The best new Android apps of August 2014

If you're itching for some fresh downloads this Labor Day weekend, we've gathered together the five best app releases this month in the Google Play Store. This go-around we've got a bit of photography, some productivity, and a little something from HTC and Google.

Be sure to check out our round up of the best Android games released this month if you're hankering for more.

TapPath

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TapPath is a simple and refreshingly useful app for offering multiple actions for how many times you tap a web link. For example, one tap can launch LinkBubble, two can launch into Chrome, or three can launch it to the share menu, although all of those defaults can be changed around within the app.

If you weren't entirely sold on Link Bubble, or you just want more flexibility with your mobile web browsing, TapPath has what you need.

HTC Zoe

HTC Zoe

The beta for HTC's video highlight creation and sharing app was released in the Google Play Store this month. As before, users could plop in short video clips and still images to create themed videos, and there's a baked-in social network so you can follow friends and they can follow you. Now friends can remix one anothers' creations, adding their own shots and making something even awesomererer. Though it's still early, now anyone with something other than an HTC handset can check out what's happening with Zoe.

We've got a closer look at the new Zoe app here if you want more info.

SuperBetter

SuperBetter is part task management, part game. Users plop in their personal goals, be it kicking bad habits, getting in shape, or otherwise getting stuff done. Those tasks are then framed as quests which you must complete in order to gain rewards like mental resilience and physical resilience points. Identify Bad Guys that are slowing down your progress and team up with other friends using the game for some social reinforcement. 25 expert-designed Power Packs can help you work on certain parts of your life, or you can go ahead and design your own challenges.

SuperBetter was made by Jane McGonigal, a game designer that has long advocated for using gamification to improve everyday life. If you're having trouble meeting your goals, this may be a fun way to tackling them.

Google News & Weather

Google News and Weather

Google released a new app that combines reading the daily headlines with local forecasts. Google News & Weather pulls in stories from thousands of sources and lets you hop between them for individual stories. There are a handful of widgets to pick from that let you look at news, weather, or a bit of both. The app was a preload on devices ages ago, but the latest version revamps the UI to get it up to L standard and offers wider device compatibility with a Google Play Store review.

Fragment

Fragment is a fresh photo editor with a particularly neat trick. A wide range of shaped filters distort your photo along clean, sharp lines, lending a kaleidoscopic skew to your shots. You can move and resize the fragment filter, change how it tweaks your image (such as by adding a hue, changing brightness, cranking saturation, or inverting colors). Once that's done, export the final product out to any major destination or feed it back into the app to apply another fragment on top.

If you're in the market for a new twist to your photos, Fragment will deliver.

Your favourite new Android apps?

There were a lot of Android apps released in the Google Play Store this month. Hit us up in the comments with your favourite fresh downloads.

Simon Sage
Simon has been covering mobile since before the first iPhone came out. After producing news articles, podcasts, review videos, and everything in between, he's now helping industry partners get the word about their latest products. Get in touch with him at simon@futurenet.com.