It’s the calm before the storm.

Today, on New Year’s Day, we have a brief moment to pause and prepare — and set ourselves up for success.

From a tech perspective, that means taking the time to clean up and optimize your smartphone setup. That way, when the inevitable craziness hits, you’ll be ready to tackle whatever comes your way with smart, sensible systems and all the best apps already in place and ready to serve you.

We’ve already thought through the top Android tips and Google Android app tricks from 2025 — and even the most noteworthy Pixel-specific advice from the past year. Today, it’s time to shift our focus and look at some of the most exceptional (and often off-the-beaten-path) third-party Android apps that can really expand your experience and grant you some exceptionally effective new productivity powers.

Take a peek through the following standout suggestions — 47 awesome apps to explore, spread out over a dozen different articles! — and for even more Android Intelligence, make sure you’re set to receive my free Android Intelligence newsletter, too. You’ll get three new things to try in your inbox every Friday, and you’ll get my game-changing Android Notification Power Pack as a special welcome bonus.

Here we go!

2025’s top Android app advice

11 Android Quick Settings additions that’ll supercharge your efficiency

These out-of-sight shortcuts will turn whatever phone you’re using into an even more powerful productivity powerhouse.

7 Android launchers for enhanced efficiency

Save time and make your Android home screen work better with the help of these eclectic tools.

Google Keep, discarded: A smart new source for Android location reminders

Google’s Keep app just lost one of its most useful features on Android — but that doesn’t mean you have to give up on it entirely.

An Android multitasking revelation

Ready to fly around your phone like never before?

An ingenious new Android notification upgrade

Know what new notifications you’ve got pending without ever even glancing at your phone.

The simple Android screen app that saves my sanity

Upgrade your Android-using experience in four minutes flat.

The easiest ways to view, sign, and edit PDFs on Android

Stop making your life difficult and start using these simple, free tools.

A Pixel-inspired productivity upgrade for any Android device

Prepare for a whole new way to think about screenshots.

An eye-opening Android privacy blacklight

This free tool offers up fascinating insight into the typically-invisible ways apps track your activity.

How to bring Google’s custom vibration brilliance to any Android phone today

This buzzworthy new enhancement can work on any phone this instant with a teensy bit of easy tinkering.

A handy new Android memory superpower

Boost your brain with this brilliant new tool for retracing virtual steps and finding anything again.

20 genuinely useful AI apps for Android

These top-notch apps rely on AI in some refreshingly thoughtful ways.

Bonus: The double-sided brilliance of Google’s new native Windows app

This surprise creation is well worth your while to notice — both for your own practical benefit and for appreciating the impossibly clever play behind it.

A very happy New Year to you. Here’s to many new geeky, Googley adventures ahead!

Give yourself the gift of endless Android Intelligence in 2026 with my free weekly newsletter — three new things to try in your inbox every Friday and six powerful new notification enhancements the second you sign up!