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Welcome to the 436th edition of Android Apps Weekly. Here are the big headlines from the last week:
- We asked our readers if they still store music on their phones locally. As it turns out, nearly 70% of our readership does, in fact, still listen to music without streaming it. A few of our readers told their stories about losing their huge collections and just giving up or streaming being cheaper than buying. However, some folks also talk about their rare collection of stuff you can’t easily find anymore.
- File transfers on Android are much better than they used to be, but they can still be a pretty irritating experience. Our writer, Dhruv Bhutani, talked about how he gets around Android’s file system limitations with the use of know-how and applications. Hit the link to learn more.
- We did another reader poll this week asking people how they watch new TV shows. Most of our readers watch TV in all sorts of ways, but others still try to watch TV shows as they air or wait until the season is over to binge-watch the whole thing. You can hit the link to check it out.
- Google launched Android 13 beta 3 this last week. It’s the first beta released to reach the Platform Stability milestone. Betas should have minor changes until the final release. Platform Stability is where Google stops adding new things, so app developers have time to update their apps for the official Android 13 launch. You should see app developers release updates to support Android 13 from here on out officially.
- Netflix is rumored to be in talks to buy Roku. This would be a huge deal since Roku is one of the big three set-top box operating systems. Both companies are currently struggling, though, and a merger may help out both of them. This is just in the rumor stages, though, so we’ll keep an eye on it and let you know if anything changes.
Music Pro
Price: Free / Up to $4.99
Music Pro is a new app from Sony, and it’s specifically for Sony phones. It actually doesn’t play music as its name suggests. Instead, it’s mostly for recording audio files. It’s decent for a recorder, and you get a good-looking waveform animation when you do so. The claim to fame for this one is the ability to monitor yourself while you record if you use wired headphones. There are also some tuning functions to help you get a better sound out of your recordings, but that is a premium feature. Unfortunately, I do not have a Sony phone so I could not test this one, but it seems pretty straightforward.
MU Origin 3
Price: Free to play
MU Origin 3 is a new MMORPG and the second one to launch in two weeks, with Diablo Immortal being the other. This one has three customizable classes, which are essentially melee, ranged, and magic. It also boasts an open world, cross-server PvP, tons of loot, and other MMORPG staples like flying. It’s a fairly straightforward MMORPG experience, but it does all of the usual MMORPG stuff solidly. It has a lot of menus that are confusing at first, and the auto-play is not everyone’s cup of tea. It has its ups and downs, but it should be pretty popular for a little while.
Super Notes
Price: $5.99
Super Notes is a note-taking application with a UI that is reminiscent of Google Keep. You get the main screen with your notes in various colors. It also supports lists, images, rich text, a night mode, and some other stuff. You can lock this app with your fingerprint to keep away from prying eyes. Additionally, you can export notes to PDF or TXT files if you want to. It runs for $5.99 up front but has no ads or in-app purchases. Overall, it’s quite nice if you need that extra level of privacy, but other note-taking apps otherwise keep up pretty well.
A Story of A Company
Price: Free to play
A Story of A Company is the latest game from Buff Studios, developers of Underworld Office and Buff Knight. This one is a visual novel game similar to Underworld Office. You follow the story of the everyday lives of a group of human and animal hybrids in their totally normal office environment. There aren’t any real mechanics, but that’s indicative of the genre at large. You mostly just read the story, make some decisions, and enjoy yourself until you reach the end. There are multiple endings, epilogues, and achievements for the player. It’s a pretty chill game overall, and Buff Studios does a pretty good visual novel in general.
Microsoft Lists
Price: Free
Microsoft Lists is a productivity tool for folks who use Office 365 as part of their job. It lets you manage your work, track information, and stay organized. It’s similar to things like Asana or Basecamp, but on a smaller scale. The app comes with various templates to help you create stuff quickly, collaborative features to include coworkers, and integrations with other Microsoft products. A lot of the negative feedback comes from this not being a note-taking app or a list app, despite its name. However, it works well enough assuming your job uses Office 365.
If we missed any big Android app or game releases, tell us about them in the comments.
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