Companies all over the world have ordered employees to work from home in response to the introduction of widespread quarantine and social distancing measures.

Top of the list of concerns for many businesses is whether employees are properly equipped to go virtual-only. The lack of appropriate software could prove a significant stumbling block for workers asked to suddenly abandon their office workstations.

Thankfully, technology vendors of all shapes and sizes have come to the rescue, with many offering free access to premium services for a limited time. Here’s a rundown of the best free products and services to help your business navigate the ongoing pandemic:

*We update this guide daily with all the latest offers, so be sure to check back regularly.

• Check out our list of the best collaboration tools for 2020
• Working from home: the mouse, monitor, keyboard and router you need
• Here's our choice of the best webcams for working from home right now

The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 phones  one of the biggest devices coming towards the end of 2020, and with the Galaxy S20 handsets out the way the Notes are the next big releases expected from Samsung.

The Samsung Galaxy S20, as well as the S20 Plus and S20 Ultra, constitute Samsung's first flagship phones of the year, and we'd expect a lot of the tech shown off in them to come in the Galaxy Note 20 phones. The DNA of the Notes might also be affected by the Galaxy Note 10 Lite launched in January 2020, which was the first ever chance to pick up an S Pen stylus phone for cheap, beckoning in a future of affordable stylus phones.

So the potential existence of a Galaxy Note 20 Lite means Samsung has the opportunity to create a truly top-end phone in its 'Plus' model, which could be as big or even bigger than the 6.9 inches of the Galaxy S20 Ultra.

Before the Samsung Galaxy S20 came out we were expecting it to be called the S11, and we were also expecting this phone to be the Note 11, although that seems unlikely now. Saying that, some of the early phone leaks refer to the Note 11, but that's just referring to this handset.

So you can have an idea of what's to come with the Samsung Galaxy Note 20, we've collected every leak we've heard so far. On top of that we've got a wishlist of what we want to see in the Samsung Galaxy Note 20. Since the stylus is so central to the phone’s identity, we want to see the S Pen become a true extension of the device: more physical controls, more reason to pull it out of the phone.

Latest story: The Samsung Galaxy Note 20's in-screen fingerprint sensor might be much bigger than in previous models, meaning using it to unlock your phone isn't as much of a hassle as you may be used to.

Cut to the chase

• What is the Samsung Galaxy Note 20? The next stylus-packing flagship phone from Samsung.
• When is the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 launch date? Probably August 2020.
• How much will the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 cost? The price may be around $949 / £869 / AU$1,499

Samsung Galaxy Note 20 release date and price

Given previous phones in the line came out in August or September of their year, we’re expecting the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 to be released in August 2020. We haven't heard any leaks or rumors, though.

One thing we can be confident of is that it's coming, and this year. Not only because Samsung always releases its Note handsets on a yearly cycle, but because the company has now specifically said that a new Note is on the way in 2020.

As for cost, the Note 10 was released at a starting price of $949 / £869 / AU$1,499, so we’d expect a starting pricetag around there or even higher. The larger Note 10 Plus cost $100 / £130 / AU$200 more, so we expect a similar price jump for the inevitable Note 20 Plus. This price scheme has become pretty standard for top-tier flagship phones.

It’s likely that Samsung’s flagship phones will come with 5G capability across the whole range – the Snapdragon 865 chipset is expected to be at the heart of the almost all 2020 flagship Android phones, and Qualcomm's new chipset is coupled with a 5G modem.

That brings up an issue for all 5G phones in 2020. The Note 10 Plus 5G was sold by Verizon in the US for $1,299 (around £974 / AU$1,888), so we’d expect a higher-than-normal price tag for any 5G-capable version of the Note 20.

Should I wait for the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 or buy a discounted Samsung Galaxy Note 10 now?

The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 release date is still months away, if the August 2020 launch window stays constant, so you should probably consider the discounted Galaxy Note 10 or Note 10 Plus if you need a new stylus phone in the next days, weeks or even months.

In an ordinary year, this is a long time to wait anyway – like, say, if you broke your phone and need a replacement ASAP – but it’s possible Samsung's launch date might be pushed back due to the coronavirus. We don't know if the phone is far enough along in production that it will avoid these delays, but we'll report it first here if we find out.

In any case, if you need a new top-tier Samsung phone now (and have ruled out the Galaxy S20 range), you’re looking at the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 or the larger and higher-spec Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus. Here are the best prices in your region:

Samsung Galaxy Note 20 leaks and news

The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 is still months away from being released, but there’s been a few potentially revealing leaks that give us a first look at the phone.

Let's start with something disappointing - there might not be a Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, and it seems there will only be two phones in the range (the 'base' device and the Note 20 Plus). However the same source that provided that information suggested the Galaxy Fold 2 could functionally replace the Ultra, acting as the top-end device in the line.

Now, let's get into some section-specific leaks, news and rumors on the phones:

Design and display

The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 screen might curve at the top and bottom as well as the sides, according to one patent, which would make the phone look a lot more pebble-shaped than the Note 10.

A Samsung patent won just after the Samsung Galaxy 20 launch shows a phone with a display that curves all the way to the rear of the body, but with physical buttons that protrude from the curves of the screen. Could this be the Galaxy Note 20? We're not sure, as it could be a 2021 phone (or never materialize in reality), but we'd hope so.

We've also heard that the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 could have a 120Hz refresh rate screen that's 'more fine-tuned' – they don't say what it's more fine-tuned than, but presumably they mean the Galaxy S20.

Either way, this could mean it's less of a drain on battery, or has better automatic refresh rate detection. We're not totally sure yet, and the tweeted message was rather cryptic.

The Note 20 could also pack an in-screen front-facing camera, which would sit under the full display instead of within a notch or pin-hole, industry sources told South Korean tech site The Elec - and backed up by a tweet from notable leaker @UniverseIce.

That might seem unlikely, but Samsung itself has released an advert which shows a Note-like phone with no visible camera. You can see it in the video below at the 55-second mark.

And that's not the only time it has shown this device. The company also posted an image on its site showing a mystery phone with the same design. You can see it below, it's the center phone, and again, there's no visible front-facing camera, which could mean this is built into the screen.

There are of course other options - it could use a pop-up camera, and in the case of the image below it could be in the obscured top left corner (though that's not an option in the video above).

Or, perhaps most likely, this could just be a generic design, rather than one that shows a real phone. Indeed, reports elsewhere have suggested the in-screen camera tech isn't ready, so we wouldn't count on it.

If Samsung does stick with a punch-hole for the Galaxy Note 20 then the company might at least make the most of it though, as five Samsung patents have detailed a status indicator that would either encircle or sit beside a camera cut-out, and could display things like download progress without turning the screen on.

Finally, we've seen a Samsung foldable phone patent that seems like the Note 20 - except it's a foldable phone. While this could suggest Samsung's new stylus device folds, it seems more likely that the Samsung Galaxy Fold 2, which could come out alongside the Note 20s, will have a stylus too.

Camera

Patents meanwhile suggest the Note 20 might pack a spectrometer - a component that analyzes objects to discover its chemical composition. While it wouldn’t be the first phone to pack the device after the Changhong H2, as pointed out by LetsGoDigital, the Note 20 would be a phone with a much wider release.

Curiously, that's the only camera or sensor leak we've heard so far, so we don't really know what resolution or lenses the snappers on the phone could have, or if there are any post-processing tricks that will change the way you take photos. Expect more on this front soon, though.

Specs, features and battery

The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 will allegedly come with the same Snapdragon 865 chipset that debuted in the Galaxy S20 line - which makes sense, as they're packed with the Snapdragon X55 modem to enable 5G connectivity. 

Saying that, one leaker thinks the phone will come with a Snapdragon 865 Plus processor instead, based on a leaked benchmark test for the device which puts its scores as lower than the iPhone 12's. Having said that, we've elsewhere heard that there won't be a Snapdragon 865 Plus this year.

Some regions though could get an upgraded chipset in the form of the Exynos 992. Samsung typically uses its own Exynos processors in most regions outside the US, and it's rumored that an Exynos 992 could be used instead, offering a slight upgraded on both the Exynos 990, used in the Galaxy S20 outside the US, and on the Snapdragon 865.

There might only be 128GB storage in the Samsung Galaxy Note 20, at least in its smallest variant, and there wasn't a device with this amount in the previous range. That suggests there could be a more budget-focused handset in the range, perhaps a phone that's 'Lite' in all but name (or even 'Lite' in name too!).

One source claims that the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 could have a battery of around 4,000mAh - up from 3,500mAh in the Galaxy Note 10. That new size would put it in line with the Samsung Galaxy S20, and would likely mean that the Galaxy Note 20 Plus would also get a bigger battery.

• What can the Samsung Galaxy S20 tell us about the Galaxy Note 20?

Samsung Galaxy Note 20: what we want to see

Since we haven't heard many rumors about the Note 20, we'll speculate as to what we want to see - improvements on last year's model and innovations we think would set the upcoming phone apart.

1. More capabilities in the S Pen

The S Pen has been the real selling point for the Note series - a stylus tucked neatly in the phone for those who hold a torch for Palm Pilot-style productivity. But aside from a couple of new capabilities introduced over the last couple years - a button that operates as a camera shutter, a few half-baked gestures - the S Pen remains primarily a writing implement.

Instead, we’d love to see the S Pen evolve into more of a proxy for the phone. If they can introduce one button, why not a couple more? It would be very handy to keep the phone in your pocket or perched for video and use the stylus to fiddle with volume and media navigation. Better yet, it would be great if the S Pen was used as a more universal remote across Samsung’s device family - maybe substituting a four-way joystick for the click-top so users can navigate. All we really know is the S Pen is not living up to its potential.

2. ‘Budget flagship’ version

We’re big fans of the Samsung Galaxy S10e and the standard iPhone 11 for their value as budget flagships of their respective lines, and we’d love to see a more affordable version of the Note family. This isn’t a crazy idea - there already seems to be a Note 10 Lite in production, if this leak to is to be believed.

But if a Lite version of the last Note isn’t in the cards, getting one in for the next version would be a great opportunity not just to get the S Pen in more hands, but to play around with the Note design in general. Previous phones in the line are sleek yet wide phablets, but why not take a page out of the Google Pixel 4’s book and give the Lite/budget flagship version a funky look?

3. Better cameras, specs, etc

Like every year, we’re hoping the Note 20 gets improvements on its predecessor - most importantly in the cameras. And since they usually get similar if not identical lens suites as in that year’s Samsung Galaxy S-series, we can hope that the developments coming in the Galaxy S11 get ported to the Note 20.

So the rumor of a 108MP camera headed to the S20 Plus would be great to look forward to in the Note 20 - and in the same report, a 5,000mAh battery. Both are good improvements, and we’d love to see battery life extend to breach two full days, especially with the screen-intensive S Pen functionality. 

One thing we pretty much know for sure: the Note 20 will get the same Snapdragon 865 chipset headed to all top-tier Android phones in 2020, which we recently got our hands on - and found it outperformed Apple’s A13 chipset that’s in the iPhone 11 line.

4. Seamless display

While the punch-hole is certainly a less obstructive upgrade from the notch, there are still compromises: we’d love to see a screen without any break whatsoever. That probably means an under-display window for the front-facing lens, which is something a leak actually suggests might happen. 

The Note 20 might not end up being the first phone with this development, but given its status as the sleeker design-oriented flagship in Samsung’s lineup, we would like to see that big phablet display go seamless.

5. Cheaper 5G

The Galaxy Note 10 5G cost far more than its 4G counterparts with only minor spec and camera upgrades, putting connectivity to the next-gen networks out of the hands of most folks. It would be great to see this cost shrink, full stop. 

2020 probably won’t be the year that every flagship phone comes 5G-capable as a standard, but it’s going to be a lot harder to access if every 5G phone costs half again as much as its standard version. Given the Note line traditionally comes out toward the end of the year, though, Samsung could get ahead of the curve by trimming the price for a 5G Note 20 - and further differentiate it from the upcoming Galaxy S20.

• See where the Note 20 might fall on our best US phones list

Our Android experts have combed the Google Play Store for the very best Android Apps, putting them through their paces and picking only those that are truly special.

We test apps from across the whole Play Store, including camera apps and photo editors, health and fitness apps to improve your wellbeing, and security and customization tools to help personalize your phone so it works for you.

There are so many Android apps in the Play Store, it can be hard to know which are best. Reviews can be helpful, but can also be subject to manipulation, and editor's picks only skim the surface.

That's where we come in. Like you, we want the best apps for our phones. The Android apps that are going to revolutionize functionality or, at the very least, offer something so great that it becomes one of the must-have apps that has to be downloaded whenever you get a new handset.

The following apps will be constantly updated and are a mixture of paid and free ones that have been chosen by our Android experts. So, even if you do dip into actual cash for one of these apps, you can be safe in the knowledge it's a worthwhile purchase.

We’ve also sorted them into categories, so you can find what you’re looking for more easily. Click through to the following pages for those or check out the best new Android app below.

• These are the world's very best Android phones

Best new Android app

This is the latest Android app we've chosen to feature, refreshed every few weeks. Our choices are usually new apps or apps that have recently received a major update, but occasionally hidden gems and other essentials will also be highlighted.

Audio Manager

$0.99 / £0.89

We’ve all been there: you’ve finally fallen asleep only to be woken up by a drunken text or call from a friend in the middle of the night, but with Audio Manager that need never happen again.

Sure, you can stop it happening already by manually muting your phone when you go to bed, and many phones have limited scheduling options for Do Not Disturb mode, but Audio Manager lets you schedule specific audio settings for specific times and days. So you can lower the volume or mute your phone overnight, for example. You might perhaps also want it to automatically switch to vibrate during working hours.

And it’s not just days and times that you can set; you can also change the settings based on location, so that for example you could have your phone automatically mute when you enter your office, and turn the sound up full when you leave.

You can also have multiple routines set at once, so if there are any days, times or places where you consistently want your phone’s sound settings a particular way, Audio Manager can make sure that happens.

The best Android camera apps and photo editors

Our favorite Android apps for shooting, sorting and editing photos and videos.

Glitch Lab

Free + $6.49/£5.99 IAP

Glitch Lab is a photo editor packed full of digital glitch effects. You’ve probably seen apps like this before, and the style of effects offered won’t appeal to everyone, but if you like making your pictures look a bit glitchy or retro, this is one of the most capable and versatile ways to do it.

There are over 100 effects in this Android app, and many of them are customizable, ensuring that your glitches won’t look like anyone else’s.

As if to demonstrate the power, it’s even possible to generate an image from scratch, building it up through a number of effects and tweaks.

There’s plenty here even for free, but to get the absolute most out of Glitch Lab you’ll need to grab the Pro IAP for $6.49/£5.99. This, at the time of writing, adds 42 extra effects, 37 new parameters for the free effects, increases the output quality, and more.

DoodleLens

$1.99/£1.89

DoodleLens is perhaps a bit of a gimmick, but it’s a fun one. Simply doodle something, then point your phone’s camera at the doodle from within the app, and you can copy it and paste it on top of the world around you in augmented reality.

You can also change the color of the doodle and even make very basic animations by copying multiple doodles and having the app cycle through them. You can then record and save the results.

DoodleLens probably isn’t an Android app you’ll use often, and we found it a bit hit and miss at recognizing our doodles, but when it works it raises a smile, which is all you can really ask for at $1.99/£1.89.

Pixtica

Free + various subscriptions

Pixtica is one of many tools hoping to replace your phone’s default camera app. Camera apps vary a lot, and their success largely depends on your phone make and model, but Pixtica is a decent option if you’re looking for something new.

It’s packed full of features, including numerous filters, a GIF recorder, panorama, hyperlapse, manual controls, and oddities such as a ‘Planet’ mode, which warps images into a sphere-like shape using Pixtica’s “advanced stereographic projection algorithm”.

There are all sorts of other modes too, whether you’re taking photos or shooting video, and the app is laid out intuitively. However, while many of the functions are free, you have to pay to unlock higher resolutions and to remove watermarks when using filters.

The payment gets you other things too, but those are the main things that make the purchase close to essential if you plan to use Pixtica. And that would be fine, except the app opts for a subscription fee (of $1.25/£1.25 for one month with discounts for six months or a year) rather than being available as a one-off purchase. We’re not fans of paying a subscription for a camera app, but if any such app is worth it, it’s Pixtica.

Scribbl

Free + $5.49/£5.49

Scribbl is a photo editor that lets you add animations to your pictures. By ‘animations’ we mean basically light trails, but there are various different ways they can be animated, numerous colors you can choose, and you can pick exactly where they appear on images and how large they are.

Essentially, it’s an app that does one thing but does it quite well. Once you’ve added an animation you can save the result to your phone’s gallery, ready for sharing.

The basic app is free, but for either a one-off fee or a monthly subscription you can remove adverts and unlock additional customization options, as well as unlocking the ability to remove the Scribbl watermark from your creations. If you like the app this is worth paying for, but you can get a good taste of it without spending anything.

Photo Watermark

Free + $0.99/£0.89 monthly subscription

Photo Watermark does exactly what the name suggests – it lets you add watermarks to photos – but the types of watermarks you can add are quite varied.

Not only can you add custom text as a watermark (including changing the font, size and color), you can also use your signature (or any other hand-written text) as a watermark by writing on the screen.

You can also apply stickers, a timestamp, a location, a mosaic effect, or ‘graffiti’ (which basically just lets you go wild on your images with a digital paintbrush). Whether you want to protect your photo or just log when and where it was taken, there should be a tool here to suit.

Photo Watermark is free, but it’s quite heavy on adverts. For $0.99/£0.89 per month you can get rid of them, but unless you’re adding watermarks to a ton of images it’s probably not worth it.

StoryZ Photo Motion & Cinemagraph

Free + $1.99/£1.79 monthly subscription

StoryZ Photo Motion & Cinemagraph is a photo editing Android app in two parts. The first of these is ‘Ripple’, a mode which lets you add motion to a static image by drawing the area and direction that you want the motion to happen.

This can be an effective way to make it look like water or smoke is moving for example, or simply to add a slightly trippy effect to things that you might expect to be static.

The ‘Motion’ mode, which lets you blend a video with a photo, leaves you with an ‘image’ that’s partially static and partially in motion.

In both cases it can be hard to make the effect look convincing, but it’s doable, as evidenced by all the impressive public submissions shared on the app. StoryZ also holds contests with specific themes, such as ‘stairs’ or ‘sand’, which you can enter by submitting a relevant creation. The best ones will be featured on the home page and competition page of the app.

You can use StoryZ for free, but if you find that you have more of a talent for it than we do then there’s also StoryZ Premium, which for a monthly subscription removes adverts and watermarks, increases the allowable length of videos in Motion mode, improves the toolset in Ripple mode and lets you save and share in high resolution.

KineMaster

Free + £2.91 (roughly $3.70) monthly subscription

KineMaster is probably one of the most powerful video editors on Android, but it’s also intuitive enough that anyone could enjoy using it.

The app lets you add audio and visual filters to footage, add text, stickers and other overlays, alter and trim videos frame-by-frame, adjust the speed, add transition effects and a whole lot more. You can also record videos straight from the KineMaster app. It can feel a little cramped on a phone screen, but otherwise everything works well.

