A while ago I made a list of free PC apps that were worth checking out. But, as big of a PC nerd as I am, I can't deny the fact that most people spend more time on their smartphones than on PC. With the rise of efficient and free AI, almost anyone with basic programming knowledge can create apps for Android withing days. That's where the issue of free Android apps becomes obvious. Google play store is flooded with hundreds of apps that serve the same purpose. Now, one might ask, how is that an issue?
The issue isn't the number of similar apps, it's the quality of those apps. Like I said, almost anyone can create an app with the help of AI chatbots. So 90% of those apps are made by non professionals that are only creating them for the sole purpose of making money. The result: millions of frustrated users that are so fed up with ads that they'd rather pay for an premium app than deal with absurd amount of ads shown to them. And that's where this article comes in, I'm hoping to provide a list of ad free apps(or with minimum, least intrusive ads) to improve your daily Android experience.
First things first, let's talk about the most obvious suite of apps: All the apps by Google LLC. Google has apps for almost everything. Docs(MS word alternative), sheets(spreadsheets), slides(presentation), browsers, messengers, etc. For majority of lightweight users(ie, people not needing specialised apps on daily basis), Google apps will cover everything. But there is one specific app that's worth mentioning;
Snapseed
Snapseed is the best semi-professional photo editor that's free and doesn't come with ads. It lacks the sheer amount of filters that something like PicsArt has, but it is much better at fine tuning your photos. If you have some basic knowledge of photo editing, it is pretty powerful tool. Even if you don't have photo editing knowledge, just try it out, my own brother, who has zero photo editing training, almost always uses Snapseed to give his pictures a little zing before posting on social media.
Now let's move on to apps that are not created by Google.
Adobe Scan
Every once in a while you may end up in a situation where you need to use a digital copy of a physical document you have. Sometimes just taking a picture of the document is enough as even budget smartphones are capable of taking clear picture of the documents, but in some cases you may need a scanned copy for official use. Having something like Adobe Scan can save you the trouble of looking for a photocopy stores to get a scan. Yes, there are higher rated doc scanners on play store but Adobe scan is highly unlikely to be bought by other company and bombarded with ads. There is one small drawback, you must register/sign-in with adobe to use even the free version.
Bitwarden
I previously published an article about free password managers. If you tend to forget passwords or if you are a somewhat important person who has a lot to lose in case of hacked account, then you really should start using a password manager. Luckily Bitwarden is open source so it has no ads or hidden charges.
Fossify Gallery
Google photos is more than enough for most people, but some of us need more controls and fully offline gallery app. And that's exactly what this app does. You can password protect the app itself, password protect hidden files and even ask for authentication when deleting files. It is basically a clone of Simple Gallery app which used to be free but not anymore. Once again, it is open source so no ads or hidden strings.
Cx File Explorer
If you're Xiaomi phone user then you don't need this app, but for others, you should try it out once. To be honest, I'm only including it for its FTP capabilities. If you are anything like me then you might have faced the scenario when you need to transfer a file from PC to your phone or vice versa but don't have a data cable nearby. You can enable FTP and transfer files with ease. I used to use XFolder for this but now it is owned by InShot so it contains ads, therefor Cx File Explorer has my vote now.
Firefox
Now this one might be a surprise for many as Chrome comes preloaded with most androids, does everything Firefox can and there are other apps that offer more built in features like ad blockers and VPN. So why even bother with Firefox? The answer is, Google AMP pages. Googles used to load a minimal lightweight version of a webpage when you click the links in search results. While it was extremely useful in 2G era, it is extremely annoying in 5G era as AMP pages break the website's functionality. If AMP pages don't bother you, continue using your favourite browser, otherwise you should try Firefox once.
VLC Media Player
Almost everyone today uses Netflix, Prime Video or some other OTT service. On top of that, file managers and gallery apps nowadays can play videos without needing a third party app. So why I'm recommending a local media player? Every once in a while you might want to watch a movie or show that isn't available on the OTT you've subscribed to. I'm not promoting piracy but people prefer to pirate said movie/show instead of getting subscription of another OTT. So you've downloaded some content on your PC because you didn't have enough space on your phone but you want to watch it in the comfort of your bed/couch. You can use VLC to stream any media file on your PC to your phone.
I'll end this list here for now but if you need a recommendation for an ad free app, feel free to let me know.
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