.

The work week might just be getting underway, but that doesn't mean you can't have some fun. Why not check out some new Android apps direct from Google Play. This week's Google Play App Roundup brings you the best Android has to offer. Just click on the app name to head right to the Play Store so you can check things out first hand.

This week we've got an app that promises anonymous international phone numbers, a game with a familiar name, and a unique puzzler.

Hushed

So let’s say you need to make a call on the down low, or you need an international number for some (I assume) above board business. How are you supposed to do that? If you’ve got an Android phone, the new Hushed app can provide you your own international anonymous number with all the features you need. Of course, it will cost you.

Using Hushed is basically like buying one of those burner prepaid cell phones for temporary use. The distinction being that you can get numbers from over 20 different countries, and it runs on your existing phone. When you first open the app, you have to register your real phone number so the app can identify your device. No other account or log-ins are required.

The next step is to check out the phone numbers and choose a rate plan. Simply pick a country from the list and find a suitable number. Then you have to decide how long you want access to it. North American 3-day numbers are the cheapest, starting at $0.99 for just a few minutes of total calls and a few SMS. If you want a number from, say, Bahrain, your only choice is a $6.99 30-day pay-as-you-go. Australia? That’ll be $10.99. Basically, it varies depending on the country you need to have your number based in. All the transactions are handled through in-app purchases.

Most plans are limited based on minutes, but you can add on usage at any time and even extend the time frame. Another important limitation is that the SMS service is only accessible in the US, Canada, and the UK. If you need to kill your temporary number, just use the Delete button in the settings at any time.

You can place a call from inside the Hushed app like you would from any dialer, but be aware this is VoIP, so you need a solid data connection. If you receive a call, Hushed will appear and handle the answering process. All numbers come with a voicemail system to catch the caller if you reject.

In my testing, the voice quality was good, but not great. It sounded a little digitized from time to time, but no worse than other VoIP solutions out there. SMS arrived quickly, and voicemail notifications hit the phone in no time - faster than Google Voice, in fact.

Hushed is certainly a niche product. Most users will be fine with the free Google Voice service, but that’s not available everywhere, and Hushed is international and anonymous. If you think you've got a use, definitely check out Hushed.

It's time again to dive into the Play Store and see what treasures it hides. Will we find a killer game? A gem of a to-do manager? Something else entirely? The only way to find out is to read the Google Play App Roundup, which is what you're doing right now. Just click on the app name to head right to the Play Store on your device.

This week we've got a new Reddit app, a game from a well-known developer, and a puzzler that's almost too cute for words.

Reddit Flow

Reddit is a pretty great way to pass time on the internet, but to get maximum enjoyment out of the site on mobile, you'll want a good app. There's no shortage of such apps, and this week we have a new one to check out. Reddit Flow is admittedly light on features. However, it's got some potential.

Reddit Flow is clean and minimalist, relying on sliding panels for navigation. Interestingly, it behaves like a Holo app, but doesn't look particularly like one. If you slide the list of posts off to the right, you get a panel listing all the sub-Reddits you are subscribed to and various settings. You'll notice right off the bat that the main app settings are not yet implemented. You can at least log in, though.

Just tap on a post to open it in a new panel off to the right. You can get back to the main list by sliding to the left. Sliding from the open image or article to the right brings up the comments. I quite like this setup -- it's considerably faster than many other apps in this respect. Reddit Flow also strips out formatting and extraneous junk from many sites. It's almost like using Instapaper.

Reddit Flow works on both phones and tablets. On a tablet, this app is close to being great. In landscape mode it has a solid dual-pane interface. You can open an image and keep it on the right, while still scanning through the front page on the left. In addition, you’re still able to slide back and forth between the link and comments on the right. I'd like to see portrait mode dual-panes, though.

Of course, Reddit Flow does all the normal Reddit things like voting and commenting. However, some more advanced features like user badges and sidebars are not supported. You also can't submit links yet. A lot of apps actually lack this feature when they first debut.

Reddit Flow is incredibly smooth and opens links very fast. There are a few different themes right now, with more possibly coming later. What this app does now, it does very well. It's free, so give it a look.

As we all try to get over the post-CES malaise, it can be helpful to have some cool apps to unwind with. But digging through the Play Store can be work in and of itself. That's why the Google Play App Roundup is here. This is where we tell you what's new and cool in the Play Store. Just click the app name to head right to the Play Store and check it out for yourself.

This week browsing gets faster, space is explored, and exercise is gamified.