You can use the KineMaster Android app for free, but all your videos will have a KineMaster watermark and you can’t use them commercially. To remove the watermarks, allow commercial use and unlock additional assets (such as effects and overlays) you have to pay a subscription, but at £2.91 (roughly $3.70) per month it remains affordable.

Moment – Pro Camera

$1.99/£1.79

A truly great camera app arguably needs to both avoid clutter and be packed full of manual controls, so you can capture an image exactly as you want it, but that’s a tough balance to strike, and few manage. Moment – Pro Cameraarguably does though.

It gives you full manual control, including RAW shooting, shutter speed, ISO, white balance, exposure compensation and focus. There’s also tap to focus, a timer, a grid and several different lenses. It’s an impressive toolkit, with the app focusing more on powerful utilities than gimmicky filters, but it all has a very clean, minimalist look.

And it’s designed with ease of use in mind. You can double tap any setting to return it to auto or double tap the viewfinder to turn everything back to auto and all the controls are within easy reach.

The main downside of this Android app is that it can’t currently shoot videos, but for photos there’s a good chance you’ll want to replace your current camera app with this, and video is apparently in the works.

PhotoDirector

Free + optional subscription

Your phone might have a powerful camera, but chances are it doesn’t come with much in the way of photo editing tools. Fortunately, PhotoDirector is an Android app can fill in the gaps.

This app lets you adjust the tone, saturation, white balance and colors of photos you’ve previously taken, as well as adding filters and effects, which you can adjust the strength of and apply to all or just part of an image.

You can also add text, stickers, frames, change the perspective, mirror the image, cut sections and a whole lot more.

There are lots of tools, but PhotoDirector is easy to navigate and you can always undo your changes, so you’re safe to experiment.

And that’s just the editing part of the app. There’s also a built-in camera, which lets you shoot new photos with various effects and see live through the viewfinder how they will affect the image.

PhotoDirector is largely free, but if you want to direct to your best there’s a premium version that costs £2.59 (around US$3.70) per month, with discounts if you commit for three months or a year. This unlocks additional tools, boosts the output quality and removes adverts.

LightX Photo Editor

Free + $3.69/£3.49 IAP

If you want an all-in-one photo editor for Android then LightX Photo Editor is a good choice, not least because most of the features are free.

You can merge photos, add effects and filters, selectively apply colors to regions of an image, adjust the color balance, smooth and sharpen images, crop them, rotate them, draw on them, add frames and stickers, add text, create collages and a whole lot more.

That’s all handled through the Android app's intuitive interface; bring up the main menu with a tap, select the category of edits you want to make (filters or frames, for example) and you’ll be taken to a menu with all the relevant options.

Most of it is fairly self-explanatory, but there are also tutorial videos for if you get stuck, and for a one-off $3.69/£3.49 IAP you can get rid of adverts, unlock additional stickers and frames, and add the ability to save images in PNG format.

SKRWT

$1.49/£1.39

There are plenty of photo editing Android apps, but while most offer filters and effects few allow you to alter the perspective of a photo in the way SKRWT does.

There are no stickers here, no makeup modes and no real effects. Instead there are tools to shift the perspective, change the ratio and correct lens distortion.

You can also flip, rotate, mirror and crop images, but SKRWT isn't interested so much in modifying photos in unnatural ways, as in making them look exactly as you envisioned when you took them.

It's a professional tool, but it's easy to use and you can always undo your changes if you don't like them.

Our favorite Android apps for painting, drawing, sketching, design and animation.

Tattoodo

Free + $5.99/£4.59 per month

Tattoodo at its heart is a tattoo search engine, letting you search through millions of tattoo images, images that you can filter based on style, motifs or artist.

As well as searching and browsing you can also follow artists, so their latest work will pop up in your feed, and you can save images to boards, so you can build up a library of designs that you like.

If you have tattoos already and feel like sharing them with the world then images of them can be added to the app, and you can even book tattoo appointments and get free consultations through the Android app.

If you’re a tattoo artist then you can add your store and designs and potentially find new customers through the app too. It’s completely free if you’re looking for or at tattoos, but if you’re an artist and want to get bookings through the app you’ll need to pay for a $5.99/£4.59 monthly subscription.

Houzz

Free

Houzz is a one-stop Android app for decorating and furnishing your home. The app has numerous different sections, including a database of over 19 million photos to give you decor ideas, which can be filtered based on style, room and other things. These images can also be sketched on and shared.

Houzz lets you buy millions of products (such as furniture) and materials from within the app, and there’s a tool that lets you use augmented reality to see how a product would look in your home.

There are articles and videos related to remodelling and improving your home, too. You can find and hire interior decorators, architects and other professionals within the app, and there’s a community where users can ask and answer questions.

Houzz isn’t an app that everyone needs on their phone, but it is one that’s definitely worth looking at if you’re considering redecorating or making other home improvements.

Over

Free + $59.99/£54.99 per year

Over is designed primarily for adding text to images, which you might want to do if you’re making a poster or Instagram post, for example.

The Android app lets you select from a wide range of canvas sizes, including some created specifically for different social media purposes, such as Facebook cover photos. Then you can add images, text and graphics.

For images you can adjust the exposure, contrast and various other things; for text you can choose from a range of fonts, alignments and colors; and for graphics you can select from a range of pre-made designs, then adjust color, position and the like.

Projects can have multiple layers, and when you’re done you can save the result as a JPG or PNG, or share it.

It’s a handy app and everything that we’ve described so far is free, but for an admittedly hefty $59.99/£54.99 per year you get access to an ever-growing library of templates, hundreds of extra fonts, far more graphics and the promise of additional features in future.

For the average user this probably isn’t necessary, but if you’re using it for work or need to combine images and text regularly then it could be worth the outlay.

Draw.ai

Free + various IAP

Digital devices seem an ideal fit for drawing tutorials, yet few drawing apps seem to take advantage of them. Instead they often assume you already know what you’re doing or will learn outside the app, while many of the ones that do teach you rely on static images and text, but Draw.ai is an Android app that's more interactive.

While not a comprehensive guide to drawing, it offers a large assortment of images and guides you towards recreating each one step by step, one line at a time. By which we mean the app will draw a line or two from the image, then make it appear faint so you can draw the same thing over it.

This continues until the image is complete, after which you’re free to color it (without a guide). Once you’re finished, Draw.ai will show a short video of the entire process you went through.

The actual drawing tools are more limited than some apps, but there is at least a handy undo button that erases the last line you drew or change you made – something beginners will be making use of a lot.

Many of the images are free and more are added all the time, but to access everything you’ll have to pay a $5.99/£5.49 weekly subscription (with big discounts available if you pay monthly or yearly instead – you can get a full year for $59.99/£52.99).

Sketch - Draw & Paint

Free + various IAP

Sketch – Draw & Paint is a photo editor, sketching app and art community all in one, and while it’s not the deepest option for any of those things, it’s fun and easy to use.

On the sketching side you get a variety of different pen and brush types of different sizes and colors, along with the ability to add text and stickers and some basic tools, such as a ruler and layers.

You can either start with a blank canvas or take or import a photo, which brings us to the photo editing aspect of this Android app: an aspect that relies on the same set of tools.

As for the community, Sketch lets you upload your creations and share them with other Sketch users, as you can also browse through people’s artworks. There are categories for this, including ‘trending’ and ‘newcomers’, or you can just search for something specific.

You can comment on or like any of the shared artworks, and follow their creator so you can more easily keep track of any other work they produce. The actual quality of work in the community is varied, but that means it should be less intimidating to share your own.

Sketch – Draw & Paint is mostly free, but you can buy extra sticker packs or for £0.99 (around US$1.30) per month subscribe to Sketch Premium to unlock all the stickers, remove adverts, get a transparent background and be able to use a custom canvas size.

Desygner

Free + $7.49/£5.99 subscription

Desygner lets you unleash your inner graphic designer on your phone or tablet, but with an intuitive interface and thousands of templates it’s simple enough for beginners to use.

You can combine text, shapes, images, stickers, backgrounds and more to create logos, posters, adverts, PowerPoint-like presentations, postcards or any number of other things where images and typography are important.

Each component of your design can be moved, resized, rotated, flipped, duplicated or have its color changed, and you can work with multiple layers. Results can then be saved to your device to be used wherever you want.

We suspect this Android app might be a bit limited for professional graphic designers, who may want more freedom to completely create designs from scratch, but for everyone else Desygner is a great way to make something that looks professional.

The basic app is free but certain features, as well as the majority of the templates, require a monthly subscription which costs $7.49/£5.99. That’s probably worth it if you’re going to use the app semi-regularly, but if you just want to design something as a one-off you might find the free version good enough.

Infinite Painter

$7.99/£6.99

There’s no shortage of Android apps for digital artists, but Infinite Painter is one of the most feature-packed, with dozens of brush presets and the ability to create your own, along with layers, blending, editing tools and more, plus the option to export your images as JPEG, PNG, PSD or ZIP.

But as well as being packed full of features, Infinite Painter also takes the time to show you how they all work, with detailed tutorials and guides, although the interface is so simple that you should be able to muddle your way through most things anyway.

A lot of the features are hidden behind a paywall, with it costing $7.99/£6.99 to unlock everything, but the app includes a free seven-day trial, letting you try everything out before you decide whether you want to put money down, which if you’re a fan of digital art you probably will, because you get a lot for your money.

Our favorite Android apps for learning new things, from history to music to coding and beyond.

Women Who Changed the World

$2.99 / £2.99

Women often get a raw deal in history, with their achievements less spoken of than those of men, but Women Who Changed the World aims to help change that, by celebrating and educating users about some of the most significant women in history.

These include Rosa Parks, Amelia Earheart, Frida Kahlo, and many, many more, with their lives and achievements detailed through interactive stories, complete with illustrations and narration.

Women Who Changed the world is clearly aimed at young children, with its cute art and basic interactions, but the histories it teaches about could and should be of interest to anyone.

Time Immersive

Free

Smartphones have the potential to give us new, more engaging and immersive ways to interact with journalism, and with Time Immersive, Time is exploring that potential.

The Android app contains Time stories that are engagingly narrated and instead of looking at flat photos or videos, you can view the subject of the story in full augmented reality (AR) or virtual reality (VR). For the former, all you need is a compatible phone (which many are) and a flat surface, which you can then project – for example – a section of the Amazon rainforest onto.

Viewing it from above, you can rotate your phone and move it closer or further to get a different perspective while listening to the Time story. Then, tap on points of interest for additional spoken content alongside a relevant photo or video.

If you have a Cardboard VR viewer then you can get even more immersed, viewing the area almost as if you were there.

At the time of writing the only available content is focused on the Amazon rainforest and the moon landing, but it’s well made, and more is promised.

Elements of Photography

Free + various IAP

Thanks to smartphones, most of us now have a fairly capable and versatile digital camera in our pockets at all times, but many of us won’t know how to get the most out of it.

That’s not necessarily a huge problem – phone cameras are typically designed to work well when you just point and shoot, but if you do want to take your photography to the next level then something like Elements of Photography can help.

This Android app contains a number of tutorials that guide you through the various principles of photography, from basics like shutter speed and composition to more advanced lessons.

Elements of Photography keeps things bite-sized and engaging by using small chunks of text and plenty of images rather than walls of explanation or time-consuming videos.

You also get tips, tools (such as a depth of field calculator) and a quiz, though these, along with many of the tutorials, are hidden behind IAP. Still, unlocking everything only costs $7.99/£5.49, and there’s enough free content that you should be able to decide whether the rest is worth the money.

Fluent Forever

£8.99/$9.99 per month

Fluent Forever is one of a growing number of language apps, but whereas most aim to gamify the learning process, Fluent Forever is rather more serious in its approach.

That might make it feel a bit less accessible, but if you’re serious about learning a language then it could also work better, especially if the likes of Duolingo aren’t doing the trick for you.

There are numerous different exercises in the app, along with explainer videos, but one of its core features is personalized flash cards, which let you select a card with an image of your choice for each word you’re trying to learn.

That, along with pronunciation lessons, and a focus on only the words and grammar that are important to you, could be the trick to making you fluent forever.

At the time of writing, the Android app supports French, German, Italian, Korean, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. It costs £8.99/$9.99 per month, but there’s a two-week free trial.

SmartPlant

Free + $3.99/£3.99 per month

There’s more to looking after many plants than putting them in the sun and giving them the occasional sip of water. Some need watering more often than others, some have different temperature or lighting requirements, some even require pruning or other care and attention.

Knowing exactly what any given plant needs isn’t always easy though and we’re sure we’re not alone in wondering why plants we thought we’d looked after well had died. But with SmartPlant you don’t need to wonder any more, and you’re more likely to keep your plants alive in the first place.

The Android app lets you build a database of any and all plants you own and it will automatically create a calendar for each of them, advising you on what to do at specific points of the year – for example telling you where to place it, when to re-pot it and how much to water it. And if you’re not sure what a plant is called then you can snap a picture of it to have SmartPlant identify it.

The app also has general information on a wide range of plants, such as the type of soil they like and when they bloom.

If you need more, then an optional subscription lets you talk to experts in-app. They can give you advice on general plant care, solving problems or any other plant-related query.

Flowkey

Free + $19.99/£17.99 monthly subscription

Flowkey is an Android app that aims to teach you piano, and can give you feedback on your playing just by listening through your phone’s microphone – no cables are required.

As well as real feedback, Flowkey also offers a large number of video tutorials covering things like ‘Note Value and Rhythm’ and ‘Mastering Key Jumps’, plus a selection of over 1,000 songs that you can learn.

These songs cover a range of genres, including classical, pop, jazz and more, and include famous pieces, such as Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen, and Perfect by Ed Sheeran. The selection also includes songs suited for various different skill levels.

There’s a lot here, but most of it isn’t free. There are a handful of free songs and tutorials to get you started, but to get much out of Flowkey you’ll have to invest in a monthly subscription. That’s not cheap, coming in at $19.99/£17.99 per month (albeit with big discounts if you commit for six months or a year).

That could be a tough sell since you’ll probably still want proper lessons too, but you certainly get a lot of content for your money.

Learn Java Pro

$3/£3

Learn Java Pro is one of many apps focused on teaching you to code – in this case in Java, but where most take you through bite-sized exercises, this has both a coding area (where you can practice your Java skills) and an extensive library of tutorials taking you through basic and advanced aspects of Java.

These tutorials aren’t interactive as such; they’re more like a textbook, which is the part of learning that’s missing from many other coding apps. But there’s a shortcut to the coding area at the top right corner of each tutorial, so you’re never more than a tap away from practicing what you’ve learnt.

There’s also a library of practice programs, plus various questions and answers related to all things Java. Learn Java Pro works offline so you can read and practice anywhere, and all of the content is available for the one low price listed above, so while this Android app isn't free, it’s still rather generous and a great learning tool.

Learn Spanish with Lirica

Free + $9.99/£8.99 monthly subscription

Learn Spanish with Lirica takes a novel approach to language learning, as it attempts to teach you Spanish through songs.

The Android app lets you listen to a number of Spanish-language songs (many of which are famous) and has you learn the words that are used in them.

You can watch the music video with the words appearing underneath, with or without an English translation, and then you can go through a song verse by verse, answering questions about what you’ve heard.

There are a few different exercises, such as rearranging lyrics so that they’re in the right order or selecting the word that was used in the song, and as you go you can earn points and achievements.

Lirica is more than just a gimmick. Songs are often catchy and memorable, so they make sense as a way to learn a language. There are two downsides to the app though. The first is that it only teaches you Spanish, and the second is that much of the content is hidden behind a fairly pricey subscription.

But there’s enough free stuff to be getting started with it and if you like what you hear then a subscription could be worthwhile.

Mobile Observatory 3 Pro – Astronomy

$5.49/£4.99

Mobile Observatory 3 Pro – Astronomy is a comprehensive astronomy tool, letting you see details of the sky as it appears from your location. You can use it to check names and descriptions of celestial bodies that should be visible at the current time, or you can change to a different time or day.

You can also get notifications warning you of celestial events that you should be able to see, and there are all sorts of other tools, such as a 3D view of the solar system, and the ability to see the sky in augmented reality with the details of what you’re looking at overlaid.

There are tens of thousands of stars and planets included, along with information on moon phases, eclipses and plenty more besides. Although this isn’t a free Android app, given how much content there is it still feels very generous given that you get the whole app for one $5.49/£4.99 payment.

Shepard Fairey AR – DAMAGED

$4.99/£4.59

We’ve not always been entirely convinced by digital versions of real-world exhibits, but Shepard Fairey AR – DAMAGED is an Android app that does it right.

The app is a digital version of Shepard Fairey’s DAMAGED exhibit and it’s a great option for anyone who can’t make it to the real show in Los Angeles.

The app lets you walk around the exhibit with taps and swipes, or you can set it so that rotating your phone also changes your view in the exhibit. Or go even further and use an augmented reality mode that lets you physically walk around the exhibit, using your phone as a window into it.

It’s not just the exhibit, either – you also get over 100 minutes of narration from Fairey explaining the various artworks, which combined show that the world – and especially the US – is in a state of crisis, but that much of the damage can be repaired. 

MasterClass

From $89.99/£84.99

MasterClass gives you lessons in various skills, from cookery to acting to creative writing and a whole lot more, but how it really stands out is that these lessons are all taught by some of the best in the business.

You can learn cookery from Gordon Ramsay for example, filmmaking from Martin Scorsese, tennis from Serena Williams or photography from Annie Leibovitz.

Of course, this is an app, not a face to face lesson, so you’re not interacting with these people, but they’ve created video lessons and various other materials – such as workbooks – for MasterClass.

This content in this Android app isn’t free; in fact it’s quite expensive, coming in at $89.99/£84.99 for a single course or $179.99/£169.99 for an ‘all access pass’, letting you access every course for a year. That’s steep, but it could be worth it if you’re serious about learning and want some top-class tuition. You can also explore the app and see video previews of any of the courses before paying.

Drops

Free + $10/£8.99 monthly subscription

Apps have revolutionized language learning, but there’s more than one way to learn from an app, and while some focus on typing and speaking, Drops leans into the strengths of a smartphone by making all interactions swipe- and tap-based.

Drops gives you a series of exercises to carry out each time you use it, taking various forms. One asks you to swipe a word to its corresponding picture, another asks you to tap pairs of words and pictures, and one breaks up a word or phrase into several parts and has you tap them in the correct order.

There are others too, and Drops has a lot of content covering all sorts of categories from food to plants and even politics in a variety of languages. Impressively, the Android app also feels as slick and polished as Duolingo, without imitating it.

Drops gives you five minutes of language learning each day for free, but the app is designed to be bite-sized and the makers claim this is enough to make progress.

If you do want more though you can pay for unlimited access at a price of $10/£8.99, with discounts available if you pay for a year upfront.

Our favorite Android apps for having fun on your phone or tablet, through watching videos, reading, socializing and more.

Disney+

Free + subscription

Disney+ should need no introduction – it’s Disney’s Netflix competitor, and the Android app gives you access to Disney’s vast library of film and TV content on your phone or tablet, along with new and exclusive content such as The Mandalorian.

You can stream content or download it, so you never need to go without, and given Disney’s massive library there’s an enormous amount of content on day one, making this near essential for any Disney fan.

As well as the Android app, you will of course need a subscription, but you get a seven-day free trial at the time of writing, which should be more than long enough to decide whether Disney’s catalog is for you – if somehow you’ve not already watched enough Disney stuff to know.

