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Hello and welcome back to Google Play Weekly where we talk about Android apps and games! Here are your headlines from the last week:
- The security-minded Blackphone is getting its own app store and it’s supposed to be very privacy minded.
- Google is now offering up refunds to people whose kids went nuts on in app purchases.
- A bunch of Google apps were updated, including Chromecast, Google Play Services, and Google Hangouts.
- Google Play has released an infographic detailing the most popular apps, games, books, movies, and TV shows of the Play Store in 2014.
And here are the five Android apps and Android games you shouldn’t miss this week!
Game of Thrones
[Price: $4.99 with in app purchases]
Game of Thrones the game has been released on Android from Telltale Games, the same studio that brought us the very popular The Walking Dead games. It’s an episodic adventure where you play as members of the House of Forrester as you deal with the events of the main story from a more peripheral perspective. The game features good graphics, the classic gore and mayhem of the TV show, and plenty more.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRMoVJReI9U?feature=oembed&w=710&h=399]
Muzei Live Wallpaper
Muzei Live Wallpaper[Price: Free]
The popular and incredibly artsy live wallpaper Muzei got a huge update to version 2.0 this last week. Included is Android Wear support, an updated interface for Android 5.0, some new customization settings, and a host of bug fixes and performance improvements. It’s totally free and one of the more popular live wallpapers out there right now.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnCK5BP7Mwg?feature=oembed&w=710&h=399]
HERE Maps beta
HERE Maps beta[Price: Free]
Nokia has been on a roll this year and the long awaited HERE beta maps app has finally hit the Google Play Store. It features a fun and animated design, offline maps, and the ability to find new places around you. It’s been hotly anticipated and a private beta was announced not long ago. Now, everyone can get in on it but do beware that this is a beta and that means there will probably be some bugs.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9P3xf85R1w?feature=oembed&w=710&h=399]
VLC for Android
VLC for Android[Price: Free]
It’s been a long time coming but VLC for Android has finally exited beta. The latest update fixed a number of bugs on ARMv8 devices as well as Android 5.0 Lollipop along with a lot of new functionality as well as hardware acceleration and software decoding improvements. It’s finally stable with this version 1.0 release so if you’re a fan of VLC or you’re looking for an awesome media player, definitely check this one out.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3Sl38pJxqU?feature=oembed&w=710&h=399]
Action Launcher
Action Launcher
[Price: Free with in app purchases]
Action Launcher version 3.0 was released yesterday and reportedly, a lot of work went into it. The code base was entirely redone from the ground up which means it should be the fastest and smoothest Action Launcher experience yet. It retains a lot of its older features like the pop out app drawer and Covers along with some new stuff. It is a new app and not an update to the older Action Launcher so people will have to pay for it again but you get what you pay for, which is a quality launcher.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGxxP9y1qjo?feature=oembed&w=710&h=399]
Wrap up
If we missed any amazing Android apps and Android games news this week, let us know in the comments!