Best instant messenger apps for Android

Best instant messenger apps for Android

It's not all about WhatsApp you know, there are tons of instant messengers out there. We’ve rounded up ten of best the Android platform has to offer, along with screenshots and feature lists so you can best choose which one suits your individual tastes and needs. Here are the best instant messenger apps for Android

Messenger: because everybody has Facebook

Facebook’s official instant messaging app has recently been made over to deliver a faster, cleaner service and interface. It’s much like WhatsApp (as are most of the apps on this list), but Messenger instantly connects to all of your Facebook contacts, making it one of the most convenient messaging apps if nothing else.

As of recently, however, you can also message non-Facebook friends by using their phone number. Messenger allows you to access all of your Facebook messages without using the main app or website. It’s also got stickers and emojis, groups, voice recordings, location data, free calls, photo sharing and more

 download

Skype: for video calls 

The granddaddy of video calls, Skype has been around for forever and is still kicking strong. Skype is primarily used for calls, but the IM component is just as useful. In fact we use it at AndroidPIT as our primary communication tool.

Skype requires Skype ID’s though, so you’ll only be able to add friends if you know their Skype contact name. But once you do, and basically everyone is on Skype too, you can have video chats anytime you want, for free. You can also add Skype credit and make cheap international calls to landlines and mobile phones.

The chat section offers group chat, media sharing, emojis and more. Plus you can have one account on several devices (something which WhatsApp doesn’t allow offer).

download

Tango: for networking 

It takes two to Tango, but there’s plenty more than that using the service. Tango does much the same as the rest: instant messaging, media sharing, stickers, group chat, video calling, group chat etc, but it also has a ton of extras. Tango recently went through a complete overhaul and now hosts a news feed and even dedicated news channels for you to follow. 

Tango will automatically find your friends based on your contact list, but they must be using the service to show up (or you can invite them). Additionally, Tango can be used to place calls, find like-minded friends or people in the vicinity using the service, which adds a bit more social networking to the mix than some other providers. The mid-call mini-games also help Tango stand out from the rest.

dawnload

 

Hangouts: because it's Google 

Google set up Hangouts as the standard (but interchangeable) messaging app in Android 4.4 KitKat, and thanks to this it picked up a lot more users. Hangouts is a combined SMS and IM app, that separates the two types of messages, but can be used to automatically place voice calls and video calls from your phone via Hangouts rather than traditional carriers.

Because it handles both SMS and IM, it cuts down on the number of apps you need to be working with, and its video calling quality is arguably better than Skype's. In addition, Hangouts integrates with Google+ in much the same way that Facebook Messenger interacts with Facebook, meaning contacts added via the social network can be called/messaged in the separate app. Be careful who you connect with if you're a particularly private person.

Hangouts still has a long way to go, but as YouTube and Google+ grow, so will hangouts. 

download Hangouts

Viber: for sticker enthusiasts

Viber is really pushing the sticker market, where you can get tons of free and paid sticker packs, but the core business of Viber is instant messages. You can, of course, also send recorded voice messages like WhatsApp (but not video calls like Skype) and you now have the option to call any phone number anywhere with Viber Out – much like adding Skype credit to call people not on the service. Check out my tips and tricks for Viber article for more info.

The new look Viber is feature packed and looks great! 

download Viber

Line: if you want the younger, cooler Skype

Line is becoming more and more popular, and for good reason. With the recently added video calling functionality, it is now as fully featured as Skype, but has a younger, sexier feel to it than the tried and true Skype. It’s jam packed full of stickers and other fun stuff, and is immensely popular throughout large parts of Asia. But it’s also feature filled with group chats, multi-platform capabilities (phone, tablet, PC), timeline, recorded voice messages, media sharing and much, much more, including official account messages from celebrities you like. Line is kind of like Twitter, Facebook and Skype all rolled into one.

I'm pretty new to Line, but I'm liking it a lot already. 

download LINE: Free Calls & Messages

BBM: for the important

After a substantial waiting period, BlackBerry's messaging service finally made it to the Android platform last year. BBM is not as Androidy as the rest of the apps on this list, but it does offer some very cool features including: always-on service (you don’t need to open the app to use it), timed and retractable messages, 2-way opt-in (nobody can message you until you specifically allow them), delivery reporting, groups, emoticons, broadcast messages and more. The ability to choose who can message you, rather than it being available to anybody with your number, makes this an attractive messaging option. 

One of BBM's standout features is its ability to schedule messages. 

download BBM

Razer Comms: for gamers

Though Razer Comms is a fantastic instant messenger in its own right, it's first and foremost known for its popularity in the gaming community. With an accompanying PC version too, Razer Comms allows to you to group conversations, free VoIP chat, and it makes it quick and easy to connect with other gamers around the world. Think of it as Xfire for the smartphone era.  

