How to find the best apps—and avoid the duds

To make your life as convenient and efficient as possible, you should install the most fun and useful apps on your phone. But, facing millions of app store lists, it’s easy to waste time on meaningless and even dangerous programs. How to distinguish between excellent applications and inferior applications? Here are some tips for improving your application search skills.

Seeking help from Apple or Google

The tech giant behind iOS and Android devices hopes to help you find the best apps. In fact, they have designed their digital stores around this principle.

When Apple released iOS 11, they redesigned the iOS App Store, making visual improvements that make it easier for you to find the best app. Open the App Store on your phone and you will find it is simpler and easier to access than the previous version. Apple categorizes everything into a summary category, so you can choose the Game or Apps tab based on your goal. In these sections, you'll find subcategories like "One New Apps We Like" and "Picks of the Week" that promote apps that Apple employees and average users seem to like. Keep scrolling and you'll see a list of themes – for example, during the holidays, you might see games you can play with others. Some of these lists will be specifically targeted at you based on the items you have downloaded. Browse these featured options to find great new apps.

On Android, you'll find something similar: Google's Play Store highlights the best new and classic apps for you to enjoy. Open the Play Store app on your phone to view employee selections, trending apps, and popular games. Below you will find recommended apps that have been selected for you based on your past mobile activity. You can also browse categories such as entertainment or mobile phone custom apps. Finally, you can view the top rated apps and games to make sure you don't miss anything good. However, the top-ranked apps on the rankings are often big-name apps you may have downloaded.

Explore resources outside the app store

Want to learn about new apps before they appear on the App Store Rankings? Follow the latest technology news. Technology writers are immersed in apps and phones every day. This knowledge allows them to recommend app groups that most others have never heard of. You can also follow your favorite tech writers

Application enthusiasts can hear from their peers on the tech portal Product Hunt, which is designed to help readers spot the hottest trends. Visit the website and click on the "Tech" or "Game" link on the left. You will see rated app recommendations, rankings depend on user votes.

Don't forget social media. For example, check out tags such as #apps or #newapps on Twitter to find valuable programs. While this option may be less reliable than Tech News or Product Hunt, it can sometimes guide you to the hidden gems.

When it comes to social media, if you find an app you like, be sure to follow developers on Facebook, Twitter, and other platforms. You will receive news about new and upcoming releases and may see some recommendations for other apps and games. Meanwhile, follow your favorite tech journalists and see their recommendations.

Finally, friends and family can recommend great new programs, especially games. Next time you meet with a friend with a similar taste, ask her to demonstrate her favorite new app. You will get the opinions of someone you trust and you can also see how the app is actually working before installing it.

Identify bad applications

Both Apple and Google are working to exclude low-quality and harmful applications from their respective stores. Therefore, when browsing, you are unlikely to encounter any app that truly threatens the security of your device. Still, it’s better to be safe than regret – here’s how to minimize the risk of installing bad applications.

App reviews and ratings are not perfect systems, but they give you a general idea of ​​other users. Read the reasons behind the ratings carefully – their objections may or may not be important to you. Low ratings don't necessarily mean the app is bad, but they can indicate a bug or troublesome update. To see if the developer has resolved any issues, please check the reply under the comments.

When you find the app you want to try, remember to read the list page before downloading. This will show how much the app costs and whether it charges in-app payments. Read the instructions carefully to check what you can get for free and what you can't get for free.

The first time the program is opened, it requests certain permissions, such as accessing location data. If you are unwilling to grant that permission, just say no. You can check which apps are allowed to perform what actions in your phone settings. In the iOS Settings app, select Privacy, and then select a category; in the Android Settings app, select Apps and Notifications, App Permissions, and then select a category.

If the app passes all these obstacles, it may still consume your battery or data. So, once it runs, check it out. On iOS, open the Settings app, then click Battery to see which apps are using the most power, and click Cellular to see their data usage. On Android, open the Settings app and click Battery to see the worst performing apps in the department. To check data usage, click "Network and Internet", "Data Usage", and then click "Mobile Data Usage".

In most cases, you can identify bad apps based on the app's ratings, comments, and screenshots. But if the worst happens and you do have a bad quality app installed, just uninstall it: on iOS, tap and hold its icon, and then click the cross button; on Android, tap and hold it The icon is then dragged up to the Uninstall box.

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