As many of our regular readers know, we here at Android Authority do an indie app of the day to show off some of the good stuff that smaller developer studios (and individuals) are doing. Many of them are very good attempts but seem to be missing a little something to make them truly great but every now and then something truly special comes across the desk. In this roundup, we’ll take a look at ten of those truly special indie Android apps and games from 2014.
BitLit
BitLit[Price: Free with in app purchases]
BitLit the app still has some work that needs to be done but the premise is one of the most promising of any indie app I reviewed this year. BitLit lets you scan your bookshelf (read: physical books) and tries to find you free versions of those books in ebook format or at least tries to find them for you super cheap so you can digitize your book collection. They have a long, steep road ahead of them but the idea is just fantastic and the app is free to try if you’re interested.
Buff Knight
Buff Knight[Price: Free / $0.99]
Buff Knight is a fun, albeit short game that mixes the infinite runner-style game play with a few RPG elements. There are two modes of game play and as you play, you unlock new items, collect gold, tap fairies, and kill bad guys. Both the free and paid version contains the core game with the paid version removing advertisements. There is also Google Play Games achievements for those who want that. It’s not a very long game but it was developed by just one guy so it’s forgivable. We hope to see a Buff Knight 2 someday.
Brilliant Quotes and Quotations
Brilliant Quotes and Quotations[Price: Free with in app purchases]
It’s hard to believe that we’re talking about a quotes app in 2014 but alas Brilliant Quotes and Quotations did well enough to get a mention here. The app is solidly designed with a calm brown and gray layout and contains 3600 quotes from over 260 visionaries. That’s roughly one quote a day for just under 10 years. It’s free with in app purchases if you’re interested and sometimes we could all use a word of wisdom.
Complete Ear Trainer
Complete Ear Trainer[Price: Free with in app purchases]
Complete Ear Trainer is a niche application but one that really stood out in terms of its solid design standard and unique blend of app and game. It is a reference app that teaches people how to tune and identify music notes by ear. It utilizes 150 drills over four levels and 28 chapters. However, it also has things like Google Play Games achievements and other backend elements that make it feel more like a game than a learning app. We really liked that hybrid combo and it brings a really special experience to those who use this app.
Godville
Godville[Price: Free with in app purchases]
Godville is a unique text-based game where you play the roll of God and you watch over a warrior. The warrior “tweets” his thoughts and adventures and you read them and react. You can perform miracles, punishments, and try to control the character. He may or may not listen and you may punish or reward him accordingly. There is no game play whatsoever so it may bore some people but it’s still very interesting and surprisingly fun considering that you don’t actually have to do anything.
Oops! AppLock
Oops! AppLock[Price: Free with in app purchases]
Oops! AppLock is a very unique security application. What it does is lock selected applications behind a fake splash screen and the only way to unlock it is to enter the code. The code can be set by the user and uses the volume keys. An example of a code would be volume up, volume up, volume down, volume down. Users can create their own custom images that pop up or leave them as they are to make unsuspecting nosy people think the app froze or crashed. It’s a little rough around the edges but effective.
Payback 2
Payback 2[Price: Free with in app purchases]
Payback 2 is a perfect example of what happens when you base your game around the idea of having constant chaos. Players can play online or solo in various game modes such as races and all out deathmatches. Each match takes place in an open world that players can actively explore although it’s not always recommended because usually other players are trying to kill you. There is a variety of weapons and vehicles as well as weekly, daily, and hourly challenges to try to keep things fresh.
Potential beta
Potential beta[Price: Free]
Potential Beta is an Android app that allows you to sync the Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and battery status across all of your devices. You can also toggle Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on those other devices if you so choose which is a nice touch. This is definitely a fun management app if you have multiple devices, has a decent design, and it’s also free. Recent updates also added Android Wear support, a Chrome extension, and more.
RoughAnimator
RoughAnimator[Price: $1.99]
RoughAnimator has been a favorite of mine since I reviewed it. It’s a drawing app that lets you draw the various frames in an animation then put them together to create a short animated video. It works best on tablets and large phones (and with a stylus). It has a host of basic animation features and in many cases, the biggest limitation is only your imagination. It’s not a professional grade animation app but it definitely comes closer than pretty much everything else in the Play Store right now.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8Nvo4APsrY?feature=oembed&w=710&h=399]
StuffMerge Clipboard Composer
StuffMerge Clipboard Composer
[Price: Free]
Last up this year is StuffMerge Clipboard Composer. This new and unique take on the copy/paste mechanism allows you to compose notes and lists using the stuff that you copy around your device. Then you can choose to send or share that note or list to others via the usual sources. It’s definitely a niche app but the frequent copy/paster can find a lot of uses for an app like this. It’s also totally free so it doesn’t hurt to check it out.
Wrap up
If we missed any lesser known, indie Android apps or Android games, let us know in the comments!