Razer Comms - Gaming Messenger puts a serious focus on gamers.

download Razer Comms - Gaming Messenger

Kik - for fun

"185 million people love Kik!" Says its Play Store description, proving there is more to messaging than just WhatsApp. Kik is a little more playful than the likes of WhatsApp, with more color and sticker options. Kik also houses its own built-in browser, to make video and image sharing between friends simple. It's a fast growing and friendly messenger with users from all over the planet, give it a try. 

Kik Messenger continues to grow its userbase.

download Kik

WhatsApp: because everybody has it

It's not all about WhatsApp... but WhatsApp sure is a big part of it. While it doesn’t have the same feature-rich content as many of the other apps on this list, WhatsApp can’t be beat for simplicity, reliability, and the sheer number of contacts using it. Chances are, if you know someone with a smartphone, they’ve got WhatsApp.

WhatsApp uses your existing contacts’ phone numbers, so you don’t need to add contacts manually. You can send written messages, stickers, emojis and media, as well as broadcast and group messages.

As of a recent update, WhatsApp also allows you to make free calls to your contacts. It's an excellent addition and means you don't have to swap apps when instant messaging is no longer enough. 

• WhatsApp voice calling feature: here's how to get it

Download wahtsup

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HTC One M10: 5 things we want to see in HTC's next flagship

The HTC One M9 has just landed and we're already talking about the HTC One M10. Too soon? We don't think so. Much though we loved the HTC One M9, our time with it also revealed its flaws, and the things that most need improving next time round.

The One M9 has just landed and we're already talking about the one M10. Too soon? Never! / © ANDROIDPIT

But this isn't just about addressing HTC's flaws. In this list of 5 things we want to see in HTC's next flagship, we've also taken into account technologies that aren't ready for the mass market yet, and other projects of HTC's that we're really hoping have some part to play in the HTC One M10. Read on to find out our expectations, demands and dreams for the HTC One M10.

HTC One M10 Design

The HTC One M9 looks fantastic - no one's trying to take credit away from it there. With that said, each successive 'One' redesign since the One M7 has been less noticeable than that of its predecessor. The One M7 blew us all away, and paved the way for aluminum to be a key feature in flagship phones. The One M8 impressed us with its added curviness. And the One M9? It just didn't really surprise is in any way. Apart from a nice brushed metal effect, there was a sense that we'd seen it all before, depriving it of that 'wow' factor of its predecessors.

HTC probably knows that it'll need to be a bit more radical when designing the One M10. For all its talk of the One series being the unchanging 'Porsche' of smartphones, the public seeks a refresh every now and then. The need for a rethink isn't as urgent as, say, Samsung's was building up to the Galaxy S6, but by next it will be high time HTC wows us again. Many also see the area below the bezel containing the HTC logo as a waste of space, so perhaps that could be used more productively?

What would you like to see in the HTC One M10 design? Should HTC infuse its chassis with a bit of Samsung-style glass, get rid of unused bezel space? Or maybe a radical change isn't really needed after all. There is a strong case to be made that the HTC One M9 is still the best-looking phone around, so perhaps HTC will take an 'as we were' approach (fingers crossed they don't).

HTC One M10 camera

The Achilles heel of recent HTC flagships has undoubtedly been the rear camera. Moving the 4MP (sorry, 'UltraPixel') camera from the back of the HTC One M8 to the front of the One M9 was a great move, but the 20.7MP camera on the back of the M9 proves that high MP count doesn't automatically equate to a great camera.

We'd like to - and expect to - see better autofocus technology, so you can take pictures quicker than with the One M9 camera (HTC could learn a few tricks from LG's Laser AutoFocus technology here). The One M8 actually had a wider aperture than the One M9 (f/2.0 vs f/2.2), meaning it was capable of letting in more light when taking pictures. We expect the One M10 camera to have an aperture of at least f/2.0, as well as Optical Image Stabilisation, if HTC is to finally become a contender in the camera department.

HTC One M10 display

The feature of the One M9 that will most certainly need an upgrade come M10 time is the screen, which is the same 5-inch Full HD IPS as the HTC One M8. Even upon release, the HTC One M9 display already lagged behind rival phone displays like those on the Samsung Galaxy S6 and the older LG G3, both of which have QHD resolutions. 

HTC's reasoning behind sticking with a Full HD display was to preserve battery power, but the strong lifespan in both the Galaxy S6 and LG G3 batteries suggests that QHD displays aren't necessarily the battery drains HTC thinks they are. We imagine HTC will have learned its lesson by next year, when QHD will very much be the norm.