Chrome Beta

Everyone had high hopes for Chrome on Android when it came out almost a year ago. While it did bring some great new features, it wasn’t updated nearly often enough to keep up with phone hardware and competing apps. Chrome for Android is currently based on the v18 code base, whereas stable desktop Chrome is on v23. It’s now looking like Google is speeding things up by opening a beta channel release of Chrome for Android based on the v25 beta branch.

This is not strictly a beta channel release in the same way the desktop beta is. On a computer you can only run the stable, beta, or developer version of Chrome. Google is making the Android beta more like the Canary desktop program. Canary is a cutting edge dev build of Chrome that you can run side-by-side with another channel. It’s the same deal on Android, but Google isn’t making it easy to find Chrome Beta.

You’ll need a direct link to download Chrome Beta from the Play Store. Searching for it, or even scanning through all of Google’s listed apps will yield nothing. The installation and login process is virtually identical to the stable version. In fact, there are no outward sign that you’re using a beta release of Chrome, save for the different icon.

According to Google, the Chrome Beta is faster than the stable channel. It claims a 25-30% improvement in the Octane benchmark. I can report that it does feel a little snappier. Heavy pages load faster, and scrolling is smoother on the Nexus 7. Recent updates to the stable channel seem to have been dragging my devices down, but the beta is much nicer overall.

I ran a Sunspider benchmark so try and get some handle on how much faster Chrome Beta is behind the scenes for me. I found that the beta version was about 20% faster in this benchmark. Take that for what you will.

If you choose to run Chrome Beta on your device (4.0 and higher), you will be assured of the fastest updates and speed boosts. However, you’ll also have to deal with some bugs. In this release iFrame scrolling is busted, Yahoo links don’t work, and the text handler behaves oddly, among others.

If you like to get the newest stuff before everyone else, grab the Chrome Beta from the link above. I'm using it full time now.

The holidays are behind us, so perhaps you're flush with cash or Google Play gift cards. Well, why not pick up some cool new apps and games? It just so happens this is the weekly Google Play App Roundup where we tell you what new and cool on Android. Just click on the app name to head right to the Play Store.

This week your videos get a boost, tower defense gets flipped, and Sworcery comes to Android.

RockPlayer v2

A few years ago RockPlayer became one of the first full-featured video players to offer software decoding on Android. Like most mobile platforms, Android only natively decodes h.264 video, so an app like this is essential if you have a collection of videos in other formats. The problem was that RockPlayer hadn't seen a UI update in quite a while -- until now. The new RockPlayer v2 is a vast improvement in both form and function.

The first thing you'll notice is that RockPlayer has ditched the Gingerbread-influenced UI it was sporting before. In its place is a highly skeuomorphic design that I personally find a little unnecessary, but its a clear improvement over what we had before. Basically, the app takes every opportunity to replicate real-life objects in the UI.

The main interface is a scrollable list of thumbnail done up to look like filmstrips. Tap on any file to start playing immediately. The app will default into hardware rendering if the file uses the h.264 codec, but otherwise it goes into software mode. The controls are at the bottom and are skinned to look like brushed metal. The look is a little much, but the controls work great.

While playing, you can tap to bring up your basic player controls. The cool thing is that you get to pick what the basic controls are. Just long-press on any of the buttons and you can swap it out with a list that will appear overlaying the paused video. If you don’t want the share button front and center, no problem. Just swap it out for a screenshot button, or whatever else. The only serious UI concern I have is that devices with on-screen buttons don't completely hide them. You just get the dimmed system bar strip.

Some functions are controlled through on-screen gestures. A quick two finger tap will pause/play. If you want to change the brightness, just drag up and down on the left side of the display. Seeking in small bits can be accomplished by swiping left and right. Moving in larger chunks is really smooth in RockPlayer with the seekbar.

Another new feature in RockPlayer v2 is “RockShare.” This is a system that allows you to share your content from one device to another over Wi-Fi -- no setup required. Just run the app on both devices, and swipe over to the RockShare screen from the main video list. Available device should show up allowing you to push content over.

As for performance, I didn’t have any issues with RockPlayer. I tested AVIs, WMVs, and some MP4s (both hardware and software). There were a few hiccups with seeking in AVIs, but playback was solid across the board. Some of these files were over 1GB in size, and the app handled them without issue.

RockPlayer is free to use with ads. An in-app purchase can remove them, but it costs $4.99. That’s a little high for ad removal, and they aren’t that annoying in the first place.