Stadia

Free

Stadia is Google’s big play to get into gaming, and more specifically game streaming. It essentially allows you to play AAA console and PC games on a phone screen, a TV, a laptop or a tablet, without having the high-end hardware that would usually be required to run them, as instead Google’s hardware does the heavy lifting and then streams the games over an internet connection.

That also means you can seamlessly pick up on one device where you left off on another, and you don’t have to wait for games to download or update, you just need a fairly fast Wi-Fi connection.

Well, that and compatible hardware, which at the time of writing limits you to Pixel handsets, a Chromecast Ultra, and a handful of other devices.

So if you have, say, a Google Pixel 4, then the Stadia Android app can give you access to the sorts of games that would usually be found on an Xbox One or gaming PC. And going forward you can expect more phones and other devices to get Stadia support.

YouTube Kids

Free

YouTube is packed full of great content for kids, but there’s also a lot of unsuitable stuff. The solution – assuming you don’t want to completely micromanage their viewing – is YouTube Kids, an app that’s been around for a while and has only got better with time.

The app lets you select an age range for your child and will only show them age-appropriate content, though you can further filter what they can and can’t access if you want.

YouTube Kids also lets you set up multiple profiles, so if you have more than one kid they can each have their own tailored safe space.

You can also set timers to limit how long they can watch for, see the history of what they’ve watched, choose whether to let them search for videos manually (or be limited to channels that have been verified by YouTube Kids), and more. 

You have a lot of control, your kids get access to a lot of content, and it’s all wrapped up in a slick, colorful Android app that’s a joy to use.

Trill Project

Free

Trill Project is an anonymous social network that lets you follow topics of your choice, post related content, reply to other people’s posts, and message them in private.

You don’t get a profile picture or custom username, so anonymity is easy to maintain, but while in some apps and services that can lead to abusive behavior, here content is heavily moderated, and there’s a real focus on users being supportive.

A lot of the topics on Trill Project deal with potentially heavy subjects like mental health, loneliness and sexuality, but there’s plenty of lighter content too, so whatever you want to say, this could be the place – as long as it’s in the spirit of the Android app and its community.

Goodreads

Free

Goodreads is all about finding, logging and reviewing books, and it’s pretty much essential for any avid reader.

If you see a book that you think looks interesting, you can search for it on Goodreads and see the average user rating, along with often hundreds of user reviews in the Android app. Still interested in it? Then you can add it to your ‘want to read’ list, so you won’t lose track of the books you like the look of.

Goodreads will also show you other books by that author and other books that readers of the one you’re looking at enjoyed, making it easy to find similar content you might like. There are also lists of books across a range of categories, helping you explore further and dig up books you might never have found otherwise.

When you’ve read a book, you can give it a star rating and leave a review if you want, and you can also join groups, and add friends, making Goodreads a bit like a book-focused social network at times.

With all that, plus reading challenges, personalized recommendations and a whole lot more, it really is a book-lover’s dream.

Unrd

Free + various IAP

Smartphones have helped unlock new ways to experience stories and one great example of that is Unrd.

Falling somewhere between an Android app and a game, Unrd lets you “live someone else’s life” by overlaying a fake phone interface on your screen, belonging to a character in a story. You can access their messages – including photos, videos and audio – and piece together a story from them.

But you don’t get the whole story in one go – new messages arrive in real time over a number of days, making the experience feel more immersive and ‘real’.

There are numerous stories here, so you’re not limited to just one, and more are being added over time across a number of genres.

It’s worth noting that Unrd is different to something like A Normal Lost Phone, as while they’re conceptually similar, the latter allows for more interaction, having you do things like figure out passwords to access locked off parts of the phone. It’s more of a game then, where Unrd is more of a story.

The core app is free but there are various IAP to unlock additional content in stories or get to it faster. It looks like some future stories may be totally locked behind IAP too, but at the time of writing all the available ones seem to be free.

Depop

Free

Depop is a bit like eBay, but with a real focus on second-hand and vintage clothing, which is a refreshing change in a world where fashion is often seen as disposable despite the clothing industry’s massive negative impact on the environment.

There’s a large selection of items, often at low prices and while clothing is the focus that’s not all you’ll find. There’s also tech, books, jewelry, music, art, films, magazines, sports equipment and a few other categories.

As with eBay, you can sell as well as buy, and the Android app allows you to set up and manage your own store, as well as browsing other people’s. If you’ve got some clothes to clear out or just want to shop a bargain – while doing your bit for the environment – then Depop is a good place to start.

VLC for Android

Free

You’ve probably come across VLC before, but if not you really, really should, because it’s one of the very best video player apps on Android. Even if you have tried it before, it could be worth revisiting, as it’s received several recent updates.

This completely free app has almost everything you might want from a video player, including extensive file support (such as MKV, MP4, AVI, MOV, Ogg, FLAC, TS, M2TS, Wv and AAC), support for DVD ISOs, network streams and network shares, the ability to add and display subtitles, adjust the aspect ratio, and alter the look and sound with an equalizer and filters.

And those are just the headline features. There’s plenty more to dig into beyond this. We’re not the biggest fans of VLC’s distinctive orange color scheme, but that’s about the only thing we can find to complain about with this Android app, and it can be partially hidden if you switch to the black theme.

Soon

Free

Soon is an Android app for keeping track of all the movies and shows you want to watch, the music you want to listen to, the bars and restaurants you want to visit, the books you want to read, and various other things.

Simply tap on the relevant category (‘books’ for example) then type the name of the thing you want to remember. Soon will populate the entry with relevant details if it can find any. These might include the address if it’s a place, or the cast and crew if it’s a film, for example.

In this way you can build up lists and have them all in one place, so you’ll never lose track of them. If you’re planning a trip you can also create a list of the things you want to do on it, and even collaborate on the list with other people.

Each of the list categories also has a second screen where anything that you’ve marked as ‘done’ appears, so it doesn’t clutter up the main list, but so you can still easily check if you have watched, read or visited the thing, in case you can’t remember for sure. You also get a chance to rate the thing when you mark it as done, so you’ll have a record of what you thought of everything too.

RAM and Game Booster

$0.99/£0.59

Some smartphone makers have put a big focus on gaming modes, such as Huawei with its GPU Turbo feature, but if you don’t have a handset with these sorts of features there are still things that can help, such as RAM and Game Booster.

This Android app helps by freeing up RAM, which it can do on-demand or when specific games are launched.

You can also set RAM and Game Booster to free up RAM when RAM usage reaches a set percentage, after a set period, or when the app judges that the device requires it.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen an app aimed at freeing up RAM, but the various settings for when it happens are more comprehensive here than on most rival apps. This still won’t turn a low-end phone into a gaming powerhouse, but it could make a small difference to performance.

Our favorite Android apps for working out, reducing stress and crafting meals.

Moshi: Sleep and Mindfulness

Free + $39.99/£29.99 yearly subscription

If you have a young child who often struggles to get to sleep then Moshi could help. The app contains a large selection of ‘sleep stories’, which take the form of soothing, kid-friendly audio stories, many of which are narrated by big names like Patrick Stewart and Brian Blessed.

And they’re well thought out. Each story becomes increasingly sleepy as it goes on, and slowly fades out at the end, rather than suddenly stopping. They also contain musical transitions that are apparently designed to be mesmerizing.

Moshi also includes tracks that are just soothing music, and even some meditations, and new content is added weekly.

All this doesn’t come for free – you’ll have to shell out $39.99/£29.99 per year, but you can get a seven-day free trial, and can you really put a price on ensuring your kids get a good night’s sleep?

SleepTown

Free + $1.99/£1.79 IAP

Keeping a consistent sleep schedule can be almost as important as getting enough sleep, and SleepTown aims to help with that by letting you build a colorful town if you stick to your goals.

When you set up the Android app, you tell it the times when you want to go to bed and get up. Then it’s a simple case of tapping a button in-app when you turn in for the night and when you get out of bed so it knows when you were asleep (or at least trying to be asleep).

Stick to your goal and a random building will be constructed in your town each day. Fail, and construction of that day’s building will fail, though it does allow you up to two days off each week.

As well as building up a town over time, you’ll also be building up a log of the times and durations of your sleep.

There’s also a Pro version, which you can unlock for $1.99/£1.79. This lets you choose which building to construct next, back up your data, unlock achievements, and earn reward tickets, which can be used to increase the chances of getting rare buildings.

The sleep incentives offered by SleepTown certainly won’t work for everyone, but if you struggle to switch off the lights at a reasonable time or often hit the snooze button in the morning, and you like the idea of being rewarded with virtual buildings for your efforts, SleepTown could make a real difference.

Vanilla Bean

Free

Ever more people are becoming vegetarian and vegan, but while the availability of vegetarian and vegan food in restaurants is also increasing, you still won’t find it everywhere.

That’s why Android app Vanilla Bean is so handy, as it will tell you which nearby restaurants have vegan and vegetarian options. Using filters you can also search for places that are purely vegan or veggie, and places that offer some combination of gluten-free, organic, raw, fair trade, and locally sourced food, as well as filtering by price.

The results list shows you at a glance which of those things applies to a given restaurant, while tapping on a restaurant will provide an overview of it, along with its address, opening hours, photos and reviews.

Those last couple of points are where Vanilla Bean falters slightly right now, as there aren’t yet many pictures or reviews, but as a user of the app you can add your own.

SnoreFree

$9.99/£9.99 per month

Curing snoring can be a tricky task, as the cause and effective remedies vary from person to person and often prove elusive.

One unusual approach that you might not have tried is mouth exercises designed specifically to reduce or completely stop your snoring. As you’ve probably guessed by now, SnoreFree contains exactly these exercises.

Created by Viennese speech therapist Dario Lindes, these exercises have apparently led to an over 80% success rate over the many years he’s been using them.

Each technique is explained in detail and accompanied by a demonstration video, so they’re easy to get to grips with, and you’ll be guided through a 10-15 minute routine every day. You do have to pay a moderately expensive subscription to use the Android app, but discounts are available if you commit for a year, and you can test out some of the exercises for free.

SuperBetter

Free

SuperBetter isn’t new, in fact it has been changing people’s lives for years now, but the fact that it’s capable of doing that makes it well worth highlighting.

The Android app essentially gamifies the process of looking after your physical and mental wellbeing, providing you with quests, power ups and bad guys to beat, all of which take the form of small tasks, such as drinking a glass of water, or walking around the block, or things to avoid, such as overeating.

Completing the challenges awards you achievements, unlocks new challenges, and helps level you up – in game, and in real life.

Sticking with SuperBetter can help you build good habits, kerb bad ones and generally become happier and healthier.

Brightmind

Free + $94.99/£87.99 yearly subscription

Meditation apps have flourished on mobile. At this point there’s quite a large number of high quality ones, but whether you’re looking for a change or haven’t quite found one that’s the right fit yet, Brightmind could be worth a look.

This Android app aims to tailor the experience to your needs more than some other meditation apps, as you can pick whether you want a male or female voice guiding you, and tell the app what your main goal with meditating is, be it to relieve stress, communicate better, or a number of other things. Doing this lets the app highlight meditation courses that it thinks are most relevant to you.

Once you actually get down to meditating, you can also choose the duration of the meditation, and if you don’t want a guided experience there’s also a self-guided meditation mode, which lets you pick a duration and optionally add interval bells.

Brightmind contains hundreds of meditations, but most of them require a subscription. This costs $94.99/£87.99 per year. The app supposedly also offers a monthly subscription, but we can’t work out how to access it. It does at least give you a seven-day free trial before charging you for the year though.

• Want an alternative? These are the very best meditation apps

FibriCheck

Starts at €3.99 (around $4.50 / £3.50 / AU$6.50) per month

Recent Apple Watches and the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 have an ECG (electrocardiogram) built in, but phones so far are left out. FibriCheck though promises to be just as good, and it works on Android handsets with no special hardware.

By placing your finger on your phone’s camera, the FibriCheck app can measure your heart’s rhythm and detect any abnormalities – which could be signs of atrial fibrillation, among other things.

The Android app generates an instant report that you can download and – if you wish – share with your doctor, and optionally you can also get your measurements reviewed in-app by medical experts (though this costs more).

After a 1-day free trial, which is worth doing just to get a one-off reading, you’ll have to pay a monthly subscription to keep using Fibricheck. The basic subscription starts at €3.99 (around $4.50 / £3.50 / AU$6.50) per month, while getting a review of each reading by medical experts along with a more detailed report starts at €10.99 (roughly $12 / £10 / AU$18). In both cases that’s if you commit to a year upfront. The prices go up if you pay monthly.

It’s not cheap then, but it is a remarkable feature to have access to on your smartphone. And if you’re skeptical of the accuracy it might reassure you to know that FibriCheck has been CE-certified and FDA-approved.

Mission Adventure

Free + various IAP

Mission Adventure aims to turn any walk into a mission, or, er, an adventure. Aimed primarily at young children, this Android app allows a route setter (that’s you) to create a walking route on a map of the area around you.

The route will have a number of markers on it, and at each marker part of a story will unfold. For free you get access to a swashbuckling tale, where players will interact with pirates and explore the seas by walking (or sometimes running) from one marker to another, and by answering nautical questions.

The story has three chapters, with each walk forming one chapter. There are then two additional stories that can be purchased for $2.99/£2.99 at the time of writing. So there’s not a ton of content, but stories can play out differently based on the decisions you make and whether you get questions right or wrong. The developers also have more story packs in the works. In fact, by the time you read this, some might be available.

And while it lasts, Mission Adventure has the potential to be a lot of fun for youngsters, and a useful tool for getting them out of the house – if not away from screens.

Wisdo

Free

Many of us have struggles in our lives, but you don’t need to struggle alone. With Wisdo, you can join one or more groups focused on an issue you might be facing, such as anxiety, depression, or eating disorders. Though there are also groups for things like learning to meditate and becoming an activist, so it’s not all directly tied to health.

You can optionally share more details of what you’ve been through on your profile, while within groups you can post messages, and read and reply to other people’s posts, offering support and guidance.

You can also have private conversations with people in the app, with the idea being that people who have been through the things you’re struggling with can help guide you, or vice versa.

It’s an Android app that’s clearly connected with a lot of people – so much so that it’s a ‘2019 Google Play Award Winner’ for ‘Social Impact’, so if you think you could use a friendly ear – or offer one – then it’s definitely worth downloading.

Bedtime Creatures

Free + various IAP

Bedtime Creatures is an Android app that plays relaxing music and nature sounds to help you chill out, sleep, or to drown out background noise.

Lots of other apps have a similar goal, but Bedtime Creatures is unusually cute and colorful. Each sound has a related animated scene with a cartoon animal, including a raccoon by a campfire, a panda in a bamboo forest and several others.

Each scene has its own music and background audio, and you can unlock additional sounds to add to the mix using gems. You’ll also need gems to unlock additional scenes. These gems can be bought, but you start off with enough for a few scenes or a bunch of additional sounds and simply launching the app sometimes rewards you with gems.

You can also customize the appearance of the animals with clothes, which can be bought with a second currency earned over time through simply using the app. Though this currency can also be gained by watching adverts (which are never forced on you) or swapping gems for it.

Having two currencies in what’s ultimately quite a simple app seems excessive, but since everything ultimately can be obtained with gems and nothing is vastly expensive at the moment, you can just buy a pack of gems, unlock everything you’re interested in and ignore the rest.

FreeMind Meditations

Free + $10.99/£9.99 monthly subscription

FreeMind Meditations is one of many meditation Android apps on Google Play, but it aims to stand out through its use of music.

The meditations include bespoke ‘MetaMusic’ created by film composers and professional musicians, and beyond being enjoyable to listen to while meditating, this music includes trigger sounds that supposedly evoke specific states of mind and help you engage more deeply and easily with the meditations.

We can’t say with any certainty how well this worked for us, but it definitely doesn’t detract from the experience and if you struggle to get into meditations usually, FreeMind might be the solution.

That aside, this has most of what you’d expect from a mediation app, including a large library of meditations covering various topics. There are more than 250 in all, but only 14 are free – the rest require a subscription.

Endomondo

Free + £9.99 (roughly $13) monthly subscription

If you run, cycle or even like to track your walks then there’s a good chance you’ve come across Endomondo before. As one of the oldest, biggest and best apps in the business - it stays that way thanks to regular updates; at the time of writing the app was updated less than two weeks ago.

Even if you don’t run or cycle you might still want to check out Endomondo, as - despite its GPS-tracking specialities - it can also track more than 60 other sports, such as golf, climbing and ice skating.

Alongside route and distance tracking, Endomondo can also track your speed, pace, calories and more. Ff you’re doing a sport that can’t be tracked with GPS then you can manually enter your workout, so you’ve still got a log of your achievements.

Additionally, you can link Endomondo to heart rate monitors and cadence sensors to incorporate their data into your records. The app can also be connected to auxiliary fitness accounts such as Google Fit, Garmin Connect and Polar Flow, so all your health and fitness data will be in sync.

Endomondo also lets you create goals for individual workouts or for your week, so you have targets to hit - the Android app will even alert you when you achieve a personal best. Plus, you can create and participate in challenges against friends and other users of the app.

And if all that isn’t enough then you can also subscribe to Endomondo Premium, which adds heart rate zone analysis, interval training, personal training plans, access to advanced statistics (such as how far you’ve run in total each month), and more.

Simple Habit

Free + $9.99/£9.99 monthly subscription 

Meditation apps are meant, among other things, to relax and de-stress us, but if you’re anything like us they run the risk of doing the opposite, becoming chores that we feel guilty for neglecting.

Simple Habit doesn’t completely solve that problem, but it gets some way there, by offering short 5-minute meditations, that you can easily fit in at any point during your day.

Other meditation apps have short sessions too, but there are usually only a few of them, mixed in with longer meditations, while they’re all short in Simple Habit (though we do have to point out some stretch beyond 5 minutes to cater for those that do want a bit more relaxation).

Simple Habit also has a variety of different teachers to guide you, so if you don’t get on with one (or just get bored of their voice) there are plenty of others to choose from.

The rest of the Android app is as you’d expect, with meditations designed around specific life circumstances, goals or moods, and a simple interface that doesn’t get in the way.

Like Headspace, most of the meditations are locked behind a subscription, but you can listen to a handful for free to see if Simple Habit is for you.

Our favorite Android apps for making music, listening to music, finding podcasts and everything else to do with audio.

Muviz Edge

Free + various IAPs

Muviz Edge adds visuals to your music by displaying a music visualizer around the edges of your phone’s screen while music is playing.

It works with streamed or local content from any app and you can customize the visuals, choosing from a number of patterns, and adjusting the colors, speed, and more. You can even get Muviz Edge to automatically match the colors of the album art for whatever you’re currently listening to.

It’s a bit limited in that a visualizer along the edge of your screen can only do so much – no matter how you tweak it all we’re really talking about is colored lines moving around the screen edge, but it still looks good.

It also requires IAPs to unlock some of the patterns and certain other features, but there’s enough here for free that it’s worth downloading even if you’re not prepared to shell out for all the extras.

Volume Panel Pro

$0.99 / £0.59

Volume Panel Pro is a replacement for your smartphone’s standard volume controls. Hit the volume key on your phone and you’ll see this instead, which in many cases will be an upgrade.