Size-wise, flagship smartphones appear to have settled on the 5.0-5.2-inch sweet spot, so we're not expecting the One M10 display to be bigger than that (that job will likely be left to variants equivalent to this year's HTC One M9+ and HTC One E9)

HTC One M10 - Virtual Reality?

Could HTC Vive have a role to play in the HTC One M10? / © ANDROIDPIT

One of the biggest surprises to have emerged from MWC 2015 was the announcement of the HTC Vive, a virtual reality headset designed in collaboration with PC gaming platform Steam.

From what we know so far, the Vive will be aimed at PC gamers, and early tests suggest it has huge potential to lead the virtual reality revolution. With HTC's main focus still being the mobile market, we're wondering whether the powerful VR headset will have some part to play on the HTC One M10. This will to some extent depend on the graphical firepower that the One M10 will be capable of, because utilizing such a technology on below-par visuals would waste its potential.

HTC has not indicated that the Vive will be used with its mobile devices, but we're hoping that HTC doesn't forget the mobile medium on which it built its reputation.

USB-C

Turning from the mind-blowing to the mundane but extremely useful, we think that the USB-C cable is the most exciting cable since HDMI. It's just about ready for mass production, so we should be seeing it packed with devices soon.

What's so exciting about it? Reversible ends, faster charging, faster data transfers, and compatibility with larger devices like laptops. That not enough for you? Read our piece on why USB-C is the all-in-one cable you've been waiting for.

 

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Smart Keyboard - Emoji & Color APK

Emoji keyboard with free 500+ cute Emoji and smiley faces explpsion to customize your keyboard.

• .emoji keyboard
• .smiley faces explpsion
• .keyboard customization

Smart Keyboard - Emoji & Color Description from Publisher:
Smart Keyboard - Emoji & Color is a free and personalized keyboard that help you to fast input over 500 emoji, emoticons on android. With colorful emoji, emoticons and themes. This is the Keyboard to input Emoji icons in everywhere such as email, sms......
A varity of colorful themes for you to customize and personalize your keyboard any way you like. Together with the normal English keyboard which make input Emoji more convenience.
Features:

Download Smart Keyboard - Emoji & Color 1.0 APK ( 11M)

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Camera HDR Studio for android phone

Camera HDR Studio App for Android

• .photo editing
• .hdr app
• .photo effects
• .color splash
• .photo enhancing
• .get photos
• .taking pictures
• .make pictures
• .get fit
• .sharing pics

Camera HDR Studio Description from Publisher:
Introducing Camera HDR Studio, the best Camera application for taking a real HDR photo. Using our own enhanced and optimized HDR algorithm, you can now take a full resolution HDR picture with incredible results in no time.
- Our HDR algorithm idea works by taking two photos with different exposures, fuse them and apply tone-mapping to them to produce the final result.
- Process at full resolution in the background, so nothing will get between you and taking pictures, because you don’t have to wait for saving to complete
- Our automatic image alignment algorithm aligns the images perfectly, so you don’t have to worry about being too precise when taking the two photos.
- Multiple HDR variations that ranges from normal, to artistic to cartoonish.
- Save or share your beautiful HDR images.
- If you have an already saved image, then you can use our excellent Fake HDR algorithm that produce a result that are close to our true HDR algorithm, but better than any other Fake HDR out there.
- Unleash your creativity by adding extra effects like color enhancement filters, or add frames or texture to your HDR image.
- You can have the option between choosing a Real or fake HDR
Camera HDR Studio is a great replacement to your default camera. It contains a large amount of features and customization options that makes taking picture more fun than ever.
Here is what you will get with our app:
[Top features]
- HDR support (Fake or Real).
- Fastest Camera ever! Shoots up to 30 photos per second using Burst mode option, (up to 10 on low end devices). You can shoot up to 150 photos in 5 seconds
- Process images at full resolution (8 or 13 MP).
- Geo Tagging.
- Works perfectly on Tablet.
- Incredibly fast processing, all effects are processed instantly. Saving is processed in background, so you don’t have to wait at all.
- Over 70 effects, frames and textures are available at your disposal (some of them are customizable), combine them in a non-destructive way to produce the perfect image.
- Customize all phone buttons, (volume to zoom or take photos, trackball to change white balance…etc). [Main Features]
- Shoot by touch.
- Zoom support.
- Mute shutter sound (if supported).
- Different image sizes.
- Last photo taken preview.
- Blind shot, take pictures without sound or display, instead a vibration will be the indicator, help exposing corruption. Please use it wisely.
- Import images and apply various effects on it including HDR.
- Different saving options, including: saving quality, saving location, auto-save, save-original, store GPS, and save file name.
[Shooting methods]
- Normal shooting mode.
- Steady shot, say goodbye to blurry pictures.
- Timer, shoot a picture after a set amount of time that you can specify.
- Time Lapse, shoot a picture every set amount of time that you can specify.
- Burst mode, shoot a large amount of photos per second, you can also specify the speed ratio.
[Filters]
- Combine the effects together to produce the perfect result.
- Process all effect at full resolution.
- 9 HDR modes.
- 50 color effects, including: LOMO, Retro…etc.
- 12 artistic effects.
- 9 Mirrors effects.
- 8 vignette effects.
- 5 texture effects
- 14 frames.
- Save the filtered image along with the original.
- Share your image through our share button.
- A ready mode that allows you to preselect your effect before taking the photo.
Any bugs? please help us improve our app. Any feature request? you are more than welcome, please let us know through the feedback menu button.
Keywords:
HDR, HDR fx, HDR effects, High Dynamic range, pro HDR, real HDR, true HDR, Camera, front, self, Camera360, 360, filters, LOMO, mono, retro, frame. Artistic, Polaroid, pencil, sketch, processing, cartoon, burst, steady, blind, spy, mute, zoom, fake, resolution, auto-save, dreamy, frames, import, customization, shortcuts, timer, timelapse, fast burst, Geo, shooting modes, effects, camera zoom, thumbnail. Line camera, camera fun.

