Whether you’re organizing your home life or your work life, these apps offer effective ways to boost productivity and get more done with your day
While our smartphones might be a distraction, they can also be a powerful tool for keeping our lives organized and our work on track.
Whether you’re looking for a way to keep up with your schedule, organize communications, plan your next project, or avoid distractions, this collection of apps will help you turn your phone into a productivity machine.
Editor’s Note: This post has been updated for 2022.
App Categories:
Gmail
While Gmail comes default on many Android phones, don’t discount it as a tool for keeping your communications in order. Labels, auto-sorting, snooze features, and autocomplete replies all offer ways to help shave time off keeping things at inbox zero.
Get it: for Android | for iPhone
Outlook
If you use any of Microsoft’s Office suite at work or at home, Outlook offers a level of integration you won’t find with other email clients. Outlook has been a top choice for managing emails on desktops for years. The mobile app brings a bit of that power to your pocket.
Get it: for Android | for iPhone
Spark
Recently released for Android, Spark is a long-time iOS favorite. Interface and notification customization make it easy to tailor the app to your needs. Compatibility with virtually any email service can consolidate your various addresses into one sleek inbox. You can even collaborate in your inbox using the delegation feature.
Get it: for Android | for iPhone
Project Management
Trello
Trello’s kanban approach to task management works wonderfully on mobile devices, placing all of your tasks in columns you can swipe through quickly. And it doesn’t hurt that most features are free.
Get it: for Android | for iPhone
Asana
Offering kanbans, lists, customizable forms, timelines, and complex team management, Asana is one of the most flexible project management apps around. And the interface translates great to mobile. For large teams, Asana is hard to beat.
Get it: for Android | for iPhone
Basecamp
As a heavyweight on the project management, Basecamp provides a collaboration hub for everything you need to organize to stay productive and meet your deadlines. Chat, file sharing, conferencing, to-do lists, and more are all a few swipes or taps away.
Get it: for Android | for iPhone
To-Do Lists
Wunderlist
Wunderlist is a great option for those that want a bit of visual pop to their to-do lists. Color codes, custom backgrounds, and a loose, spacious design make this app as easy on the eyes as it is functional.
Get it: for Android | for iPhone
Todoist
Don’t let Todoist’s minimalist interface fool you. Even at the free tier, it offers powerful organizational tools, a great tagging system, and just enough motivation in its charts and progress trackers to keep you on track.
Get it: for Android | for iPhone
Any.do
Featuring a clean look and easy navigation, Any.do takes the fuss out of keeping track of your to-dos. It also features some handy templates — such as the smart grocery list — to help you wrangle personal tasks on top of work obligations.
Get it: for Android | for iPhone
For more options, check our guide to the best iPhone and Android to-do list apps.
Calendars
Business Calendar 2
With 6 different views and a range of labeling and color coding options, Business Calendar 2 is a great choice for anyone looking for a flexible, capable app to organize busy schedules or consolidate multiple calendars into one place.
Get it: for Android
Google Calendar
With support for multiple calendars, integrated appointment scheduling, color coding, sharing, and more, Google Calendar offers everything you need to keep your schedule running smoothly.
Get it: for Android | for iPhone
Fantastical 2
This app uses the power of natural language parsing to make creating events and organizing your schedule as simple as talking to your phone. Multiple views, in-depth labeling, and multi-calendar support also make it easy to stay on top of things.
Get it: for iPhone
For more options, you can check our roundup of the best iOS and Android calendar apps.
Automation
IFTTT
This service allows you connect apps to automate common tasks — such as sharing a blog post on social media when published or sending you a collection of free books off Amazon. The mobile app puts the power to automate in your pocket, giving you control of a wide range of services and devices.
Get it: for Android | for iPhone
Tasker
If you’re looking to automate phone settings — such as automatically muting your phone when you get to the office or forward calls between certain hours — Tasker is a great choice. It looks intimidating, but once you get the hang of making profiles, it’s a powerful tool.
Get it: for Android
Automate
Using flowcharts to create steps, Automate allows you to create routines that change settings on your phone or perform tasks based on triggers — such as time, location, battery life, calls and more. All without having to type out commands.
Get it: for Android
Shortcuts
If you frequently shorten links, save articles as PDFs, need directions home, or any number of other basic tasks, Shortcuts can help you shave time off mundane things and spend more time getting things done by creating buttons that do them for you.
Get it: for iPhone
Notes & Information Dumps
OneNote
Set up like a digital binder, OneNote makes it easy to store notes, pictures, audio, website links, and virtually anything you want to store. The app makes it even easier to record quick audio notes, save webpages, and access your notebooks on the go.