The Android app can display volumes for calls, media and alarms all in one go, so you don’t need to dig into menus to change individual settings. You can also choose which side of the phone screen to display the volume controls on and how far from the top, change the colors of both the panel and the sliders, choose which volume gets altered by default, choose how long the volume panel stays visible after you hit a volume key, and more.

It’s not a game-changing feature, but it’s a well thought out and customizable improvement on most standard Android volume controls, and it’s easily worth the low asking price.

Pocket Casts

Free + $1.19 / £0.99 monthly subscription

We’ve covered Pocket Casts before, but it’s worth highlighting again because it’s now free. That doesn’t mean you’ll be bombarded with adverts or have your data sold; this Android app is truly free with no strings attached.

Those who want more or want to support the developers can subscribe to the new Pocket Casts Plus service (for $1.19 / £0.99 per month or $11.99 / £9.99 per year), which unlocks extras like desktop players, additional themes and the ability to upload and play non-podcast files on Pocket Casts.

But for everyone else, it’s the same app that so many have known and loved for years, complete with a slick interface and all sorts of handy tools, such as a volume boost for speech, the ability to change the playback speed and trim silence, Chromecast support, and a whole lot more.

The developers promise that the free version won’t be neglected either – this is still their core product and will continue to get updated and have new free features added. So if you’ve not already tried Pocket Casts there’s never been a better time.

Luminary

Free + $7.99/£6.99 per month

Luminary is a podcast app that, as well as packing in access to most of the podcasts you know and love, also has its own exclusive content that you won’t find anywhere else.

Access to those exclusive shows – over 40 of which are either out or in the works at the time of writing – is the main reason to choose Luminary over other podcast players, but to get that access you will have to subscribe at a cost of $7.99/£6.99 per month (following one free month).

These exclusives are ad-free and in many cases come from big names like Lena Dunham and Trevor Noah, but even if you’re not up for paying, Luminary could still be worth considering.

Stick to the free content and this is basically like any other podcast app, but it’s a polished one, with an attractive interface and loads of features, including the ability to cast podcasts to speakers, download podcasts for offline listening, get new podcast suggestions based on what you like, change the play speed, activate a sleep timer, and more.

The only real downside to Luminary at the moment is that while it offers exclusive content, the Android app also lacks a few big-name shows that you’ll find on other platforms, such as Reply All and The Daily, so if any of your favorites are missing, you’re best off podcasting elsewhere.

Audm

$7.99/£6.49 per month

Audm essentially turns articles into podcasts, by having them read aloud. But unlike some apps this isn’t a robot doing the talking, it’s a real person, making it far more engaging to listen to.

In fact, it uses “celebrated audiobook narrators”, so it’s professionally done, and there’s a lot of content, with articles from dozens of popular sources such as Wired, The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, The Atlantic, and many more, with new stories added every week.

The Audm Android app lets you browse all the content, or filter based on source or narrator. You can also read the articles, or read along with the narration, having it scroll in time with the spoken words. And you can change the narration speed, and have articles downloaded for offline listening.

It’s a good app, good enough to justify a subscription, which Audm charges at $7.99/£6.49 per month after a three-day free trial.

Pocket Casts

$3.99/£3.99

Pocket Casts has long been our podcast player of choice, but the Android app is a very different beast today to what it once was, thanks to a major update bringing it to version 7.

It’s an update that’s mostly for the better in our opinion, but not without its critics. Love it or hate it though, it’s a big enough overhaul to warrant highlighting Pocket Casts again. It also makes the app worth revisiting if you tried it before but didn’t get on with the old version.

The changes include a whole new look and a wealth of new features, such as up-next syncing, listening history, the ability to play podcasts without subscribing, improved recommendations, the ability to search for specific episodes, new swipe controls, a draggable player and a whole lot more.

If you’re used to the old version of the app then version 7 will take some getting used to, but we reckon most people will come to love it.

Poweramp Music Player

$3.99/£3.39

Poweramp is an old favorite in the world of music player apps, but a massive overhaul has brought it to version three, complete with a new audio engine which supports hi-res output and additional file formats, including opus, tak, mka, dsd, and dsf/dff.

The overhaul also added tempo controls and a reverb effect, updated the UI to make it a whole lot more modern (complete with light and dark themes) and made navigation more intuitive.

That’s all building on top of an already brilliant app that has a 10-band graphic equalizer, support for most audio file formats, and all sorts of tools and options, such as gapless playback and crossfade.

The app can display lyrics and download missing album artwork, and there are widgets, a tag editor, and numerous additional themes available to download.

Few Android apps match Poweramp for features, and as of V3 it’s one of the best-looking music players on Android too. It’s well worth the price tag if you play much local audio, but it comes with a 15-day free trial, so you can try it out before paying.

YouTube Music

Free + optional $9.99/£9.99 monthly subscription

YouTube Music is an Android app that puts the shows and shorts to one side and is all about the music. It’s all here, presented with personalized recommendations and a constantly updated ‘hotlist’ of trending tracks. There are also numerous playlists, and you can create your own.

That’s all free, but to get the most out of YouTube Music you need to pay for YouTube Music Premium, which costs US$9.99/£9.99 per month and lets you listen offline, with your screen off, or while using other apps. It also gets rid of the adverts.

However, if that sounds appealing you’re probably best off paying for YouTube Premium. This subscription costs slightly more at US$11.99/£11.99 per month, but also gives you access to the main YouTube site and apps ad-free, lets you watch YouTube originals, enables you to play videos in the background, and more besides.

TaoMix 2

Free + various IAP

TaoMix 2 is an ambient noise Android app designed to drown out the outside world and help you relax, sleep or focus.

There are lots of sounds to choose from, such as birds chirping, rain, waves, wind, a fireplace, a thunderstorm and many more. But you’re not limited to one sound – you can build a soundscape by selecting several at once.

Each of these sounds appears as a circle on your screen and there’s another circle which can be made to move around the screen, and which makes each sound more prominent when it overlaps with them, so the soundscapes vary over time based on the movements of this circle.

You can save any soundscape you make to easily return to it later and you can set a timer, so the soundscape will automatically turn off after a set period of time. You can even record your own sounds.

The core app is free, but to get the most out of TaoMix 2 you’ll want to invest in some of the sound packs to bulk up the available selection. These start at £0.69/US$0.99.

Our favorite Android apps for taking notes, writing and editing documents and generally working on the move.

Typewise Keyboard

Free + $1.99/£1.89 monthly subscription

Typewise Keyboard aims to reinvent the smartphone keyboard, by opting for hexagonal keys which are 70% larger than typical smartphone keyboard keys and therefore easier to hit, reducing typos.

Typewise Keyboard also has numerous gesture controls, which can speed up typing significantly once you get used to them, as can the presence of not one but two spacebars, or rather, space hexagons.

Other notable features include a focus on privacy, as everything is stored locally, and an absence of permissions (there’s just one required in order to enable vibration).

There’s an autocorrect feature too, and if you don’t get on with the hexagons you can switch to a more conventional layout – although if you’re going to do that then there are a lot of strong alternative keyboards.

Typewise is mostly free, but for $1.99/£1.89 a month (with discounts if you pay for a year upfront) you can access numerous themes, along with vibration and various additional settings and options.

We’re not big on paying a subscription for a keyboard, but most users probably won’t feel the need and there is also a lifetime licence available for $24.99/£19.49.

In any case, the free version is definitely worth a try, and worth persevering with for at least a few days, as it does have a learning curve, but we were impressed once we got the hang of it.

Fleksy

Free + various IAP

Are you bored of using the same old keyboard? If so, then you might want to give Fleksy a try, as it’s stylish and near endlessly customizable through dozens of themes.

Of course, the Android app also does the actual job of being a keyboard admirably. In our experience you can type on it quite fast with minimal mistakes, and the autocorrect works well. It also has extras such as GIFs, handwriting support, gesture controls, and even a whole ‘Fleksyapps’ section, which lets you access a number of apps from within the keyboard.

Say, for example, you’re mid-conversation with a friend, trying to decide where to go for lunch. Usually if you want to look places up, you’d have to switch to another app, but with Fleksy you can just access Yelp from within the keyboard and keep on typing.

You can also access the likes of YouTube and Skyscanner, and we expect other apps will be added over time.

For the most part Fleksy is free, but certain themes cost ‘Fleksycoins’, which can be obtained through doing things like watching adverts (which are never forced on you) and earning badges from your use of the app, or purchased with real money.

Email TypeApp

Free + various IAP

With the death of Inbox by Gmail, there’s a good chance you’re looking for a new email app, and the clunkily-named Email TypeApp might fit the bill.

The Android app is absolutely packed full of features, such as a unified inbox for multiple email accounts, Android Wear support, a customizable look, account color-coding, configurable menus, read receipts, the ability to unsend emails, and more.

It also has customizable Do Not Disturb days and hours – a feature that’s sadly missing from some alternative apps.

Email TypeApp is also mostly free. A few extra features such as send later and VIP notifications are chargeable, but you can unlock everything for $6.99/£5.99 and chances are you’ll be happy with the free content anyway.

JotterPad

Free + various IAP

If you have an Android tablet with a keyboard you might be considering doing some serious writing, and if you’re considering that then you should definitely consider using JotterPad.

This isn’t a new app; rather, it’s an old favorite of many that’s regularly updated, ensuring it remains one of the best options for writing on Android.

The core of the Android app is a distraction-free text editor, but dig into the menus and there are all sorts of tools and options. There’s Markdown support for example, a word count, cloud storage, a phrase search, a built-in dictionary, a dark theme, a rhyming dictionary, numerous fonts, and more.

Some of this stuff is hidden behind IAP, the main one being ‘Pro’, which costs $14.99/£12.99. That might seem steep, but it’s a one-off payment and if you’re writing an essay or novel on JotterPad then you should easily get your money’s worth.

Writer Tools

Free + $4.99/£4.99 monthly subscription

Writer Tools is a set of tools for anyone who’s setting out to write a novel. The app makes this daunting task a bit more manageable by letting you create characters and locations.

These sections store these details so they’re always readily available, and help you flesh them out. For example, the character creator lets you fill out all sorts of optional details such as their greatest fear and best memory.

Writer Tools also has a built-in thesaurus, lets you jot down ideas and notes, create timelines, set quarterly writing goals, and more. You can also back-up your work to the cloud, so you’ll never lose it.

This is all free, but for a monthly subscription you can get rid of adverts, access all your historic backups, add images to your characters and locations, switch to a night mode, and more. There’s a lot in this Android app, which goes some way to justifying the price, but many users will be fine with the free version.

OfficeSuite

Free + £8.49 (around $11.10) IAP

If you’re looking for office software on Android there are really only a handful of options, and OfficeSuite is one of the best, thanks largely to how feature-packed it is.

You can create documents, spreadsheets, presentations or PDFs, and you can start from scratch or use one of numerous templates as a jumping off point.

You can share documents and message contributors from the Android app, save work to the cloud, open two documents and work on them both at once in split-screen, cast presentations across multiple devices, and a whole lot more.

Most of the features in OfficeSuite are totally free, but if you’re using it a lot it’s probably worth upgrading to OfficeSuite Premium, which, among other things, lets you save files in more formats and unlocks more PDF tools, such as the ability to convert PDFs to Word or Excel format, and create and use digital signatures.

Microsoft Word

Free + $6.99/£5.99 monthly subscription

Microsoft Word probably needs no introduction, but if you do much word processing on your tablet (or even your phone) and haven’t tried the Android app then you really should.

You essentially get the full version, allowing you to view, create and edit documents of various styles, including newsletters, brochures and more.

You can change the font, text color, margins, add bullet points and most other things possible from the desktop version of Word, via a slick, polished interface that’s pleasingly minimal most of the time. You can also save your documents to OneDrive, so they’re accessible from other devices.

Many of the features are free, but you’ll need an Office 365 subscription (which starts at US$6.99/£5.99 per month) to unlock the likes of page and section breaks, columns, different page orientations, and the ability to track and review changes in the Android app.

Otter Voice Notes

Free + optional subscription

Sometimes you don’t have time to take notes. Recording audio can come in handy, but often means spending time transcribing it later. Not so with Otter Voice Notes.

The Android app will automatically transcribe what’s spoken using AI, and you can teach it to recognize your voice so it can differentiate between speakers.

Once the audio is transcribed you can read it and correct any mistakes manually. The audio is also recorded, so you can listen back to the recording as well.

The really clever bit though is that Otter will detect keywords automatically, so you can search for a word and the app will find where it appears in any of your recordings. It’s a great feature that makes it easy to find specific information, even if you’ve recorded hours of audio.

You can also create groups, allowing you to share recordings with others, and all of your recordings are stored in the cloud so you can access them on any device and they won’t take up space on your phone.

The only two problems we’ve found so far is that longer recordings can take a while to be transcribed, and the transcription isn’t always perfect. It’s usually good enough that you can tell what it means though, and you can correct any errors so it’s not a big deal.

Chambers Thesaurus

$4.99/£2.99

There are a number of thesaurus apps on Google Play and some are free, but if you’re regularly writing – or looking words up – on your Android device, then Chambers Thesaurus is one of the best options, and worth the outlay.

It has entries for almost 40,000 words, along with around 400,000 synonyms and antonyms, and they’re browsable alphabetically so you can read through the thesaurus if you want, rather than simply searching for a word.

When you do search, you’ll get results as soon as you start typing, and not just for words that fit the spelling, but also similarly spelt words, those that sound similar, and those that are often confused for one another.

You can also bookmark entries and cross reference with the Chambers Dictionary or WordWeb apps (if you have them), or look the words up on Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Google, all with a tap from Chambers Thesaurus.

Data is stored locally, so you don’t need an internet connection to use the Android app itself, and there are all sorts of customization options, letting you change the color scheme, font size and more.

Our favorite Android apps for improving productivity, whether through to-do lists, focus timers or other tools.

Duet Display

$19.99/£19.49

Duet Display is an Android app that lets you use your phone or tablet as a second screen for your PC or Mac. Simply launch the Duet Display Android app as well as the free Duet desktop app, and the latter will detect your phone or tablet and turn it into an extra screen.

You can control your desktop from this second screen using taps and gestures, even if your PC or Mac isn’t touchscreen itself, so it potentially gives you a new way to interact with your computer, and at the very least it gives you more space.

It also works without any wires, though you can use a USB connection if you prefer. It’s not particularly cheap at $19.99/£19.49, but it does something no other app that we know of can.

Twobird

Free

Twobird is a new email app but it goes beyond email by also offering a space for notes, complete with a simple built-in to-do list feature and the ability to easily create tables. You can collaborate on notes too, nest them inside emails, and leave comments for other participants – best of all, those participants don’t even need Twobird.

The email bit is still the focus of Twobird though and it does a good job of that too, with a minimalist interface but various tools tucked away if you need them, such as the ability to set a ‘reminder’ to respond to an email, by having it pop back up in your inbox at a time that suits you.

So the Android app looks good, works well and has more features than you might expect at first glance. It also supports multiple email addresses, though it’s limited to Gmail, which is its one main issue right now. If you use Gmail though, and like the idea of having your emails and notes all in one place, then Twobird is an app worth getting.

Yahoo Mail

Free + monthly or yearly subscription

You probably don’t use Yahoo for your email, but that doesn’t mean you should ignore the Yahoo Mail app, as it works with other email services and is impressively powerful.

Highlights include the ability to see every file you’ve ever received all in a single place, as well as being able to view all the mailing lists you’re subscribed to in one place – and easily unsubscribe from any you don’t want with a single tap.

You can also view receipts, or see mail just from people (rather than companies and robots), and there are a number of customization options too, so you can for example change the theme (for each linked email account individually), and customize what swiping left or right over a message will do.

The Android app gives you all this free, but for $0.99/£0.89 per month or $9.99/£8.99 per year you can get rid of adverts.

Microsoft To Do

Free

Microsoft To Do has progressed slowly, but it has reached the point now where it’s genuinely one of the best list-making Android apps.

It’s now much prettier than it once was, for a start, with full-color customizable backgrounds and the sort of polished overall appearance you’d expect from an app by a company as big as Microsoft.

The list-making part is good too. You can group lists, decide whether completed entries should be hidden or simply struck through, and star important tasks, all of which will then also appear on a separate ‘Important’ list.

There’s also a ‘My Day’ section, helping you focus just on the tasks that you want to get done in the next 24 hours.

Within each list you can choose to sort by importance, due date, creation date, or alphabetically. You can create collaborative lists or share a copy of a list. And if you’re currently using Wunderlist you can import all of your content from that (as Microsoft owns that too).

Expenses: Simple Tracker

Free

Expenses: Simple Tracker is a simple, speedy way to track expenses. Simply tap the ‘Add Expense’ button to add an expense, including the amount, the currency (though you can separately choose a default currency, so you’ll only have to change this when using another), and the date that the expense occurred – with the current date selected by default.

You can also add optional notes and tags, the latter of which you create yourself. You may want to do this to separate your expenses into different categories, such as ‘bills’ and ‘groceries’. You can attach multiple tags to an expense if it fits into more than one category.

The main screen of Expenses: Simple Tracker will then give an overview of your expenses. It initially shows your all-time expenses total, with a list of these expenses below, sorted by date. However, you can also choose just to see expenses from the current day, the week or the month. And you can filter by tags. So if you only want to see what you’ve spent on socializing, you can do that – as long as you tagged the expenses in the first place.

You can’t connect a bank account to the Android app, which is both a blessing and a curse. It keeps it simple, but means you have to manually enter every expense. Still, it’s slick and it’s free – so downloading the app won’t be something you have to add to your expenses.

Checketry

Free + $2.99 (around £2.45) monthly subscription

Checketry is a file and download manager that lets you keep tabs on and manage downloads that are happening on your PC, from your phone.

The Android app can access downloads from Chrome and Firefox (with the appropriate browser plugins installed), manage torrents and even control your Steam downloads.

The free version mostly just lets you view current, queued and finished downloads, but upgrade for a monthly or yearly subscription and you can also pause or cancel downloads and even access some remote desktop tools, such as the ability to shut down your PC from afar.

It’s a great tool if you ever leave downloads running on your PC while you’re not at your desk, and is worth a download even if you stick with the free version.

Crono

Free

If you use Chrome on your computer then with the help of Crono you can very easily get all of your smartphone notifications on your desktop, and even reply to messages.

Simply install the Android app on your phone and the Chrome extension on your computer, then scan a QR code, similar to how you log in to WhatsApp Web, and from there – like WhatsApp Web – your messages will pop up in your browser.

You won’t be limited to WhatsApp messages, though – emails, SMS messages and other chat apps are all supported, as is replying to the messages. You can view calendar notifications, any timers you have running, and pretty much anything else happening on your phone as well.

Crono also lets you reject calls from your browser and ring your phone, which is handy if you’ve misplaced it. And all of the notifications sent through Crono sport end-to-end encryption, so it’s secure too.

MyScript Calculator 2

$2.99 / £2.69

At times, MyScript Calculator 2 feels a bit like magic. The Android app lets you write out a calculation by hand, so you’re not reliant on calculator buttons, then its turns it into neat text and solves it for you. In our tests – with our exceedingly messy handwriting – it knew what we were writing every time.

It goes way beyond the basics too, with support for brackets, logarithms, constants, roots, trigonometry, and more.

It also lets you write calculations over multiple lines, scribble out mistakes (or hit the undo button), and drag and drop elements of the calculation to move them around, updating the answer as you do so.It saves previous calculations so you can always return to them, and lets you share your sums with other apps.

