5 Android apps you shouldn't miss this week! - Android Apps Weekly

[Price: Free / $1.07]
Hexlock is a security application that’s aimed to help you protect your applications. The way it works is you choose a profile and then select which applications are locked down on that profile. From there, every time someone tries to enter that app, they’ll have to enter the password before the app can be opened. You can select virtually any application installed on your device which means you can keep friends out of your video games or keep your kids out of your work email. It’s free to use and the only in-app purchase is to remove ads. We’d like to thank Hexlock for their support of Android Authority.

Welcome back to another episode of Android Apps Weekly! Let’s check out the big headlines from the last week!

• First up this week, we’d like to announce that Android Authority is now on Twitch! We decided to check out the platform so we could bring you more mobile gaming fun. Go subscribe and keep an eye out for our next live stream. We play games, chat it up, and have some fun.
• A potential upcoming Android game called Kill the Plumber will let you kill Mario once and for all. The game is a parody of the popular Mario series except you play as the bad guy to prevent Mario from winning. The interesting thing here is the Apple App Store turned the app down, so we’ll see how it fares on Android.
• Facebook has announced a new algorithm for their photos that will be able to identify you in pictures even if you’re not facing the camera. This unique and slightly frightening algorithm is expected to roll out to the services very soon and it boasts a really good 83% success rate in identifying people.
• A new commercial for Google Translate has unveiled that the app translates over 100 billion words every day. The idea behind the commercial was to show how it’s changed how we communicate and the most translated phrase? “How are you”, “thank you”, and “I love you”. Dem feels though!
• In our last major headline this week, Google has announced that Google Play Music will now have free, ad-supported radio. That means you can enjoy the various playlists and “radio” stations without buying an All Access pass as long as you don’t mind a few ads. In the US only for now, but we expect expansion eventually.

For even more Android apps and games news, don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter where we’ll have all the stories from the week, even the ones we didn’t have time for here. If you’re so inclined, you can sign up with your email and we’ll beam this info directly to your inbox every single Friday.

[Price: Free with in-app purchases]
Microsoft released individual Word, Excel, and Powerpoint apps for tablets earlier this year to massive success. After a few months of rumors, those three apps are now finally available for Android phones as well as Android tablets. The tablet versions are already known to be fairly high quality and powerful productivity apps and we’ve no doubt the phone versions are the same way. Do beware that you’ll need a Microsoft account in order to use all the features to their fullest.

[Price: Free]
The GameOn Project is an interesting game discovery application that aims to help you find mobile games that are to your liking. The way it works is you sign in, answer some questions, and then you tell it what games you’ve heard of and know about. It will then recommend games to you based on your decisions. Some of the questions could be potentially awkward but the developers swear that they matter. It’s worth a look if you’re looking for some games.

[Price: Free with in-app purchases]
Dawn of the Sniper is a new freemium game where you play as a sniper and you go on missions to do what snipers do best, which is shoot people. The game includes easy to learn mechanics, plenty of levels, and a variety of weapons, achievements, and more. The in-app purchases for this game aren’t too bad. One of them is to remove ads and you can beat the game without purchasing anything really. It’s a fun little time waster and worth a shot.

[Price: $14.99]
Square Enix has released Dragon Quest VI on Android. This is the final chapter of the Zenithian trilogy and you can find the other two parts of it in the Google Play Store as well. It’s a little steeply priced at $14.99 but there are no in-app purchases. The game is also played in portrait mode like most Dragon Quest games. The grahpics are a bit retro but this game was originally released in the mid 90s so that’s to be expected. If you like jRPGs, this is a good option.

[Price: Free with in-app purchases]
Last up is Seigefall by Gameloft. This game caught our attention at E3 for its decent graphics and simple premise. It’s much like games such as Clash of Clans or Boom Beach, except with better graphics and a longer story line. There are some release day bugs and some may not like the in-app purchase strategies, but this is one of the more decent freemium games to be releases this year. It’s worth a shot if you like strategy games.

Wrap up

If we missed any great Android apps or games news this week, let us know about it in the comments! Don’t forget to subscribe to our new Twitch channel for the latest in Android gaming and some plain old having fun!