10 of the most popular apps this week (December 12)

Welcome back to the regular series aimed at helping Android users get more from their devices. If you’re looking for some new Android apps or games check it out: we have a handful of popular new titles to get you started. What you’ll find below are some of the hottest trending apps of the last seven days (or so). We’re certain you will find something fun to play with this weekend. Let’s get to it!

Action Launcher 3

Chris Lacy has made some impressive apps that make using your smartphone pleasurable and, well, smart. His Action Launcher is one of the most popular apps on the Play Store. Now, he has totally rewritten and redone the popular launcher, and released on a whole new Play Store page as Action Launcher 3. This version is not only made for Android Lollipop, but has a sweet new feature called “Quicktheme”, which takes the colors from the image you have on the background and applies them to various things on your phone. In the picture here, you can see the Google Search bar has been turned red to match the wallpaper. It also includes the familiar Shutters and Covers from past versions. This app was just released yesterday, and already has over 500,000 downloads and a 4.2 star rating. If you want to try something new, I highly recommend this app. Note: For those who have paid for Action Launcher 2 Pro, Action Launcher 3 is a new app that you must pay separately for. For an explanation from the developer, see this post on Google+. We fully support Chris Lacy’s decision, and encourage you to support developers who work hard to bring great content to your phone. 

[pb-app-box pname=’com.actionlauncher.playstore’ name=’Action Launcher 3′ theme=’light’ lang=’en’]

Shred It!

Shred It! is an endless runner game that sets you in a “paper nature” world where you snowboard down a never-ending hill. With great looking graphics, and a different run every time, this game is sure to provide endless hours of entertainment. WIth over 10,000 downloads and a 4.1 star rating, it is worth a shred.

[pb-app-box pname=’com.emstudios.shredit’ name=’Shred It!’ theme=’light’ lang=’en’]

DeviantArt

Fans of the popular website DeviantArt will be excited to know that they have finally released an official app. The mobile app allows you to browse through the largest collection of art pieces on the web. The app features a “Today Page”, “What’s Hot”, “Undiscovered”, “Daily Deviations” and more. You can have a watch feed, post status updates, etc. If you use the website a lot, then stop reading this and download the app. Come back when you’re done, though.

[pb-app-box pname=’com.deviantart.android.damobile’ name=’DeviantArt’ theme=’light’ lang=’en’]

Game of Thrones

The ever popular TV series “Game of Thrones” now has an Android game. Following House Forrester, you get to control various members of the Forrester family and decide the choices they make, which changes the story that is told. Great-looking graphics should help make the game fun to play. It is currently $4.99, and requires at least the following specs: GPU: Adreno 300 series, Mali-T600 series, PowerVR SGX544, or Tegra 4 CPU: Dual core 1.2GHz Memory: 1GB.

[pb-app-box pname=’com.telltalegames.gameofthrones100′ name=’Game of Thrones’ theme=’light’ lang=’en’]

Runtastic Butt Trainer

Feeling like your falling behind in those workouts? Are you losing tone in your glutes? Then you should try the Runtastic Butt Trainer… Alright, I’m having a hard time taking this seriously. Runtatsic, the developer behind the popular Runtastic app, has made this app to help you work out at home to, well, you know. Looks like a great app, and is backed by a popular developer. I have nothing more to say.

[pb-app-box pname=’com.runtastic.android.butttrainer.lite’ name=’Runtastic Butt Trainer’ theme=’light’ lang=’en’]

Dumb Ways to Die 2: The Games

The very popular “Dumb Ways to Die” crew is back for a second game, and they have new characters and new ways of dying that are sure to get you rolling. This time around, it seems they have focused more on the gameplay rather than just the entertainment and advertisement value. The first game ended up having over 10,000,000 downloads, so it’s definitely worth trying this out. Download it with the widget below.

[pb-app-box pname=’air.au.com.metro.DumbWaysToDie2′ name=’Dumb Ways to Die 2: The Games’ theme=’light’ lang=’en’]

HERE Beta: Offline maps & nav

Nokia has had HERE Beta in the Play Store for a while, but they just made it publicly available in the Play Store. HERE Beta allows you to download maps offline that you can use to interact with and get navigation without a data connection. Great for those times that you’re traveling or going camping and know you won’t have data. HERE Beta also has live traffic updates that you can see, a plan before you go feature where you can explore an area and create a personalized map of things you’d like to do, and more. Check it out with the widget below.

[pb-app-box pname=’com.here.app.maps’ name=’HERE Beta: Offline maps & nav’ theme=’light’ lang=’en’]

Scrolls

Mojang, the popular developers of Minecraft, have released their long in-development mobile game Scrolls, a card and board game mix where you build an army and strategize to take over the enemy. What is neat about this game is you can play cross-platform with people on PCs and Macs. If you don’t want to play with others, you can also play solo. The game already has a 4.4 star rating on the Play Store. Check it out.

[pb-app-box pname=’com.mojang.scrolls’ name=’Scrolls’ theme=’light’ lang=’en’]

Surprise! by Amazon

Surprise! by Amazon looks to make it easier to send a gift to that loved one when you have forgotten, er, when you want to send them something simple. It reminds you when a birthday is coming up that you selected to remind you, and then allows you to customize an eCard from the app with text, photos, and more. You can even add an Amazon gift card for them to have as a gift.

[pb-app-box pname=’com.amazon.android.surprise’ name=’Surprise! by Amazon’ theme=’light’ lang=’en’]

Indiegogo

If you’re a fan of crowd-funding campaigns, you’ll be glad to know Indiegogo has released an Android app for you to browse on the go. The app allows you to browse, follow, and share campaigns through their official app. It even looks to follow Material Design guidelines, which is a nice touch.

[pb-app-box pname=’com.indiegogo.android’ name=’Indiegogo’ theme=’light’ lang=’en’]