New to Android. Must have Utils and apps

Hardwood

Hardwood

Active member
I have my new moto G4 and I think I finally got it figured out after switching from a BB10 device.
Please offer suggestions on any MUST have utilities/apps. I've been spending a lot of time on the play store installing and uninstalling garbage and finding some good stuff.

Specifically looking for:

a filesystem/AV tool. I'm using Avast at the moment and don't mind paying a bit to ditch the ads. Is there something better before I pay?

Photo displayer. Currently using the default google photos.

Music/Video player. Using Pi which is doing the job but open to suggestions

Anything else I should have? I don't want to root as it will kill my warrantee.
 
Mahjik said:
You can try this one:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.estrongs.android.pop&hl=en

It used to be fantastic, but it has added a lot of bloat over recent years which I dislike. Unfortunately, it's the only one I've found that works properly with network shares.
Click to expand...

ES File Explorer Pro is well worth the $3 bucks. All the ad bloat is gone, and yea I agree network shares work well. Though I prefer to run a simple ftp service like filezilla and connect using ftp instead of smb, simply because it is 25x faster.
 
Hardwood said:
a filesystem/AV tool. I'm using Avast at the moment and don't mind paying a bit to ditch the ads. Is there something better before I pay?

Anything else I should have? I don't want to root as it will kill my warrantee.
Click to expand...

Do you plan on sideloading apks? If you don't root and don't install from outside the play store, than an AV tool is useless.
 
Hardwood said:
I have my new moto G4 and I think I finally got it figured out after switching from a BB10 device.
Please offer suggestions on any MUST have utilities/apps. I've been spending a lot of time on the play store installing and uninstalling garbage and finding some good stuff.

Specifically looking for:

a filesystem/AV tool. I'm using Avast at the moment and don't mind paying a bit to ditch the ads. Is there something better before I pay?

Photo displayer. Currently using the default google photos.

Music/Video player. Using Pi which is doing the job but open to suggestions

Anything else I should have? I don't want to root as it will kill my warrantee.
Click to expand...

Welcome to the Android world, finally ;)
IMO, you dont need AV for phones if youre downloading apps via playstore. If youre sideloading or anything a like then maybe. That's just me tho. If anything i think the BB android phones are the most secured ones, which i dont think youll find any software that comes close to that in the playstore.

As for apps, i usually use the default player of the phone. Ive been happy with LG's (G4 and now G6) software so no need for me to change. Google photos is great tho, esp once you set up auto backing up. Or you could use any other cloud service. I usually tell people to do that before anything else, setup a backup asap.

Apps that i like are;
Wifi analyzer
MS office
google and MS authentication
snapseed for photo editing
adobe clip, kinemaster for movie editing
google playmusic if you use it at all
LG has a built in file explorer so i dont need one
Same thing for cleaning, tho ccleaner worked great
Router Apps if your router brand has any (i use asus's app, works great)
Make surue youre able to use (find my device). Just google "find my device" and youll see what i mean. Does a lot without needing other AV software to do the same thing

good luck and have fun!
 
Last edited:
Great. Thanks guys, so much to learn and I'll check all those suggestions.
I'm not going to root yet, if ever, as I'm pretty sure it voids my warranty. So I'll get rid of Avast.

One thing I can't seem to understand is this "Google Now Launcher" that keeps popping up. Is it replaceable/deleteable?

Thanks again.
 
Hardwood said:
Great. Thanks guys, so much to learn and I'll check all those suggestions.
I'm not going to root yet, if ever, as I'm pretty sure it voids my warranty. So I'll get rid of Avast.

One thing I can't seem to understand is this "Google Now Launcher" that keeps popping up. Is it replaceable/deleteable?

Thanks again.
Click to expand...

Google Now Launcher is just another option. I've always used it over whatever comes stock on my devices, well since it came out anyways. It's a great launcher, IMO.
 
DigitalDemon said:
ES File Explorer Pro is well worth the $3 bucks. All the ad bloat is gone, and yea I agree network shares work well. Though I prefer to run a simple ftp service like filezilla and connect using ftp instead of smb, simply because it is 25x faster.
Click to expand...

I'm not referring to the ads, it's all the other crap they added (space optimizer, app security checks, etc).
 
Some other apps that I use fairly frequently:


ColorNote - Great for notes, and you can pin them to the status bar
Our Groceries - Works great and syncs across devices without issue
Storcard - Cleans out your wallet... ;)
OpenTable - Restaurant reservations..
FlightAware - Flight tracking
CallControl - Able to blacklist numbers
 
Mahjik said:
I'm not referring to the ads, it's all the other crap they added (space optimizer, app security checks, etc).
Click to expand...

Oh yea all that garbage bloat is gone in the pro version as well, it almost seems like they forked it right before they added the bloatware and ads.
 
Hardwood said:
Great. Thanks guys, so much to learn and I'll check all those suggestions.
I'm not going to root yet, if ever, as I'm pretty sure it voids my warranty. So I'll get rid of Avast.

One thing I can't seem to understand is this "Google Now Launcher" that keeps popping up. Is it replaceable/deleteable?

Thanks again.
Click to expand...
When you buy a non Google phone, these 3rd party phones come with their own skin. So what you're seeing is your phone asking what you want to use as your default home screen/skin.

As for my self, im really liking LG's new skin so I use theirs for my homescreen. Google Now Launcher is nice tho, usually pretty clean and simple. Play around with both and see which caters to your needs most. You can change via options usually under "display" options and "home screen".
 
Nova Launcher
Solid Explorer (rather than ES)
Poweramp for music
Skip the antivirus
 
Root explorer - Love the filestructure in this one, this one is for root, there is a simpler 'explorer' for unrooted devices
Lightning browser - lightweight browser that doesn't eat too much RAM
Reddit is fun - if you love reddit this is the apps to have
MX Player - a good video player, but lately it have too much ads
QuickPic - Easy to view and to move between folder and hide some pics if you wanted to
 
Thanks again everyone. Just an update.
Poweramp.. works great via bluetooth, only one issue with .wma files ticking over BT but I've only got a few.
No launcher, just using default.
Photos I'm still stuck with google's. Going to try quickpic and snapseed
Our Groceries is perfect.
Total commander for file manager (for now) testing Solid ATM
No antivirus as I'm not going to root and I'll stick with Google playstore.
wifi analytics is proving useful

Seems I'm reading the "device help" everyday to figure out more things.

Yesterday tried to send a photo over MMS, ended up with some google album thing and had to google how to refind the response to the pic I send. Sheesh.
Too much google!!!
 
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