Get it: for Android | for iPhone
Evernote
Evernote’s tagging and organization features make it one of the most popular note-taking apps around. The mobile app puts all of your notes in your pocket and makes it simple to save webpages, search your notes, and stay organized without having to boot up your laptop or PC.
Get it: for Android | for iPhone
Simplenote
Focusing on plain text notes, Simplenote offers all of the organizational potential of bigger note taking apps without all the bloat. This makes it great for research, collecting quotes, managing recipes, or any number of tasks that don’t require fancy formatting.
Get it: for Android | for iPhone
Google Keep
Like a collection of digital sticky notes, Google Keep offers an interesting spin on note taking apps. Color coding, labels, reminders, and more make it one-part notes, one-part to-do app. The design works great on mobile devices with most features just a tap or two away.
Get it: for Android | for iPhone
Cloud Storage
Google Drive
With great integration for Android devices, Google Drive puts all of your files just a few taps away. You can also download files for offline viewing. Integration with Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides also makes the app handy for collaboration on the go.
Get it: for Android | for iPhone
Dropbox
An emphasis on file sharing and collaboration, mobile scanning, discussion boards and more, Dropbox is an ideal cloud storage solution for people looking to use their online storage more like an office space than a picture archive.
Get it: for Android | for iPhone
Microsoft OneDrive
Native integration with Windows 10 PCs and laptops make this cloud storage app a great choice for those looking for a solution that integrates with their computers. Photo backup, file sharing, and version control also offer powerful ways to manage your files.
Get it: for Android | for iPhone
Communications
Slack
From bots and macros to channels and roles, Slack offers one of the most feature-rich chat experiences available. But the star of the app is its integrations with other apps to help you sync your communications with your work or collaboration.
Get it: for Android | for iPhone
Skype
Great for voice, video, and text chat, Skype is a great way to keep in touch no matter your location. Video and screen sharing can also help to better communicate problems and get more done quickly.
Get it: for Android | for iPhone
Hangouts
As a Google Service, Hangouts are a great way to get multiple people in a conversation at once. Whether you’re using voice, talk, or text, the interface will adapt to help you focus on who is speaking and allow you to present your information clearly.
Get it: for Android | for iPhone
Discord
While marketed as a communications tool for gamers, Discord includes many of the features of popular business communications apps. Voice, text, and video chat are all there as well as screen sharing, multiple channels, user roles, and rich messaging. Don’t let their marketing turn you away, it’s a powerful bit of kit.
Get it: for Android | for iPhone
Photo & Document Scanning
Scanbot
Automatic page detection and scan optimization make this one of the easiest scanning apps available. Just point your camera at the document and let the app handle the rest. It even handles multiple pages.
Get it: for Android | for iPhone
Scanner Pro
With the ability to clean up and straighten scans, cloud storage integration, multipage scan support, and an alignment grid to ensure you get a good scan every time, Scanner Pro is perfect for capturing documents, whiteboards, business cards, and more.
Get it: for iPhone
Microsoft Office Lens
Tight integration with Microsoft Office makes this an ideal app for capturing presentations for reports. The whiteboard scanning feature helps to eliminate glare and brighten colors to make them easy to read. While basic, Office Lens shines in what it offers.
Get it: for Android | for iPhone
For more options, you check our roundups of the best iOS and Android scanner apps.
Voice Recorders & Dictation
Rev Audio & Voice Recorder
Rev offers everything you need in a basic voice recording app — complete with organization options and basic settings to optimize your audio. For a small fee, you can also have audio transcribed by humans and stored directly in the app.
Get it: for Android | for iPhone
Otter Voice Notes
Using machine learning, Otter Voice Notes combines an excellent voice recorder with automatic transcription. The ability to tag speakers and recordings makes it easy to refer back to your notes and free transcription minutes every month brings plenty of value.
Get it: for Android | for iPhone
TapeACall Pro
If you’re looking for a powerful, flexible app for recording calls, TapeACall Pro is a leading option. Recording a call is as simple as a few taps and all recordings are automatically organized and searchable for future reference.
Get it: for iPhone
For more options, you check our roundups of the best iPhone and Android voice recorder apps.
Distraction Management & Focus
PomoDoneApp
Combining a flexible Pomodoro timer and integration with a huge range of to-do list and product management apps, PomoDoneApp allows you to use the Pomodoro Method to increase focus and get more done with your day — all without having to duplicate tasks between a bunch of apps to track things.
Get it: for Android | for iPhone
Freedom
This app blocks sites and apps which you feel are distracting you at the times you set. Whether you’re looking to avoid Facebook while you work or want to improve your sleep by blocking games before bed, Freedom has you covered. And it supports Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android for full coverage wherever you’re working.