The only problem our maths-muddled brain faced was remembering how to write complex sums in the first place, but if you know how to write them, MyScript Calculator 2 is sure to know how to solve them.

Our favorite Android apps for customizing your device and improving its security.

Cometin

Free + various IAPs

Cometin is really many Android apps in one, but they’re all focused on tweaking and improving your Android experience. What does that mean? Well, Cometin has numerous modules which you can choose to activate, each of which has different functionality.

One for example gives you more control over your screen’s auto rotation, letting you enable ‘full orientation’, which allows you to rotate the screen to 90, 180 or 270 degrees, or to force a specific orientation.

There’s also an ‘Ambient Display’ module, which lets you activate an always-on display or wave over your phone to show the time.

There are several other modules beyond those, with more likely to be added over time. Most of the content is currently free as well, though there a few IAPs, most notably one that lets you activate more than five modules at once.

Vivaldi Browser Beta

Free

Don’t let the ‘beta’ in the name put you off – this Android app is worth getting excited about. Vivaldi Browser Beta is an Android version of the Vivaldi desktop web browser, which is enormously customizable and full of thoughtful features.

The Android version has things like Speed Dial, giving you quick access to your favorite sites whenever you open a new tab, a built in notepad, and the ability to switch search engines from the search bar itself, just by typing the first letter of their name before your query.

Vivaldi Browser Beta also lets you sync your bookmarks, notes, passwords and more across devices (using end-to-end encryption), use private browsing, add searchable descriptions to bookmarks, screenshot entire web pages, switch to a dark mode, and more.

If you’re used to Chrome then the layout might take a little getting used to, but this Android app is well worth the effort.

Tor Browser

Free

Tor is probably the most secure and privacy-focused web browser available on desktop, and now you can get Tor Browser for Android.

The app uses multi-layered encryption, with your web traffic relayed and encrypted three times. It also blocks trackers, prevents surveillance and resists fingerprinting.

The Android app is, if anything, probably overkill for most people, but the interface – based on Firefox v60 – is fairly slick, so there aren’t too many downsides to using it. And as well as making your online activity more secure, Tor can also bypass many regional restrictions on websites, so it achieves many of the same things as a VPN. It’s also completely free to use.

MIUI-ify Notification Shade

Free + $2.49/£1.99 IAP

Phones are getting bigger, but hands aren’t, which can sometimes pose a problem when it comes to accessing the notification shade, as this typically sits all the way at the top of the screen.

With MIUI-ify Notification Shade you can move it to the bottom, but this is more than just a simple switch of positions. The app also lets you customize the colors and overall look, the size and position of the area you have to swipe over to bring it up, and to pick exactly what shortcuts appear on the shade, among other things.

It works well too, and looks good doing it; the name might be clunky, but in practice MIUI-ify Notification Shade is anything but.

The core Android app is free but many of the customization options require a one-off $2.49/£1.99 IAP, which should be worth it if you plan to use this app.

Betta Fish Live Wallpaper

Free + $0.99/£0.69 IAP

While live wallpapers can be a little harsher on battery than their static siblings, there’s no denying that they often look great, and Betta Fish Live Wallpaper is one of the best examples.

This Android app allows a betta fish (aka a Siamese fighting fish) to swim around your home screen, with beautiful animations and lots of detail. It’s even slightly interactive, as you can block the fish’s path with a tap or swipe on the screen.

That much you get for free, but for a $0.99/£0.69 IAP you unlock the ability to change the colors of both the fish and the background, change the fish’s movement path, turn the bubbles off, and more. We’d say it’s cheap enough that it’s worth the outlay if you like what you see, but either way you can turn your phone into an eye-catching digital fish tank.

Abstruct – Wallpapers in 4K

Free + $1.99/£1.99 IAP

Abstruct is the official wallpaper app of the man behind the wallpapers used by OnePlus phones, and it includes both those wallpapers and many others created by him.

At the time of writing there are over 300 in all and they’re all available in 4K resolution. They’re also absolutely gorgeous. As the name suggests, they’re mostly abstract, but they’re split into galleries that are each distinct from one another.

There’s one that shows real-world landscapes made to look alien for example, and another where all the designs are made up of polygons.

Many of these galleries are free, but access to everything in the Android app requires a one-off payment of $1.99/£1.99. Paying for wallpapers might seem odd when the internet is packed full of them, but these are good enough that if you like their style it’s worth the outlay – this is one of very few wallpaper apps that we’ve spent money on.

App Tiles

Free

If there are any Android apps that you pretty much live inside then App Tiles could be for you, as it makes accessing them even quicker and easier.

It does this by letting you add a shortcut to them on your notifications screen, just like you probably have shortcuts to various settings up there now.

App Tiles lets you assign up to six such shortcuts for any apps on your phone, so rather than returning to the home screen to launch one of them you can do so with a swipe and a tap.

This won’t always be faster, especially if you’re already on the relevant home screen, but it gives you one more way to get into them and is sure to save time on some occasions. We wouldn’t say this is essential for everyone, but it works perfectly in our tests and it’s totally free, so it’s well worth checking out if the idea appeals.

Resplash

Free

Resplash is a wallpaper Android app that uses content from Unsplash – a site full of free stock photos that you can use for anything.

As it’s using content from such a well-established site, Resplash has a massive library, with over 100,000 images, but it’s still easy to find specific styles of photo by searching or browsing by category.

As well as downloading images or setting them straight to your wallpaper, you can also favorite them, so you’ll always be able to find them again, even from a different device. Resplash offers a surprising amount of personalization too, letting you change the theme and the way images are displayed (as a list or a grid, for example).

You can also choose the quality of images when you download them or set them as a wallpaper, with options ranging from ‘thumb’ to ‘raw’. Best of all, it’s completely free, though if you do feel like supporting the makers of the app there is an option to donate.

SAFE

Free

SAFE is an Android app that’s designed to, well, help you ensure your phone is safe. It guards against intrusion - whether it’s from hackers, viruses or nosy eyes.

It does this by giving your device four scores. One for its configuration, one for connectivity, one for apps and one for the operating system. Each of these scores is out of five, with higher being better and suggesting a greater level of security.

But you get more than just a number. You also get a breakdown of everything that affected the score, with positives in green and negatives in red. If you tap on any of these you can get additional information, complete with help in solving the problem if it’s a red thing.

Bear in mind that you might disagree with SAFE as to what is and isn’t a problem. For example, it will flag having Bluetooth or NFC on as security issues, which technically they are, but they’re also useful (and essential in some circumstances). You probably won’t want to fix everything, but SAFE could end up highlighting some issues you didn’t know about and making your device safer in the process.

Widget Drawer

$0.99/£0.89

Widgets are a potentially great feature of Android phones, but they can take up a lot of space and leave your home screens feeling cluttered. So, what if you could hide them, but in a place where they’re never more than a swipe away? That’s the concept of Widget Drawer.

The Android app places a ‘handle’ on your screen, which is basically just a narrow colored line running part way down one edge, and if you swipe it you can see a screen full of widgets.

You can choose which widgets to put on that screen, resize them and move them around. The handle itself is accessible just about everywhere other than your lock screen, so you can even access your widgets when inside other apps.

You can customize the size and color of the handle, and when in the Widget Drawer you can return to the screen underneath either by hitting the cross at the bottom or just tapping any empty space.

It’s the sort of useful app that you might end up wondering how you ever lived without. Or at least it will be with a bit more polish. At the moment resizing widgets feels a bit more clunky than it needs to be and we can’t find a way to remove widgets from the drawer without reinstalling the app. There might be one, but it’s either not obvious or not working for us.

However, that’s not such a surprise, as Widget Drawer is still in early access, so we’d expect it will improve over time.

Blur

Free + $39.99 (around £24) per year

Blur is essentially a one stop Android app for privacy and security online. As you might expect then, it has a number of different features, but the most interesting is perhaps Masked Cards, which lets you shop online without ever entering or exposing your real credit card information.

This works through the creation of disposable virtual credit cards through Blur, so essentially you give retailers a temporary card number that will only work for that one transaction. You can mask your phone number and email in similar ways.

Blur also includes a password manager, so you can create and store passwords in the app and have them auto-filled when you go to a login page for other apps or sites.

Masked emails are free, but most of the other features require a subscription, costing $39.99 (around £24) per year, with discounts available if you commit for two or three years. Note also that the card masking element only works in the US, but Blur is working on making it more widely available.

Malwarebytes Security

Free + $1.49/£1.19 monthly subscription

While there are various security features already built into Android, you can’t be too careful, so it’s well worth considering adding Malwarebytes Security to your Android app arsenal.

Malwarebytes can scan your device for viruses, adware and malware, but it also offers proactive protection, with real-time ransomware shields, protection from phishing URLs when using Chrome, alerts when there’s a malicious link in a text message, and the ability to block unwanted calls.

Malwarebytes can also conduct a privacy audit on your phone, showing you at a glance what privileges your apps have.

Most of these features are only available in the premium version, which costs $1.49/£1.19 per month or $11.99/£10.99 for a year, but you get a 30-day free trial and if you don’t want to pay you can still scan and clean your phone with the free version.

Our favorite Android apps for planning a holiday, checking the weather and getting around without getting lost.

Appy Weather

Free + $3.99/£3.99 yearly subscription

It’s not easy to get excited about weather apps, and we can’t claim that Appy Weather changes that, but most of us probably do use one or more of them regularly, and Appy Weather is well worth consideration.

Once a Windows Phone app, it’s finally made its way to Android, where it stands out through an attractive, minimalist and easy to navigate interface that has a look unlike most other weather apps.

Whether you like the style will be subjective, but feature-wise it has got everything most users need, including forecasts for the current day and the next seven days, complete with the temperature, what it ‘feels like’, precipitation, cloud cover, visibility and a whole lot of other details.

Information is largely presented on easy to read graphs and with large, clear text, and the forecasts come from Dark Sky, which is generally accurate in our experience.

A sticking point might be the cost – the free version only lets you search for a forecast five times per day. To remove that limit, get rid of adverts, and unlock widgets, you’ll need to subscribe for $3.99/£3.99 per year.

Subscribing to a weather app might seem unappealing, but most users probably won’t need to. After all, how many times a day do you really check the weather? Plus, the app’s author does a good job of justifying the price, as not only is it a great Android app, they explain that the service used to retrieve the weather isn’t free, so for the app to be sustainable a subscription model is currently necessary.

Culture Trip

Free

Whether you’re heading abroad or just want to get more out of the city you live in, Culture Trip could help.

Search for a place or just use your current location and the Android app will serve up a selection of articles, covering things to see and do, and tips and tricks relevant to the location.

Some of these articles also include videos, and Culture Trip doesn’t stick just with the obvious stuff (for example, a search for New York turned up articles such as The Enchanting Witches of New York City), but there’s plenty of more conventional content too, like lists of the top 20 sights you need to see.

You can bookmark things you’re interested in and download content so you can access it offline – ideal if you’re going to be roaming abroad. There are also links to book hotels and the like straight from the app, and with images everywhere and a nice layout, it’s a pleasure to use and get inspired by.

Atmosphere Weather

Free + $3.99/£3.69 annual subscription

Atmosphere Weather aims to stand out from the weather-watching crowd by presenting the forecast like a 24-hour clock. Each hour of weather is presented by a segment on the clock face, giving you a clear way to instantly see the hour-by-hour weather for the next day at a glance.

As well as seeing written temperatures on each hour, there’s also color-coding to represent the different temperatures and how clear the sky is.

You can even get calendar events displayed on the weather clock, and away from that screen there’s also a radar view, complete with wind speeds and directions.

The clock is the main feature though and it’s a genuinely useful and different twist on weather forecasts.

The only downside is that after a two-week free trial of the Android app, you have to either put up with ads or pay a subscription, which will cost you $3.99/£3.69 per year. We'd have preferred to see a one-off payment option, but if you use the app regularly it should be worth the outlay.

Fog of World

$4.99/£4.49

Fog of World is a new, fun take on mapping apps, as it’s inspired by the ‘fog of war’ that you get in some video games (that being fog that obscures areas of a map that you’ve not been to yet) but applies it to the real world.

The Android app gives you a detailed world map, but applies fog to it. Unlike most games the fog doesn’t actually hide the map, it just dulls it a bit. When you’ve been somewhere the fog is removed, so over time you can see all the places you’ve been on a single world map, based on which bits don’t have fog.

To make it more interesting you can level up as you make progress and unlock various achievements, such as for visiting a certain number of countries or crossing the equator. You can also sync your data so it’s available on other devices.

Fog of World isn’t going to replace Google Maps for your navigation needs, but it’s a fun, visual way to see where you’ve been, covering everything from a trip to the local store to your various holidays.

CARROT Weather

Free + optional $3.99/£3.39 yearly subscription

After a long stint on iOS, CARROT Weather has finally come to Android, and if you like a dose of snark with your forecast it’s worth getting excited about.

Because as well as providing accurate forecasts powered by Dark Sky, CARROT Weather is home to an ‘AI’ that insults you and revels in your weather-related misery. This takes the form of more than 6,000 lines of dialogue, each of which can optionally be spoken aloud by its synthetic voice.

With cute illustrations as well and even a game that sees you following clues to hunt down secret locations, CARROT Weather has more personality than any rival app.

The Android app is also good for the important matter of telling you the forecast, as you can see hourly and daily forecasts, complete with humidity, UV Index, wind speed and more.

The core app is free, but for US$3.99/£3.39 per year (or US$0.99/£0.89 per month) you can unlock a customizable widget, animated satellite maps, and get rid of adverts.

Moovit

Free

Moovit isn’t new, but if you ever use public transport it’s an Android app that's well worth knowing about. Simply type a destination and Moovit will give you a selection of ways to get there, using all the public transport routes available.

Tap on a route to get full directions or even a map with live navigation (complete with alerts telling you when to get off the transport you’re on), or further filter your results to minimize walking, use the least number of transfers or cut out certain transport types entirely.

There are also handy features like the ability to save regular destinations and favorite the bus and train lines you use a lot, so you can quickly see their timetables.

Transport timings are real-time where available, so you’ll know if the train or bus is running late, and you can download various maps for offline use. You can also use Moovit all over the world, with transport details for new cities regularly added.

All in all, it’s one of the slickest, most feature-packed public transport navigation apps you can get.

Zomato

Free

Ever need some inspiration for where to eat? If so, Zomato has you covered.

The Android app can show you nearby restaurants in a list or on a map, and you can filter results in numerous ways. Only want to see Chinese restaurants? No problem. Need somewhere that accepts bookings? You can do that. After outdoor seating? That’s fine too. And those are just a few examples of the many filters on offer.

There are also ‘collections’, which highlight restaurants that fit a specific theme, such as ‘great breakfasts’ or ‘celebrity chefs’, and when you’ve found somewhere of interest you can get loads more information by tapping on it.

You can see the opening times, pictures, reviews and ratings from other users of Zomato, menus, average costs, recommended dishes, contact details and a list of pros and cons.

From here you can also add your own review, rating or photos, call the restaurant or bookmark it so you don’t forget about it.

There’s also a social side to Zomato; you can follow other users, allowing you to see when they review a restaurant or say that they’ve visited it. Zomato has a lot to offer, and it could help you get out of your culinary comfort zone.

Climendo

$3.99/£3.49 

The problem with weather apps is that, for the most part, they only use one source for their data, but Climendo uses lots, and then works out what the most likely weather at any given time is.

The complete selection of weather providers that it uses includes AccuWeather, Weather Underground, NOAA, Met Office, Foreca, Dark Sky, SMHI, YR and World Weather Online – though only the most accurate ones for your location will be used.

You can see hourly or 10-day forecasts, complete with the likelihood of each being accurate, or you can dig down to the individual forecasts from each weather provider, to see how they vary.

Climendo lacks some of the more detailed information found in other Android apps – such as humidity and UV index -  but if you just want accurate information on whether or not you need an umbrella then this app is up there with the best.

Trying to find the best mirrorless camera for you? Whatever your expectations, our list of the top models features something to suit every photographer – and we’ve tested all of them.

If you’re looking for a camera that combines the latest features with cutting-edge performance in a versatile, portable package, mirrorless is the format for you. Smaller than DSLR cameras, yet equipped with the latest sensors and cutting-edge autofocus, the best mirrorless cameras are capable of delivering fantastic results.

Whether you’re a newbie on a tight budget or an enthusiast ready to make a major investment, this buying guide covers the finest mirrorless models on the market right now. 

A number of exciting new options are due to launch this year, including the full-frame Canon EOS R5 (and its more affordable Canon EOS R6 sibling). The R5 could prove to be a game-changing powerhouse, promising full-width 8K/30p video, in-body image stabilization and Dual Pixel autofocus in all video modes – but it’s likely to be very pricey and it's not yet clear how its launch will be affected by the global pandemic.

For the time being, our top overall pick remains the Nikon Z6, a small, lightweight full-frame offering that delivers excellent image quality and fantastic handling. It’s an outstanding package and, with prices falling, probably the perfect full-frame mirrorless camera for most people. 

That said, there might be a different option better suited to your specific requirements – so be sure to check the full list below to find out.

Best mirrorless cameras 2020 at a glance:

1. Nikon Z6
2. Fujifilm X-T4
3. Sony Alpha A7 III
4. Fujifilm X-T30
5. Sony A6100
6. Nikon Z50
7. Sony Alpha A7R IV
8. Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III
9. Panasonic Lumix S1R
10. Canon EOS RP
11. Panasonic Lumix G9
12. Canon EOS M6 Mark II

The best mirrorless cameras 2020:

Sony may have got to the full-frame mirrorless market before the likes of Canon, Nikon and Panasonic, but now that all four are active in the sector, the playing field is starting to level a little. And our nod right now goes to Nikon's Z6, which combines a sound 24.5MP sensor with a super-sharp 3.69 million dot EVF and lovely 4K video into a compact shell. The beefy grip makes for great handling while the FTZ adapter that's either bundled with the camera or available separately means you can carry on using hundreds of F-mount lenses, with autofocus and auto-exposure maintained. It's not perfect, but a recent firmware update gave it a nice boost – and now that its price has fallen some way it's even more accessible than ever. We love it.

• Read our in-depth Nikon Z6 review

Looking for a mirrorless camera that's equally comfortable shooting both great stills and 4K video? Few cameras do this better than the Fujifilm X-T4. The best APS-C camera so far, it offers a great blend of great build quality, a fun shooting experience, and class-leading image quality. We were already fans of the Fujifilm X-T3, which remains on sale is worth considering if you mainly shoot stills. But the X-T4 takes the series to new heights thanks to the inclusion of in-body image stabilization (IBIS), a new battery, and a new, quieter shutter. We'd have liked a slightly deeper grip and the IBIS system isn't quite up to Olympus standards, but it's a big bonus for both shooting both stills and video, and it tops off a brilliant all-rounder that now has an excellent range of lenses. 

• Read our in-depth Fujifilm X-T4 review

The Alpha A7 III may sit on the bottom rung of Sony's full-frame mirrorless camera range, its siblings being the pricier A7S II and A7R III, but it should no longer be seen as the poor relation to its pricier siblings. This is a brilliant choice for the enthusiast photographer or pro, and when you look at the specification, it's easy to see why. Sony has taken some of the best bits from its flagship Alpha A9 and A7R III cameras, and distilled them into a single camera that offers a fantastic mix of performance and image quality. The full-frame 24.2MP sensor is excellent in a range of lighting conditions, while the advanced 693-point AF looks set to get even better with a firmware upgrade in April. This is one advanced camera that's at a great price considering the features and performance on offer.