download in play store

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Google Maps Easter Egg : Play yesteryears favourite arcade game Pacman on Google Maps

Google Maps Easter Egg : Play yesteryears favourite arcade game Pacman on Google Maps

Google has let out a Easter Egg for all fools day tomorrow so head over to Google Maps and click on that little Pac Man icon bottom right of the screen and play the old favourite Pacman game on the mean streets.
And while you are at it watch mini-roundabout because the enemies are lurking near buy.
The game is available with the original rules of Pacman with 5 lives per game. The game even comes with the original music and the fatal ‘wooo wooo’ sound when you die.
Be careful to choose a nice city with spaces on the streets or you will get this message

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Facebook tracks all users, including ones who have logged-out or not registered for FB in violation of European Union law

New study reveals that Facebook tracks logged-out users in ‘violation’ of European Union law

TL;DR : New Study reveals that Facebook tracks people without Facebook accounts, logged out users, and EU users who have explicitly opted out of tracking.

It is already known that Facebook tracks its users for providing them with contextual ads but a new study reveals that Facebook is tracking users who have logged-out of FB and even those who have opted out of FB tracking feature.
A study commissioned by the Belgian data protection agency and conducted by members of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Law and ICT/Centre for Intellectual Property Rights (ICRI/CIR) of KU Leuven, the department of Studies on Media, Information and Telecommunication (SMIT) of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and the department of Computer Security and Industrial Cryptography (COSIC) of KU Leuven has revealed.
The researchers from the joint probe claim that Facebook tracks computers of users without their explicit consent and even if they are logged out.  The report also says that FB tracks even those users who have not at all registered for Facebook and who opted out of the FB tracking feature in Europe.
Under European Union laws all websites have to take users explicit permission before placing any kind of tracking cookies on their browsers and computer.  The study found out that Facebook was bypassing this requirement by using a workaround. Its social plugins such as the ‘Like’ button which are present on approximately 13 million websites act as tracking cookies  placing them these websites.
Facebook places tracking cookies on users’ computers if they visit any page on the facebook.com domain, including fan pages or other pages that do not require a Facebook account to visit. When a user visits a third-party site that has any Facebook social plug-in placed on it, it detects and sends the tracking cookies back to Facebook. The study reveals that the tracking cookies are used even if the user does not interact with the Like button, Facebook Login or other extensions of the social media site.
Facebook flately disagrees with the above report and has Facebook spokesperson issued the following statement :

This report contains factual inaccuracies. The authors have never contacted us, nor sought to clarify any assumptions upon which their report is based. Neither did they invite our comment on the report before making it public. We have explained in detail the inaccuracies in the earlier draft report (after it was published) directly to the Belgian DPA, who we understand commissioned it, and have offered to meet with them to explain why it is incorrect, but they have declined to meet or engage with us. However, we remain willing to engage with them and hope they will be prepared to update their work in due course.

It remains to be seen whether the European Union holds this report as valid and acts against FB. European Union has already warned users to opt out of Facebook if they want to preserve their privacy.

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April Fool Easter Egg Google gives reverse Google

Google has decided to celebrate the All Fools Day with a inverted Google search. Google today flipped its most popular product, Google Search around with the release of com.google a.k.a. the Bizarro version of google.com.
Luckily the inverted engine gives you the exact same results as you would normally find — except everything is written backwards.
This is the third Google Easter Egg for 1st April 2015 (April Fool Day) along with the Pacman and #ChromeSelfie and is visible in the timezones as they enter into 1st April.
Searched “test”, here is what we got

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