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

Welcome to the 489th edition of Android Apps Weekly. Here are the big headlines from the last week:

• WhatsApp had a few different announcements this week. The first is a new feature that automatically silences calls from unknown contacts to help reduce spam calls. Second, the app is getting Meta Quest support in an update coming soon. Finally, Google fixed a bug on the Android Privacy Dashboard that was erroneously suggesting that WhatsApp was listening to its users. Hit each link to learn more.
• Gannet, the largest publisher in the US, is taking Google to court over its digital advertising tech. The lawsuit alleges that Google has a monopoly in the advertising space. Google responded by saying that there are tons of options in the advertising, but that they choose Google because it’s simply the best service available. We’ll see how this turns out.
• Spotify is getting closer and closer to releasing its Hi-Fi subscripti on tier. The new Supremium tier is debuting later this year according to Spotify. We don’t much about it yet, including its exact release date or cost. However, we do know that it’ll include a Hi-Fi audio option along with some other perks.
• YouTube TV is working on ways to present ads during breaks in programming that previously didn’t feature ads. The ads show during the previously free “Zen” moments. We think that defeats the purpose of a Zen moment, but Google disagrees. This is being tested among a small selection of users right now. In happier news, Google is expanding YouTube TV’s multiview streams to include business, news, weather, and other options.
• The Reddit protest is more or less over. The subreddit we focused on, r/Android, is back, albeit in a restricted mode. Most other subreddits are also back up and running as of this writing. Many others remain in a restricted or private mode as well. The mods at r/Android are asking the community what they should do moving forward, as are the mods in many other communities. It’s another step in the process, so we’ll see how it turns out.

Super Cat Idle

Price: Free to play

Super Cat Idle is an interesting release this week. Mechanically speaking, it’s an action RPG with some idle game elements. You have various weapons and currencies to upgrade and collect, respectively. The game also features colorfully frenetic sequences that are genuinely fun to play. It’s not all that original, but it’s fun. What makes it interesting is that the game had a pre-launch event where it gave a small set of players an ungodly huge boost. Those boosts were removed on launch day, resulting in a player base that literally can’t catch the top of the leaderboard. That’s not a great look, and we hope the developers fix it eventually.

Aerodocs

Price: Free / $3.49-$11.99

Aerodocs is a document organizer app. It helps you organize your various documents for easy recall whenever you need it. Some features include a search where you can find documents quickly, an encrypted vault where you can store more sensitive stuff, and a built-in document scanner so you can scan physical documents. There are a host of other features as well, ranging from note-taking to 2FA for security. It’s relatively new, so there are likely to be bugs, but this is honestly a pretty decent idea, especially if you use a lot of documents.

The Witch’s Knight

Price: Free to play

The Witch’s Knight is a 2D, open-world RPG. The player’s character runs around the world while defeating bad guys, finding loot, and defeating bosses. You level up your character to do more stuff quickly, and that’s the primary gameplay loop. Like many new games these days, this one has an idle component, and it’s during combat. Your character does most of their own attacking on their own. Thus, other than managing your character, you aren’t doing much else. It’s not bad, but it’s not amazing either. It’s just a decently fun little game.

Pixel Search

Price: Free

Pixel Search is an on-phone search that helps you find basically anything on your phone. You simply open the app, search for something, and it’ll appear in the search results. That includes apps, shortcuts, contacts, files, and even web suggestions if it can’t find anything else. You also get Material You theming, a widget, and a relatively clean UI that is pretty easy to use. We don’t have any issues with this app. It worked well in our testing. However, we also realize the market for something like this a little small.

Daisho: Survival of a Samurai

Price: Free to play

Daisho: Survival of Samurai is an action RPG with some pretty nice design choices. It’s an open-world game, so you can explore it as you please. Additionally, you get crafting, city building, and manual attack controls unlike many idle games coming out these days. It’s similar in general mechanical scope to zombie survival games, but the game puts you in feudal Japan instead. It takes some liberties with the factual accuracy of the era, but the game is otherwise pretty good.

If we missed any big Android apps or games releases or news, tell us about it in the comments.