• Read our in-depth Sony Alpha A7 III review

Looking for a small, powerful mirrorless camera with a great design and lens system? The Fujifilm X-T30 is our favorite right now. While we love its bigger brother, the X-T3 (position number 8), this model's combination of size and all-round performance makes it one of our favorite cameras of 2020. You get more than you might expect from the X-T3, including the same 26.1MP APS-C sensor and processing engine, making it suitable for everything from sports snapping to landscape photography. This is helped by a phase-detect AF system that covers almost the entire frame, plus the usual range of Fujifilm's excellent Film Simulation modes, which subtly ape the company's old film looks. Throw in the option of recording 4K video and you have a fantastic all-rounder that actively encourages you to get out and shoot.  

• Read our in-depth Fujifilm X-T30 review

The Sony A6000 remains a popular mirrorless camera for beginners, but five years after its launch the A6100 brings its skills up to date in a familiar but more capable package. Borrowing an APS-C sensor from Sony’s premium mirrorless cameras, the A6100 also deploys the flagship A6600’s autofocus system to deliver outstanding continuous tracking capability that’s rapid and reliable for both stills and video. Image quality is as expected, with good detail and decent colors (though a neutral profile would be welcome), while battery life is solid and the tilting screen is now touch-sensitive – albeit with limited functionality. Not everything has changed, mind: the LCD and EVF both remain relatively low-res and maximum burst is still 11fps, while buffering performance can sometimes stumble. So it’s not perfect and unlocking its full potential can take time, but the A6100 is certainly a superb all-rounder that should follow in the footsteps of its best-selling forebear.

• Read our in-depth Sony A6100 review

Nikon’s first foray into the mid-range mirrorless market, the Z50 proves a strong debut. Despite the smaller APS-C sensor, Nikon hasn’t tried to shrink the Z50 too much, instead paying great attention to form and handling. The result is a mirrorless camera that, though still more compact than a DSLR, packs a generous grip which is lovely to hold. Its high-resolution viewfinder and tilting touchscreen are impressive, while 4K video and reliable autofocus (using the same hybrid system as the Nikon Z6) complete a great value package. The Z50 uses SD cards rather than the more expensive XQD format, though the single slot is only compatible with slower UHS-I cards, which limits its continuous shooting speeds. Perhaps the biggest challenge the Z50 faces is the limited native lens range, but this will surely grow – and the twin-lens kit is a versatile buy. For those looking to move from a Nikon DSLR to mirrorless, the Z50 is a great choice.

• Read our in-depth Nikon Z50 review

Sony's A7R line of cameras has been all about resolution, and the A7R IV delivers a lot more of it than ever before. Its class-leading 61MP delivers an excellent level of detail, augmented by the impressive Pixel Shift Multi Shooting mode. An update to the autofocus system has made it faster and smarter, with face- and eye-detect AF working amazingly well – but with Sony at the helm, there was no doubt about that. The camera body is now even more sturdy and better equipped to handle the worst of the elements while out on field, while the deeper grip makes it comfortable to use over long periods of time. Although the addition of top plate command dial makes the mode dial a little harder to access. And while the A7R series wasn't designed with videographers in mind, video quality here is excellent, even though the rolling shutter effect is an issue.

• Read our in-depth Sony Alpha A7R IV review

A complete and compelling package for pros and enthusiasts alike, the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III combines stellar build quality with outstanding performance and countless features to deliver a top-notch mirrorless offering.

Sure, a 20.4MP Micro Four Thirds sensor might look mediocre by today’s standards – and its size does limit image quality in low light – but there’s so much more to the Mark III than resolution alone. 

Its compact shell harbors an all-new TruePic IX processor which ensures performance is lightning fast and reliable, with instant start-up and rapid 18fps silent shutter shooting with continuous AF. This is all backed-up by class-leading image stabilization, while Cine 4K video and Full HD slow-mo at 120fps mean it’s a winner for video, too.

Delve into the shooting options and you’ll struggle to find an end to the Mark III’s capabilities – from a Live ND setting that replicates a neutral-density filter to a Starry Sky AF mode for long exposures. There’s even a new setting for the High Res Shot mode which allows you to capture a 50MP photo handheld. 

• Read our in-depth Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III review

The S1R is the first of two camera's in Panasonic's S series, and it arrives with some mightily impressive technology. That 5.76million-dot viewfinder is streets ahead of the 3.69million-dot alternatives in rival bodies, while the rugged build, effective sensor-based stabilization and cracking 4K video show it to be a camera that excels in a wealth of areas. The 47.3MP full-frame sensor also manages to perform brilliantly in good light and bad, and the further option to output images at 187MP may seem a little crazy, but it opens up new possibilities for cropping and for macro work. We're very impressed.

• Read our in-depth Panasonic S1R review

Canon's first full-frame mirrorless camera, the EOS R, delighted in some ways and frustrated in others, but the EOS RP made a much more positive impression. While technically a more junior model and not as fully featured, its much smaller and lighter body, together with a far nicer price, means that it's far more accessible for those who were hoping to make the jump to mirrorless but didn't want to stretch all the way to the EOS R. Without only around 4MP difference between the two you're not really sacrificing much in terms of sensor resolution, while the responsive touchscreen, fast autofocus and deep buffer makes it a pleasure to use in all kinds of situations. And while the native lens range for the R mount are still limited, a lens mount adapter allows users already invested in Canon's ecosystem to use their existing EF lenses.

• Read our in-depth Canon EOS RP review

It might not be as great for video as the Lumix GH5, but the G9 prioritizes stills. Like Olympus OM-D E-M1X listed above, the smaller MFT sensor size is made up for by a camera that is packed full of features. Its high resolution combines eight images into a single 80MP photograph, while its amazing image stabilization allows you to shoot handheld for about a second with sharp results. Throw in 60fps shooting, polished handling and a wealth of advanced features and the Lumix G9 is a brilliant all-round mirrorless camera.

• Read our in-depth Panasonic Lumix G9 review

Just because this little snapper doesn't have a built-in viewfinder, doesn't mean you can dismiss it out of hand. It more than makes up for it in its specifications list. It compact size and light weight makes it one of the best traveling companions you can get, and its 32.5MP sensor captures excellent images at 14fps. Color reproduction has always been Canon's strong suit and you won't hear us complain here. You won't find built-in image stablilization, but as long as you're aware of that you can compensate for it. You will, however, need to contend with the idea that there are limited lenses for the M-series of snappers but you can use EF and EF-S lenses via an adapter. Just steer clear of the bigger lenses as they will unbalance this tiny package.

• Read our in-depth Canon EOS M6 Mark II review

Also consider:

The GFX 100 outguns every other model in the list for native resolution, and while it has a lofty price tag to match its beefy body, it's arguably in a league of its own right now. While it's not the only camera capable of outputting images this detailed, it's the fact that it does it as standard rather than through any trickery or need to use a tripod like many others that makes it special. Throw in a very competent autofocus system, sensor-based image stabilization, strong 4K video and the best EVF we've seen so far, and you have one supremely versatile camera. Sure, none of us can afford one, but Fujifilm deserves high praise for delivering this kind of performance at a price well below that of other high-resolution medium format cameras.

Sony quietly announced the launch of the second generation Alpha A9, but until we can test it, the original A9 remains one of the best sports and press cameras around. We can't think of another pro-level snapper that can match the A9's absolutely blistering performance and incredibly quick AF tracking. While the lack of an XQD card slot and limited touchscreen functionality can be disappointing, the camera's rapid 20fps burst speed and EVF with no blackout is more than enough to convince most experts to reach for this one, if they have the money to spare. Although, with the arrival of the A9 II, the price of the original has dropped considerably.

• Read our in-depth Sony Alpha A9 review

Mirrorless or DSLR: what's the difference?

Mirrorless cameras allow you to swap and change lenses like on a DSLR, but because the mirror that you normally find inside a DSLR has been removed, the camera can be made much more compact. 

No mirror means that instead of optical viewfinders to frame your subject, mirrorless cameras rely on electronic viewfinders. Be aware, though, that most cheaper mirrorless cameras don't come with viewfinders at all – instead, you compose the photo on the rear screen, just as you do with most compact cameras or smartphones.

This is a boon in terms of keeping size and cost down, but if you're looking to start taking your photography seriously then a viewfinder is nigh-on essential. This is because it lets you compose photos in all conditions, even sunny ones that can render a rear screen useless.

You'll find that mirrorless cameras are also known as compact system cameras (or CSCs for short), with models ranging from the simple to use beginner models to sophisticated full-frame monsters that rival the very best DSLRs out there.

• Best Sony cameras 2020: 10 top models
• Best Nikon camera 2020: 10 great options
• Best Canon camera 2020: 10 brilliant buys

Why are mirrorless cameras better?

Is a mirrorless camera better than a DSLR then? There are still quite a few pros and cons to both designs, so if you want to find out more, read this: Mirrorless vs DSLR cameras: 10 key differences. 

Mirrorless cameras certainly offer more choice. If you're looking to buy a DSLR, there's only really two main players in the shape of Canon and Nikon. If you opt for a mirrorless camera, the choice is much broader, with the likes of Canon, Panasonic, Fujifilm, Sony, Olympus and Leica all offering a wide range of cameras to suit most budgets. 

Right now, every major camera manufacturer has something to shout about, and their latest models are different enough from their rivals to stand out in some way.

While it would be very easy to select 10 high-end models to make up our pick of the best mirrorless camera, we've tried to pick out some more affordable options as well. These models might not be dripping with features, but they represent great options for new users and those on a budget. That said, if you're looking specifically for a budget mirrorless camera, take a look at our best mirrorless camera for beginners buying guide. 

So whether you're after a better camera than the one featured on your smartphone or are looking for an advanced, high-end model to push your creativity even further, read on to find out what are the best mirrorless cameras you can buy right now. 

• Best camera
• Best beginner DSLR
• Best DSLR
• Best 4K camera
• Best full-frame camera
• Best compact camera
• What camera should I buy?
• Mirrorless vs DSLR: 10 key differences
• Camera rumors

You can score a cheap iPhone deal at Apple right now with up $320 in savings when you trade-in an eligible device. This limited-time offer gets you the all-new iPhone SE on sale for just $229, the iPhone 11 on sale for $449, the 11 Pro on sale for $679, and the iPhone XR on sale for $449.

After you purchase your new iPhone, you'll get a trade-in email that explains how to get your old device ready to ship. Apple will send you a trade-in kit that includes a box, prepaid shipping label, and instructions on how to prep your old device. After you ship your phone within 14 days, Apple will credit your original payment.

This is a fantastic offer if you're shopping for a new iPhone and have an eligible device to trade-in. You can buy your iPhone unlocked or choose a carrier plan from AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, or Verizon.

Not in the US? See the best iPhone deals in our region further down the page.

• Shop all Apple iPhone deals here

iPhone deals:

See more of the best iPhone SE deals: the best prices and plans available right now.

Shop more iPhone offers with our roundup of the best iPhone 11 and 11 Pro deals and the best iPhone XR prices.

This week's Amazon sales are bringing back some of our favorite discounts of the past few months, and with stock on the way up again, there are more savings available right now than we've seen in a long time. That means iPad deals are back in town, as well as plenty of laptop deals, cheap Amazon Echo devices, and premium headphones on sale for less. 

We highlight the best Amazon deals available every week so that you can cut through all the third party prices that aren't worth your time and get straight to the savings. Whether you're looking for a new laptop, tablet, set of headphones, or you're after some fresh new gaming tech, there's plenty to choose from this week, so get stuck in. 

We've rounded up our favorite Amazon sales below, but you can also check out all our picks further down the page.

Amazon Daily Deals: today's top sales

• Apple EarPods with lightning connector | $29.99 $13.85 at Amazon
• Razer DeathAdder Essential gaming mouse - white | $49.99 $29.99 at Amazon
• Amazon Echo Dot 3rd generation | $49.99 $39.99 at Amazon
• Razer Mamba wireless gaming mouse | $99.99 $45 at Amazon
• Amazon Echo Show 5 | $89.99 $59.99 at Amazon
• Amazon Echo Show 8 | $129.99 $89.99 at Amazon
• Razer Huntsman gaming keyboard | $149.99 $89.99 at Amazon
• Beats Powerbeats 3 Headphones | $199.99 $79.99 at Amazon
• Sony WH-XB900N noise-canceling wireless headphones | $248 $178 at Amazon
• Beats Solo 3 wireless headphones | $299.99 $199 at Amazon
• iPad 2019 10.2-inch, WiFi - 32GB | $329 $249.99 at Amazon
• Xbox One S 1TB | Roblox | $299.99 at Amazon
• iPad 2019 10.2-inch, WiFi - 128GB | $429 $399 at Amazon
• Lenovo IdeaPad 15.6-inch laptop | $599.99 $469.99 at Amazon

• Shop all of today's daily deals on Amazon

Wireless noise-canceling headphones for less

• Shop all headphone deals at Amazon
• Grab the the best headphone sales we've seen on TechRadar

Cheap 2019 iPad deals return 

• Shop all iPad deals on Amazon
• Shop all laptop deals on Amazon
• Shop all monitor deals on Amazon
• Check TechRadar's top picks of the best laptop sales around

Excellent Razer deals and Xbox One sales

• Shop all Xbox One deals on Amazon
• Shop all PlayStation 4 deals on Amazon
• Shop all Nintendo Switch deals on Amazon

Save on Amazon Echo Dot and Show models

• Shop all Amazon Echo deals on Amazon
• Shop all smart home deals on Amazon
• Shop our top picks of the best Amazon Echo sales

With these iPad deals Currys and John Lewis are leading the charge this week with some tidy discounts on a range of Apple sales, so if you're on the hunt for a cheap tablet, you're in luck.

At Currys, this 128GB 10.2 iPad for example is just £399 (was £429) and offers a fantastic everyday tablet for a wide range of users. With plenty of the latest tech under the bonnet and with some hefty storage to boot, this affordable iPad is the perfect addition to any collection and a great way to beat the lockdown boredom.

If you're in need of something a little more powerful, then John Lewis has just price cut the excellent 2018 iPad Pros, offering this 64GB Pro for just £649 (was £769). This is a whole £120 cheaper than the latest 2020 iPad, and a fantastic way to pick up a premium tablet for a whole lot less. If that wasn't enough, they're also offering up to £150 cashback with every purchase when you trade in an old iPad. This means you could potentially pick up one of these super-powerful iPads for just over £500, the lowest price we've ever seen on these flagship tablets.

Not in the UK? Scroll down for the best iPad deals in your region.

This week's best iPad deals

• Check out all the best iPad deals at Amazon
• Check out all the best iPad deals at John Lewis
• Check out all the best iPad deals at Currys
• Want the best deals this year? check out Amazon Prime Day 2020 

If you're still on the hunt, head on over to our best iPad deals page, where not only are we checking out the whole range of models, but every retailer in the US and UK. Our cheapest Samsung tablet prices article is also a great resource to check out if you're not dead set on an Apple sale this week.

If you search for a GIF on the web then chances are that you're going to come across Giphy very early on in that search. Now the huge GIF library has been bought by Facebook for a cool $400 million (roughly £330m / AU$625m).

Facebook says the Giphy team will now work as part of Instagram, so you can expect GIF-finding in the social media app to become slicker than ever. It looks as though the Giphy site and apps will remain as they are, at least for now.

"Giphy, a leader in visual expression and creation, is joining the Facebook company today as part of the Instagram team," writes Facebook's Vishal Shah in a blog post.

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"Giphy makes everyday conversations more entertaining, and so we plan to further integrate their GIF library into Instagram and our other apps so that people can find just the right way to express themselves."

Just keep GIFing

It's not immediately clear what this means for various Giphy products, like the Giphy app. Facebook says users will still be able to upload GIFs to the site, and that other apps will still have access to the Giphy API.

Also mentioned in the blog post announcing the news is the fact that 50% of Giphy's traffic already comes from the "Facebook family of apps". Of course there's no better way to respond to something on Facebook or Instagram than with a GIF.

This is just the latest in a long line of app and website acquisitions from Facebook. You may remember the social networking giant bought Instagram for $1 billion back in 2012, just as it was getting popular enough to threaten Facebook.

Instagram co-founders Mike Krieger and Kevin Systrom quit in 2018, apparently over tensions with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. WhatsApp was another big purchase, in 2014 – and now the WhatsApp co-founder is warning people to delete Facebook.

• WhatsApp ads could arrive this year, and may be surprisingly personal

Germany's Bundesliga restarts on Saturday, May 16 - and it's some much needed light at the end of the tunnel for football fans all over the world. As the first major European league to resume its 2019/20 season following the Covid-19 pandemic, all eyes are now on Deutschland - we know you're as excited as we are to see quality live sport aired at the weekends just like it used to be. So, let's kick-off the German title race run-in already and explain how to live stream the Bundesliga and watch every match from anywhere.

As a quick primer, the Bundesliga is Germany's top-tier domestic football league and things are delicately poised as the fixture list resumes this May. When the coronavirus forced the league to stop play at the beginning of March, Bayern Munich sat atop the Bundesliga table but they're being hotly chased by Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig. 

Borussia Mönchengladbach also lurk dangerously, as do Bayer Leverkusen. It's safe to say that this year's Bundesliga season could well go down to the wire and there's plenty of drama left - not just for fans of German football, but for lovers of the beautiful game everywhere.

With that in mind, here's how to watch a Bundesliga live stream no matter where you are in the world, including free viewing options. Follow our guide below and you'll never miss a goal again - or pay a penny you don't have to.

• More live sport: here's where to find a UFC live stream

How to watch Bundesliga football from outside your country

If you're abroad and can't bear to miss out on the big Bundesliga restart, don't worry. While you may initially encounter a problem watching your usual domestic coverage in the form of geo-blocking, there's an easy solution to this common annoyance. 

It's called a VPN and it's a clever bit of software that relocates your device back to your country of origin - thereby allowing you to regain access to the services you normally use (and almost certainly pay for) back home.

How to watch a Bundesliga live stream in the UK

How to get a FREE Bundesliga live stream and watch online in the US

How to live stream Bundesliga soccer in Canada

How to watch the Bundesliga in Australia - live stream the restart online

How to get a FREE Bundesliga live stream in Germany

Sky Sports has the broadcast rights to the Bundesliga in Germany and it's going big on the restart, announcing that Saturday mid-afternoon fixtures for the first two weekends will be available to watch for free - both online and on TV - in Deutschland and neighbouring Austria.

This means its never been easier to watch the Bundesliga for free! Matches will be available to watch for free on German TV on the Sky Sports News HD channel, but even more conveniently online via the German Sky Sports website.

The Sky Sports News HD Bundesliga live stream is like a constant highlight reel, cutting between matches at the most opportune times so you never miss a moment of the action.

The eligible fixtures for Saturday, May 16 are:

• Borussia Dortmund vs Schalke
• TSG Hoffenheim vs Hertha BSC
• RB Leipzig vs Freiburg
• Fortuna Düsseldorf vs SC Paderborn
• FC Augsburg vs VfL Wolfsburg

Anyone from Germany currently abroad may find they can't access the streaming services they normally would at home. This is because of geo-blocking, but as we've said there's a very easy solution in the form of a VPN.