Get it: for Android | for iPhone
Forest
Mixing a bit of gamification into the Pomodoro Method, Forest lets you plant a digital tree. Trees take 30 minutes to grow and if you leave the app for any reason, the tree dies and you have to start again. It’s an interesting approach that is simple and effective.
Get it: for Android | for iPhone
Noisli
If you’re looking to block out the noise around you or add a little noise to an office that is too quiet, Noisli allows you to blend ambient noises — such as wind, rain, or train sounds — with colored noise — such as white noise, brown noise, and pink noise — to find the perfect fit to help you focus.
Get it: for Android | for iPhone
Self-Care
Headspace
Mindfulness and meditation are great ways to relax, improve focus, and manage the stresses of life so you can stay productive. Headspace offers a massive catalog of both guided and unguided meditations to help you create healthy habits using your phone.
Get it: for Android | for iPhone
Journey
Journey is a combination of a diary, journal, and mood tracker. It’s a great way to clear your mind, track your long-term progress, and get better at looking at both yourself and your life in a way that can help to improve productivity, boost confidence, and manage stress.
Get it: for Android | for iPhone
Habitica
By turning habit building into a game, Habitica makes it easy to remember to drink more water, get up and stretch, take breaks, or whatever you need to do to optimize your work routines and get more done.
Get it: for Android | for iPhone
Final Thoughts
Whether you’re a student, an entrepreneur, or working in an office, optimizing productivity is an essential part of achieving work/life balance.
We hope these apps help to boost your productivity and allow you to get more done with the time you have!
If you have a favorite app we missed, be sure to recommend it in the comments below.
P.S. Find your phone too distracting? Productivity apps might not be the best answer. Instead, consider ditching your smartphone. You’ll pay less for your phone and service and get more done with your day. It’s a win-win if you ask us. Check out our roundup of the best basic phones for a look at how nice life without a smartphone can be.
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In this economy we need to be frugal with our spending and efficient with our time. An opportunity for business may arise at any given moment and could be one we cannot afford to miss. I have compiled a short list of the free Android apps that makes my life a heck of a lot easier. So here's what I'm calling my "Stranded on a deserted island, and still need to get work done app list".
AK Notepad: Do you forget things 30 seconds after you're told about them? Do million dollar ideas come to you spontaneously? With AK Notepad, you'll always be ready to jot something down in an instant. AK Notepad is one of those easy, yet invaluable apps. Put simply, you take notes on your smart-phone. Use it in meetings, write down quick to-do lists and attach alarmed reminders to specific notes.If you're in the mood for that old school notebook feel, you can change the theme of your "note paper" anytime. You can even change the size of the text to your liking. AK Notepad lets you share your notes easily with friends and colleagues by emailing or sharing them through your favorite Social Media channels.There's even something for you nervous types, the ability to back up your notes to your SD card.Best reason to use it- now you can take notes without letting others see how your handwriting has declined over the years.
GDocs: AK Notepad is great, but there are times when you need a full office suite. If you're still chained to that one computer because that's where your office software resides, it might be time to get on the cloud and use Google Docs. GDocs is the Android app that takes your documents, spreadsheets and presentation files a step further by giving you access and editing capabilities from your Android phone. Now you can finish up that client proposal on your bus ride to work or sitting on the beach in the Caribbean. Are all of your office files stored locally on your hard drive? No problem. Just upload them straight to Google Docs, download GDocs from the App store, and you're ready to rock and roll.
Dolphin Browser: We all have to get online for our jobs. As much as I like Google, the web browser that came with my G1 is pretty poor. Time to download Dolphin Browser.Dolphin has tabbed browsing like your desktop browser, so you're not left with 5 running windows like the default Android browser. It automatically detects RSS feeds and puts the alert in your top shade so you can easily subscribe to it. Browser cache is saved on your SD card- which is especially useful for us G1 users with on-board storage-envy like myself. Dolphin Browser also has the coveted pinch zoom for Droid users. You can also, share any web page you want through most Social Media platforms. Dolphin will make your swimming... I mean surfing, the Internet a breeze. Check also this jkontherun How-to enable Multitouch on Dolphin Browser.
Greed (Lite): As much as I enjoy using the Dolphin Browser, it's still time consuming going to all of my favorite websites to see the latest news. Thankfully, we have Really Simple Syndication (RSS). Greed lets you bring your Google Reader RSS feeds to your Android powered phone without the need to open the browser. Stay on top of industry relevant information by subscribing to blogs, newspapers and other website RSS feeds and get all of your information in one easy to read location. Just click the left and right arrows to go to the next articles. The full version, which is $1.99 allows offline support.
With all these great apps, there is no reason to ever be bored... or as your Boss might say: Unproductive.