VPNs aren't foolproof, though, and content can still get blocked even if you're relocated your device back home. Based on our experience, this is the exception rather than the rule, but it's worth being aware of - and one of the main reasons we recommend ExpressVPN, as it offers 24/7 customer support to help you solve any server woes you may encounter.

Alternatively, try entering your browser's private or Incognito mode - this is often all it takes to fix remote connection issues.

European football is back this weekend and all eyes are on Germany's Bundesliga as the first top-flight continental league to restart live matches following the Covid-19 shutdown. Here's how to watch one of today's top fixtures and live stream RB Leipzig vs Freiburg online from anywhere in the world.

RB Leipzig vs Freiburg takes place at the imaginatively named Red Bull Arena stadium in Leipzig. The home side currently sit third in the Bundesliga table and are just five points off league leaders Bayern Munich, so a win here could be huge in the race to the Salatschüssel. 

Freiburg will be no pushover, however, with the Black Forest club entering the weekend in eighth place on 36 points. Just before the coronavirus shutdown, they notched an impressive 3-1 win over Union Berlin and will be hoping the restart finds them in similar form.

This is one of the tastiest Bundesliga fixtures this weekend so read on as we explain how to get a trustworthy RB Leipzig vs Freiburg live stream and watch the match online, no matter where you are in the world.

How to watch a FREE RB Leipzig vs Freiburg live stream

Sky Sports has the broadcast rights to the Bundesliga in Germany and it's going big on the restart today, announcing that mid-afternoon fixtures will be available to watch for free - both online and on TV - in Deutschland and neighbouring Austria.

This means its never been easier to get a free RB Leipzig vs Freiburg live stream - or watch any of the other 3.30pm CEST kick-offs. Matches will be available to watch for free on German TV on the Sky Sports News HD channel, but even more conveniently online via the German Sky Sports website.

The Sky Sports News HD Bundesliga live stream is like a constant highlight reel, cutting between matches at the most opportune times so you never miss a moment of the action.

As well as being able to watch RB Leipzig vs Freiburg for free online, the other games featuring are:

• Borussia Dortmund vs Schalke
• TSG Hoffenheim vs Hertha BSC
• Fortuna Düsseldorf vs SC Paderborn
• FC Augsburg vs VfL Wolfsburg

Anyone from these countries currently abroad may find they can't access the streaming services they normally would at home. This is because of geo-blocking, but there's a very easy solution in the form of a VPN...

Use a VPN to live stream RB Leipzig vs Freiburg from outside your country

If you're abroad this weekend but still want to watch coverage of the match from your home broadcaster, you'll need a VPN to do so. That's because your normal coverage will be geo-blocked. It's really easy to do and stops you having to tune in to some dodgy stream you've heard about on Reddit.

How to watch RB Leipzig vs Freiburg live in the UK 

How to watch RB Leipzig vs Freiburg: live stream for FREE in the US

• Want to watch outside of America? Discover how with the best US VPN

How to live stream RB Leipzig vs Freiburg in Canada

How to live stream RB Leipzig vs Freiburg in Australia

How to watch RB Leipzig vs Freiburg: live stream from New Zealand 

• More live sport: here's how to get a UFC live stream from anywhere

The beautiful game is back today as Germany's Bundesliga restarts its 2019/20 season and offers a glimmer of hope to football fans all over the world. Like nearly all global sport, the league ground to a halt back in March due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but now top-tier European soccer is back on the cards with some fantastic fixtures scheduled across Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Ready for kick-off? Here's how to watch every match today - either on TV or via a reliable online Bundesliga live stream.

You'll find a complete Bundesliga fixture list below, but as a quick primer, the pick of the litter looks to be Borussia Dortmund vs FC Schalke 04 at 2.30pm BST / 3.30pm CET / 9.30am ET this Saturday.

Dortmund have serious aspirations to lift the Salatschüssel this season and head into Saturday's match second in the table, just four points behind league leaders Bayern Munich. Schalke, for their part, currently sit at sixth and a strong finish to the season could propel them into European football next season.

English football fans will be particularly interested in the match, as rising Three Lions star Jadon Sancho forms part of a ferocious Dortmund attack that also features Norwegian wunderkind Erling Braut Haaland, German international Mario Götze, and Eden Hazard's younger brother, Thorgan.

American soccer fans have plenty of reason to want to tune in to the Bundesliga, too, with promosing youngsters like Josh Sargent (Werder Bremen) and Weston McKennie (Schalke) plying their trade in the Bundesliga this season alongside USMNT veterans John Brooks  (Wolfsburg) and Fabian Johnson (Borussia Mönchengladbach)

With that in mind, here's this weekend's complete German football schedule, followed by how to live stream Bundesliga on TV and watch matches online from anywhere in the world.

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Bundesliga fixtures: complete restart schedule

With no less than nine first-rate football matches set to go ahead in the Bundesliga over the coming days, we hope you can join us as we rejoice in this small slice of normality returning.

Saturday, May 16

• Borussia Dortmund vs FC Schalke 04 - 2.30pm BST / 3.30pm CEST / 9.30am ET
• FC Augsburg vs VfL Wolfsburg - 2.30pm BST / 3.30pm CEST / 9.30am ET
• Fortuna Düsseldorf vs SC Paderborn 07 - 2.30pm BST / 3.30pm CEST / 9.30am ET
• RB Leipzig vs SC Freiburg - 2.30pm BST / 3.30pm CEST / 9.30am ET
• 1899 Hoffenheim vs Hertha Berlin - 2.30pm BST / 3.30pm CEST / 9.30am ET
• Eintracht Frankfurt vs Borussia Mönchengladbach - 5.30 pm BST / 6.30pm CEST / 12.30pm ET

Sunday, May 17

• FC Köln vs Mainz 05 - 2.30pm BST / 3.30pm CEST / 9.30am ET
• FC Union Berlin vs Bayern Munich - 5pm BST / 6pm CEST / 12pm ET

Monday, May 18

• Werder Bremen vs Bayer Leverkusen - 7.30pm BST / 8.30pm CEST / 2.30pm ET

How to get a FREE Bundesliga live stream today

Sky Sports has the broadcast rights to the Bundesliga in Germany and it's going big on the restart today, announcing that mid-afternoon fixtures will be available to watch for free - both online and on TV - in Deutschland and neighbouring Austria.

This means its never been easier to get a free Dortmund vs Schalke live stream - or watch any of the other 3.30pm CEST kick-offs.

Matches will be available to watch for free on German TV on the Sky Sports News HD channel, but even more conveniently online via the German Sky Sports website. The Sky Sports News HD Bundesliga live stream is like a constant highlight reel, cutting between matches at the most opportune times so you never miss a moment of the action.

The fixtures featured are:

• Borussia Dortmund vs Schalke
• RB Leipzig vs SC Freiburg
• TSG Hoffenheim vs Hertha BSC
• Fortuna Düsseldorf vs SC Paderborn
• FC Augsburg vs VfL Wolfsburg

Anyone from these countries currently abroad may find they can't access the streaming services they normally would at home. This is because of geo-blocking, but there's a very easy solution in the form of a VPN...

How to watch the Bundesliga from outside your country

If you're abroad and can't bear to miss out on the big Bundesliga restart, don't worry. While you may initially encounter a problem watching your usual domestic coverage in the form of geo-blocking, there's an easy solution to this common annoyance. 

It's called a VPN and it's a clever bit of software that relocates your device back to your country of origin - thereby allowing you to regain access to the services you normally use (and almost certainly pay for) back home.

How to watch the Bundesliga live in the UK

If you're out of the UK or Ireland but have subscribed to a streaming service you want to access from abroad, remember you can always use a VPN to enjoy all the content you've already paid for back home.

How to watch a FREE Bundesliga live stream in the US

Watch the Bundesliga: live stream the soccer in Canada

How to watch the Bundesliga in Australia on TV or online

Well...the big names of broadband have got very competitive when it comes to internet and TV packages! Virgin's been giving its A-game for weeks now and BT looks to now be stepping up its offers to match.

Knocking a fiver a month off the cost of its Entertainment and Fibre 1 plan, BT's best value offer is looking its strongest in a very long time - maybe even ever! Now down to £33.99, BT is offering a total saving of £120.

Then, in typical BT fashion, there is also a Mastercard up for grabs here worth £80. With that taken into account, the monthly cost effectively drops down to £30.65 making this one of the best broadband deals out there.

So what are you getting for that amount? BT offers fibre speeds averaging 50Mb and on the TV side of things, you get Now's TV Entertainment pass. That includes Sky Atlantic, Sky one, over 300 box sets and a whole lot more.

• See the rest of the broadband and TV deals currently available

BT's brand new broadband deal in full:

What is a BT Reward Card?

The Reward Card that BT sends out is a pre-paid credit card that you can use anywhere that accepts Mastercard. In short, that's around a million shops, cafes and restaurants around the world, so you shouldn't find it difficult to find places to spend, spend, spend.

It's an old-fashioned chip and pin card, rather than contactless. But do make sure that you claim your Reward Card within three months of installation, otherwise you'll lose out on all that cash.

Read more:

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Today's best broadband deals

Led by Hollywood A-listers Damien Lewis and Paul Giamatti, Billions was first released in 2016 and quickly established itself as one of the most popular shows on TV. Now, steaming along in its fifth season, there's never been a better time to dive head-first into the murky world of Axe Capital. Read on as we explain how to watch Billions season 5 online for free - stream every episode from anywhere in the world with the help of our guide.

Billions season 5 is comprised of 12 hour-long episodes, the first seven of which will air on consecutive weekends on Showtime in the US started May 3. Thereafter, the show will go a Covid-19 enforced hiatus, with the remaining five episodes set to air later in the year.

Once again, the magnetic Lewis takes center stage as Bobby 'Axe' Axlerod, the talented but ruthless head honcho of Axe Capital. Keeping him on his toes is Giamatti's Chuck Rhoades, who begins the show as US Attorney for the Southern District of New York and is hellbent on proving that Axe's hedge fund success isn't solely down to good judgement. 

The supporting cast is every bit as impressive, featuring the likes of Maggie Siff (Mad Men, Sons Of Anarchy), Malin Akerman (Watchmen) and Toby Leonard Moore (Daredevil, John Wick).

Ready to get started? Read on to learn how to watch Billions season 5 online from anywhere - including for free.

• Also on Showtime: here's how to watch Homeland season 8

How to watch Billions from outside your country

It may seem unlikely, but should you find yourself abroad during these difficult times, geo-blocking will almost certainly prohibit you from accessing the streaming services you would normally use (and pay for) at home.

Fortunately, there's an easy solution. Downloading the best VPN will allow you to watch Billions season 5 online no matter where you are. This neat bit of kit changes your IP address so that you can watch all your favorite shows live or on-demand, just like you would from the comfort of your sofa. 

• Need to catch up? Here's how to watch every season of Billions 

How to watch Billions season 5 for FREE in the US

How to watch Billions season 5 online in the UK for FREE

How to watch Billions for free online in Australia

Watch Billions season 5 online in Canada

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Homeland has treated viewers to a globe-trotting, head-spinning journey over the last decade. Consigned to past seasons are questions over the loyalties of Sergeant Nicolas Brody, so superbly portrayed by Damien Lewis in the first couple of seasons of the critically-acclaimed show. In the final run, clouds of doubt hang over the head of his once lover, CIA super-spook Carrie Mathison - or Claire Danes. Read on and learn how to watch Homeland season 8 online and where to stream the critically acclaimed show no matter where you are in the world.

Also still in the frame - and we should issue a minor spoiler alert for those who haven't watched Homeland before - is Mandy Patinkin's Saul Berenson and a very well cast Costa Ronin as Russian spy Yevgeny Gromov. He was ultimately behind Carrie's lengthy spell in a gulag at the end of Homeland season 7 - and many suspect he successfully turned her. Does season 8's finale give us a satisfactory answer? You'll have to watch it to find out.

The show is an adaptation of Gideon Raff's Prisoners of War, which first aired in Israel back in 2010, while Homeland itself has won numerous awards including Emmys and Golden Globes since its release in 2011.

So once you've watched all the best Hulu shows and best Netflix movies, jump in and watch Homeland season 8 online or on TV - our guide will explain all the ways you can do this from anywhere in the world.

• More from Showtime: here's how to watch Billions

How to watch Homeland from outside your country

You can watch Homeland season 8 in a number of countries around the world, but if you find yourself stuck abroad during these difficult times, you're likely to find that geo-blocking prohibits you from accessing your usual streaming services.

There is a solution, however. Downloading a VPN will allow you to watch Homeland online no matter where you are. This neat bit of kit changes your IP address so that you can stream all your favorite shows live or on demand, just like you would from the comfort of your sofa. 

How to watch Homeland FREE: season 8 streaming in the US

How to watch Homeland season 8 free online in the UK 

How to watch Homeland season 8 for free online in Australia

Stream Homeland season 8 online and watch in Canada

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John Logan's much-loved gothic series, Penny Dreadful, is back on TV - but with a new and game-changing LA setting. All the pitch-black horror you've come to expect from the series is still there, though, so read on to find out how to watch Penny Dreadful: City of Angels online for free - stream every new episode from anywhere with the help of our guide.

The original three seasons of the British-American co-production drew upon 19th-century British and Irish gothic characters such as Dorian Gray, Dracula and Frankenstein, starring Eva Green, Reeve Carney and Timothy Dalton.

After a four year break, the show is now back with this spin-off that dispenses with Victorian-era London, and heads to west coast America in the 1930s, drawing on Mexican folklore and the social tension of the times as its main inspirations.

City of Angels revolves around a grisly murder that shocks pre-WW2 LA , with Detective Tiago Vega (Daniel Zovatto) and his partner Lewis Michener (Nathan Lane) tasked with solving the crime.

The show co-stars stars Game of Thrones’ Natalie Dormer as a demonic force who is set to battle Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’s Lorenza Izzo as Santa Muerte, 

The Victorian-era Penny Dreadful Was one of the most critically acclaimed shows of recent years, so expectations are high for this La La Land reboot. Keep reading to find out how to watch Penny Dreadful: City of Angels online wherever you are.

• Don't miss it: here's how to watch Normal People

Watch Penny Dreadful online from outside your country

If you find yourself away from home abroad during the lockdown and want to watch thIs dark new drama, then make sure not to let geo-blocks ruin your fun. 

If you’re in a country where your domestic TV service isn’t available, utilizing the best VPN will allow you to watch Penny Dreadful: City of Angels online no matter where you’re situated. This simple piece of software changes your IP address, so you can access each episode live or catch-up with the series, just as if you were at home.

How to watch Penny Dreadful online for FREE in the US 

• Binge on the best TV with our guide to TV streaming services for cord cutters

How to watch Penny Dreadful: City of Angels online in the UK 

How to watch Penny Dreadful: City of Angels online in Canada

How to watch Penny Dreadful: City of Angels online in Australia

Where can I watch old episodes of Penny Dreadful?

If you're a bit behind on the show, the good news is that the first three seasons are are available on a number of on demand services.

US: Hulu subscribers get access to all three previous seasons on demand. If you're new to the show, Netflix also has access to the first three seasons available on demand.

Canada: As with City of Angels, Crave is the place to head to if you want to watch the preceding three seasons set in Victorian London, which has all previous episodes available on demand for subscribers.

UK: All past episodes are available in the UK via Sky’s no-strings-attached streaming service Now TV, which is currently offering a free 7-day trial.

Everywhere else: If you can't find on-demand access to old Penny Dreadful episodes where you are, there's always a VPN. Simply switch your location back to your country of origin, and you'll be able to binge the last three seasons of Penny Dreadful using your favorite service just as you would back home. 

The OnePlus 8T is the next smartphone we're expecting from OnePlus, following the OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro, which were released in April. We haven't heard that much about the 8T phones – there's also likely to be an 8T Pro – yet, but we're expecting the leaks and rumors to start coming very soon.

Until recently OnePlus was known for releasing 'flagship-killer' phones that rivaled top-end handsets in everything but price. Since the OnePlus 7 phones, however, handsets from the company are now looking increasingly premium in terms of price, as well as specs.

The 'T' range of OnePlus phones tend to be incremental upgrades on that year's non-T handsets, adding in more recent tech but not exactly re-inventing the brand. We'd expect that to be the case with the OnePlus 8T phones, with OnePlus tweaking and improving the OnePlus 8 devices without overhauling them.

We say 'we'd expect' since, as mentioned, we haven't heard much about the phones at all just yet. Before the inevitable cascade of leaks and news begins, we've come up with a list of what we're hoping to see in the 8T phones.

Cut to the chase

• What is it: An incremental update on the OnePlus 8
• When is it out: Around the end of 2020
• How much will it cost: At least $699 / £599 (around AU$1,100)

OnePlus 8T release date and price

We haven't heard any official or even rumored pricing or release information for the OnePlus 8T yet, but that doesn't mean we know nothing, as we can look at past releases to predict when the new phone/phones will launch, and what they'll cost.

The OnePlus 7T phones were announced in September 2019, but the OnePlus 6T was launched in November 2018, so we can't be sure about a launch month, but it seems the release will be towards the end of this year.

That's quite a wide potential release window, and given that the Covid-19 pandemic has affected smartphone and other tech supply chains, we could see the OnePlus 8T announced right at the end of that window. It's also worth pointing out that OnePlus has always asserted the 'T' model is never guaranteed, but it's been consistently released so far.

In terms of price, that's another question mark, but we'd expect it to launch at the same price as, or just a little more than, the OnePlus 8. That phone cost $699 / £599 (roughly AU$1,100) for its most affordable version, and the OnePlus 8 Pro started at $899 / £799 (around AU$1,500), so we could see the OnePlus 8T Pro arrive at around that price.

We don't know if the OnePlus 8T will come to Australia, as the OnePlus 8 hasn't at the time of writing, but the company has said it plans to release the OnePlus 8 there at some stage, and it has released phones in Australia in the past.

OnePlus 8T news, rumors and leaks

The key thing we don't know about the OnePlus 8T at this point is what chipset it will have. 

While the OnePlus 7T used the Snapdragon 855 Plus chipset, a slightly better version of the Snapdragon 855 that the OnePlus 7 used, rumors suggest there will be no Snapdragon 865 Plus chipset – therefore the OnePlus 8T might use the same Snapdragon 865 that's in the OnePlus 8 models.

That's a rumor that affects the whole phones industry, not just OnePlus phones, but the 8T series are perhaps the most high-profile upcoming phones affected.

OnePlus 8T: what we want to see

Here's our wish-list for improvements we want the OnePlus 8T to make over this year's non-T devices, and other phones in general, based on the current OnePlus devices and the phones the 8T series will be competing with.

An affordable variant

The OnePlus 7 was arguably the last truly 'affordable' OnePlus phone, and price creep in the last few years has resulted in the phones coming closer to flagships from the likes of Apple and Samsung in terms of cost.

That means OnePlus fans who don't want to break the bank have been left out in the cold a bit. We'd like to see OnePlus launch a phone that costs a lot less than its current models, but without sacrificing too much in terms of specs and features.

It's been rumored for a while that the company actually is doing just that, and the OnePlus Z, which could also be called the OnePlus 8 Lite, is the rumored handset that will address this pricing issue. Could it actually be a OnePlus 8T Lite instead?

A telephoto lens

The OnePlus 8 had a glaring absence in its camera department, in the lack of a telephoto lens – in fact, the non-Pro OnePlus phones consistently miss out on the zoom-photography tech.

OnePlus appears to think that people prefer ultra-wide and macro lenses to telephoto, but we'd disagree. The ability to take a good picture from far away, or choose your own framing without having to physically move, can be as useful as those other options, and arguable more so.

If OnePlus wants to seriously compete with its close rival Oppo (which puts out rather similar phones, and is owned by the same parent company) it's going to have to contend with Oppo's camera tech.

Oppo puts out arguably superior camera phones, thanks in part to its bespoke zoom technology (the Oppo Reno 10x Zoom was literally named after this tech), and in order to compete, OnePlus needs to take its phones' camera specs seriously.

Wireless charging in all models

One of the surprise features of the OnePlus 8 Pro was wireless charging – the company had previously foregone this feature, and the OnePlus 8 Pro was its first phone to come with it.

The OnePlus 8 didn't though, and we'd argue that as wireless charging pads find there way into more and more homes, it's about time that non-Pro OnePlus phones got the tech too.

If OnePlus still wanted to preserve some distinction between the 'basic' and Pro phones, it could have the latter support faster wireless charging, but we'd still like to see some wireless capability in the OnePlus 8T.

A pop-up camera in the Pro

The OnePlus 7 Pro and 7T Pro both housed their front-facing cameras in pop-up modules that were hidden away when you weren't using them – this ensured the phones had unbroken, full-body screens, and gave the devices a novelty factor too.

This feature was ditched for the OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro, however, with both phones have 'punch-hole' cutouts in the screen instead. 

This change is understandable – pop-up mechanisms take up a lot of internal space, and are more prone to breaking than non-moving parts, but pop-ups are also pretty cool, and allow the screen to remain unbroken by cut-outs.

We'd love the OnePlus 8T Pro to bring the pop-up back, and give us back that that full-screen experience – even if it meant making the phone a little heavier or thicker.

120Hz refresh rates all around

The OnePlus 8 Pro had a screen with a 120Hz maximum refresh rate, twice that of the 'standard' 60Hz typically found on phones. Higher refresh rates mean a smoother experience when navigating menus, and many flagships in 2020 use the tech.

The OnePlus 8 didn't have a 120Hz screen though, instead packing the same 90Hz that the OnePlus 7T phones and OnePlus 7 Pro had. This isn't the end of the world, but given that screen refresh rate is one of the key differentiating factors between smartphones in 2020, we'd like to see the tech on both devices to keep the OnePlus 8T phones competitive.

OnePlus was one of the first companies to introduce faster screen refresh rates in early 2019, and it'd be great if the company was the first to make an affordable phone with 120Hz too, to show that it's still got some of those 'flagship-killer' instincts.

• OnePlus 8 vs OnePlus 8 Pro: what's the difference?

With the official launch of Intel's 10th-generation Comet Lake-S processors, the Intel Core i5 10600K vs AMD Ryzen 5 3600 debate was inevitable. While the best processors from Intel are still considered the gold standard for the industry, AMD is slowly increasing its market share at Intel's expense – and in some ways even surpassing them. 

In the mid-range processor class, it's undeniable that the Ryzen 5 3600 isn't as "fast" as the competing Intel Core i5-9600K in terms of clock speed. But with hyper-threading technology, higher IPC (instructions per clock) performance and a lower price point, the Ryzen 5 has become a popular choice among non-OEM and budget-conscious consumers. 

With the release of the Intel Core i5-10600K, however, has Intel successfully reasserted its decades-long computing dominance, or does the Ryzen 5 continue to hold its own against the industry behemoth latest offering?

Price and availability

Intel Core i5-10600K launch price is set at $262 (around £230, AU$400), which is pretty much in line with the pricing for Intel's previous generation Core i5 chips. The Ryzen 5 3600, meanwhile, costs significantly less with a starting price of $160 (around £150, AU$245).

Now that the Comet Lake-S has officially launched, Intel's 9th generation Core i5 processors may see a price drop that put them more in line with AMD's offering, though the Core i5-9600K still comes in around $200/£245/AU$308. 

Even with that price drop though, the six-core, six-thread 9600K still comes up short against the six-core, 12-thread Ryzen 5 3600. How does the Ryzen 5 3600 compare to Intel's latest offering though? 

Specifications

The biggest change for the Core i5 10600K over its predecessor is hyperthreading. The 10600K is a six-core, 12-thread processor with a listed base clock speed of up to 4.1GHz, boostable to a maximum single-core turbo frequency of 4.8GHz.

It comes unlocked, so it can be overclocked, and includes an integrated Intel UHD 630 GPU. Its Thermal Design Power (TDP) comes in at 125W, 30Ws higher than its predecessor. It supports 16 PCIe 3.0 lanes, up to 128GB of dual-channel, non-ECC DDR4-2933 RAM, and has an L3 cache size of 12MB.

The AMD Ryzen 5 3600, meanwhile, also has 6 cores and 12 threads, but with a lower base clock speed of 3.6GHz. Its max turbo speed is 4.2GHz. 

It can also be overclocked but does not come with an integrated GPU. Its TDP is much lower than the Intel Core i5-10600K's, coming in at 65W, supports 20 PCIe 4.0 lanes, and up to 128GB of dual-channel ECC DDR4-3200 RAM.

The Intel Core i5-10600K requires the latest Intel LGA 1200 chipset, however, so if you're using an Intel Core i5-9600K and you're looking to upgrade to the 10600K, you'll need to purchase a brand new motherboard to go along with it. The AMD Ryzen 5 3600 uses the same AM4 socket as its predecessor, some it squeezes the last bit of useful life out of the older boards.

Performance

We haven't been able to test or benchmark the latest Intel chips, which means we have to go off what Intel has reported for the Core i7 and i9 processors in terms of performance. 

According to Intel, the desktop Comet Lake processors will provide up to 33% higher frames per second (FPS) while playing Mount and Blade II: Bannerlord over its predecessor, with up to 10% higher FPS in Player Unknown: Battlegrounds and 13% higher FPS in Monster Hunter World.

How well this translates to the Core i5 is impossible to discern, so these figures need to be taken with a grain of salt until we've had a chance to test the Core i5-10600K ourselves. If these numbers are at least in the same ballpark for the 10600K, then we can expect an improvement over the 9600K, even if it's a modest one.

So how does that stack up against the Ryzen 5 3600? Considering that it is a very popular CPU for gamers, gaming performance is going to be a crucial battleground for the two chipmakers.

• Here are the best Intel processors

Intel Core i5 10600K vs AMD Ryzen 5 3600: which is going to be the gaming CPU champion?

The AMD Ryzen 5 3600 was able to match the gaming performance of Intel's 9th generation Core i5 chips at a significantly lower price point, so how likely is it that Intel's latest mid-range Comet Lake processor can bring gamers back to the Intel fold? It is tough to say without benchmarking the chip ourselves, but there are several major hurdles that are cutting against Intel in this fight. 

While the Core i5-10600K features 4K-capable integrated graphics, expecting high-performance gaming out of an integrated GPU is a fool's errand. Most gaming consumers are going to be looking to utilize a more powerful discrete GPU for their rigs, so one of Intel's major advantages over the AMD Ryzen 5 3600 is someone moot.

What's more, the Ryzen 5 3600 matched the Core i9 9900K's performance nearly frame-for-frame so the 10% to 33% FPS improvements that Intel is promising for Comet Lake processors, while important, are likely to be tinkering on the margins when the Ryzen 5 3600 is already pumping out nearly 120 FPS on Middle Earth: Shadow of War and 101 FPS on Warhammer: Total War II. 

Assuming that the Intel Core i5 10600K performs as well as the Intel Core i9, is the difference between 100 FPS and 120 FPS worth the extra investment required to jump to the Intel 10600K? Don't forget, you'll need to buy a whole new LGA 1200 motherboard as well. 

On the high end, these kinds of performance differences might make sense, but for a gamer on a budget, those extra 20 FPS look awfully expensive, especially when your game already looks amazing - and that's assuming Intel can deliver that kind of performance bump at the Core i5 level, which still isn't certain.

At this point, it still looks very much like the AMD Ryzen 5 3600 will remain the preferred CPU for mid-range gaming rigs, so Intel has some work to do to reassert its once monolithic position. 

Memorial Day 2020 is almost here, and that means incredible deals from your favorite retailers like Lowe's, Best Buy, and Home Depot. Memorial Day sales are a fantastic opportunity to score record low prices on furniture, TVs, appliances, laptops, and so much more. 

The Memorial Day sales event typically includes huge discounts on outdoor items like grills, patio furniture, and lawn and garden essentials. You can also find bargains on mattresses, TVs, laptops, and major appliances. To help guide you through all the offers, we've put together a list of the best Memorial Day sales that are currently going on. We've also hand-picked the top standout deals from a variety of online retailers. 

We'll also tell you everything else you need to know about the Memorial Day sales event, such as the date, retailers that are participating, and what deals you can expect and from what categories.

Make sure to bookmark this page as we'll be continuously updating it with all the best deals leading up to the weekend sale event. Plus, with Amazon Prime Day sales still up in the air, this might be your last chance to score record-low prices.

The best Memorial Day sales:

• Amazon - deals on appliances and home items
• Best Buy - Memorial Day appliance sale, save on top-brand appliances
• Target - up to 25% off patio items
• Wayfair - big outdoor sale, up to 65% off
• Dell - save big on laptops, monitors, TVs, and more
• Microsoft - save on laptops, consoles, and more
• Tempur-Pedic - save up to $500 on select mattress sets
• Nectar - $399 of free accessories with every mattress
• Overstock - Memorial Day blowout, up to 70% off + free shipping
• Mattress Firm - up to 50% off top-rated brands
• Bear - 20% off sitewide + two free cloud pillows
• Casper - save 10% sitewide with code GOODSNOOZE
• Amerisleep - 30% off any mattress with code AS30
• Saatva - take $200  off orders of $1,000+
• Home Depot - save up to 40% off appliances, patio, tools and more
• Lowe's - up to 40% off appliances, patio furniture and more
• World Market - up to 40% off outdoor sale
• Best Buy - save on TVs, laptops, appliances, and more
• Zappos - save on clothing, shoes, jewelry, and more
• Nordstrom - up to 50% off savings sitewide
• Gap - 50% off shorts, tees, dresses, and more
• Dick's Sporting Goods - 25% off select Nike footwear and clothing
• Purple - free mattress protector + plush pillow with select mattresses
• Dreamcloud - $200 off any mattress + 2 free pillows
• HP - deals on laptops, desktops, printers, and more
• Lenovo - save up to 62% on select doorbusters
• Apple - save on the iPhone with select trade-in

Our best Memorial Day sale picks:

When is Memorial Day 2020? 

Memorial Day is an American federal holiday that always falls on the last Monday in May to honor the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military. This year Memorial Day is on Monday, May 25, with the long holiday weekend kicking off on Friday the 22.

When do Memorial Day sales start?

Most Memorial Day sales start the week before the actual holiday on Monday the 18, and some retailers don't start their promotions till the weekend before. All sales will last through the holiday weekend, and most will end on Memorial Day.

We'll be updating this page daily with all of the current sales so make sure to check back each day for new discounts and deals.

What are the best Memorial Day sales? 

The biggest categories discounted during Memorial Day include appliances, patio furniture, mattresses, and laptops. Because Memorial Day is the unofficial start to summer, you can find discounts on several outdoor items such as grills, patio furniture, planters, and camping equipment.

Memorial Day is also a fantastic time to find deals on mattresses with retailers like Casper and Temper-Pedic participating in sitewide sales. Home Depot and Best Buy are just a few retailers that will be discounting top-brand appliances all weekend long, and tech retailers like Dell have fantastic deals on laptops.

• You can also shop more of the best cheap 4K TV deals and sale prices and the best cheap laptop deals.
• You can also see the best Memorial Day TV sales from Best Buy.
  
  

Football is back at the highest level today as the German Revierderby kicks-off, helping to usher in the eagerly anticipated Bundesliga restart this weekend. Here's how to watch all of the action from this crucial clash - follow our guide to getting a Dortmund vs Schalke live stream, no matter where you are in the world, and you won't miss a second of the action.

Just four points behind leaders Bayern Munich, Erling Haaland's Dortmund were in rip roaring form before the enforced break and will be desperate to maintain their title challenge with a home win against their local rivals.

There's plenty on the line for Schalke, as well, who remain in the hunt for a European spot - despite having failed to win any of their last seven league matches. But the break may have benefited Schalke to some degree, as Suat Serdar, Salif Sane and Daniel Caligiuri all recovered from injuries during the lockdown.

Dortmund come into the game with a couple of doubts in midfield. Emre Can and Alex Witsel both picked up knocks in training, but of bigger concern to the home side may be how less intimidating to the opposition the empty Signal-Iduna-Park will be without its famous Yellow Wall in attendance.

It's shaping up to be a fascinating encounter - so check out our guide below and find out how to watch a Dortmund vs Schalke live stream today - and it's live now!

• More German football: read our complete Bundesliga live stream guide

How to watch a FREE Dortmund vs Schalke live stream

Sky Sports has the broadcast rights to the Bundesliga in Germany and it's going big on the restart today, announcing that mid-afternoon fixtures will be available to watch for free - both online and on TV - in Deutschland and neighbouring Austria.

This means its never been easier to get a free Dortmund vs Schalke live stream - or watch any of the other 3.30pm CEST kick-offs.

Matches will be available to watch for free on German TV on the Sky Sports News HD channel, but even more conveniently online via the German Sky Sports website. The Sky Sports News HD Bundesliga live stream is like a constant highlight reel, cutting between matches at the most opportune times so you never miss a moment of the action.

As well as being able to watch Dortmund vs Schalke for free online, the other fixtures featured are:

• RB Leipzig vs SC Freiburg
• TSG Hoffenheim vs Hertha BSC
• Fortuna Düsseldorf vs SC Paderborn
• FC Augsburg vs VfL Wolfsburg

Anyone from these countries currently abroad may find they can't access the streaming services they normally would at home. This is because of geo-blocking, but there's a very easy solution in the form of a VPN...

How to watch Dortmund vs Schalke from outside your country

But what are VPNs and how do they work? Allow us to explain.

How to stream Dortmund vs Schalke live in the UK 

How to watch Dortmund vs Schalke: FREE live stream details for the US

• These are all of the best US VPNs right now

How to watch a Dortmund vs Schalke live stream in Canada

How to live stream Dortmund vs Schalke in Australia

How to watch Borussia Dortmund vs Schalke 04: live stream from New Zealand

• More live sport: the easiest ways to watch a UFC live stream 

Lockdowns might be starting to ease, but it looks like social distancing is going to be with us for a lot longer – and it's not easy.

Thankfully, technology can help, and not always in the most obvious ways. Some companies are already developing apps and devices to make it easier to steer clear of other people (whether you're at work or in public), but there are also lots of tools already available that you can use to keep yourself and others safe.

Working out

If you’re used to getting together with a gym buddy, tennis partner or running club, working out solo just isn't the same – but there are other options. Zwift has recently made some improvements to its Meetup feature, which lets you arrange a virtual run with your real-life friends. You can set a time and invite up to 100 people to join a bimble around one of the app’s virtual worlds: Innsbruck, London, New York, Richmond, Yorkshire or Watopia.

Each runner will have an avatar within the app, and will be able to chat and interact while pounding the treadmill at home.

In addition to a treadmill, all runners will need a Zwift RunPod (a small cadence sensor that attaches to your shoe) and the Zwift app. This works best on a tablet – in our experience, it’s a little fiddly on a phone, especially when you’re running and it’s hard to keep your hand steady to tap the screen.

Some sports lend themselves more readily to social distancing. It’s possible to play golf while social distancing, for example, and many courses are still open for business, but it’s not a straightforward business. You’ll need to disinfect your clubs, avoid using carts (they’re hard to clean thoroughly), keep out of locker rooms, and not touch any flags.

If that’s too much hassle, or you’d rather not take the risk, Golf Club VR is well worth a look. It’s adapted from the original Golf Club simulator, and with an HTC Vive, Oculus Rift or Valve Index VR headset, is surprisingly immersive. Some dedicated golfers have even got experimental with their VR controllers and adapted them using actual golf club shafts.

Tennis is less suited to VR, but you could use your time in isolation to work on your skills. What better way to celebrate the end of lockdown than reuniting with your friends and absolutely thrashing them at tennis?

Tennis ball launchers have been around for years, but high quality ones (meant for training rather than for playing with your dog) are usually cumbersome, heavy and difficult to manage alone.

The Slinger Bag is an alternative that can be set up by one person in a few minutes. It can hold and fire 72 balls, and is styled like a lightweight wheeled suitcase so you can easily trundle it to the court without anyone to help. There’s a telescopic tube for picking up the balls when you’re done.

Shopping

When it’s time to stock up on provisions, placing a grocery order online is perhaps the easiest option, but only if you can secure a delivery slot.

If you need to head out to the store yourself, one of the easiest ways to avoid getting too close for comfort is to take a quick look at Google’s ‘popular times’ graph (accessible through Google Search or Maps) to see when it’s likely to be quiet.

Most of the data used to create these graphs will have been gathered before lockdown started, so they won’t necessarily be entirely accurate, but they should still give you a good idea of when the queues are likely to be shortest.

At work

Working from home is the most straightforward way to keep your distance from others, but there are lots of situations where that’s just not possible. Safe Spacer is a wearable designed for workplaces where you’re going to be moving around, dodging colleagues and visitors.

If you’re about to get too close for comfort, the device will alert you with a flashing light, vibration or audio alarm. It can also log any accidental contacts between people, though no data apart from the device ID and proximity is stored.

It can be worn as a watch, on a lanyard or kept in a pocket, and because it’s waterproof, it can be easily disinfected at the end of the day. 

Safe Spacer will be available to buy later this year for $99.99 (about £80 / AU$150) each, with discounts for organizations buying a batch. One for small business owners to consider.

In the park

Safe Spacer is a great idea for workplaces, but only works if everyone is wearing one. If you’d like to talk a walk (and local rules permit it) while keeping your distance from others, Strava offers an unusual helping hand. Strava Global Heatmap shows the streets that are most popular with the app’s users (the busier, the hotter) so by plotting a route that avoids these, you’re less likely to wind up weaving around people.

As with Google's charts, the map uses data gathered over the course of several months, so doesn't necessarily reflect the way things are now, but should still give you a good guide as to the busiest and quietest streets.

Of course, there may be reasons why some of these routes are less traveled (lack of proper surfacing, for example) so it would be wise to check the lay of the land using Google Street View before heading out if you’re not familiar with the area.

It can be easy to forget about distancing when you’re enjoying some fresh air though, which is why officials in Singapore have chosen to put Boston Dynamics’ four-legged robot Spot to use patrolling parks. The robot (currently being trialled) is controlled remotely by an operator who checks how close people are standing, and plays pre-recorded messages reminding people not to get too cozy. 

It’s a neat idea, but being monitored by a robot is rather unnerving – and not too effective when the sheer novelty prompts people to gather together and take photos. A robot strutting around a park is far more interesting than anything else you're likely to see while self-isolating.

• The best webcams: everything you need for video conferencing.