Skip to main content

Google’s new ‘Android Excellence’ program highlights best Android apps

Google play
Ymgerman/123RF
Google is looking for new ways to promote and show off apps and games that deliver a top-quality Android experience, and to that end the company has taken the wraps off of Android Excellence, a new program aimed at showcasing those great apps.

The apps on show have to meet a number of important criteria. Not only do they have to be generally good apps, but they also have to follow Google’s Android best practices, have a great design, perform technically well under the hood, and optimize well for whatever device they’re on.

“Every day developers around the world are hard at work creating high quality apps and games on Android,” Google developer marketing head said Kacey Fahey in a blog post. “Striving to deliver amazing experiences for an ever growing diverse user base, we’ve seen a significant increase in the level of polish and quality of apps and games on Google Play.”

Initially, there’s quite a list of apps and games that make the Android Excellence cut, including the likes of Evernote, HotelTonight, Runtastic, and Riptide GO: Renegade. You can check out the full list for yourself here. Not only that, but the list will be refreshed quarterly — so you can check in every few months to see what Google considers the latest and greatest Android apps. The apps can be found on the revamped Editor’s Choice section of the Google Play Store.

It’s nice to see Google highlighting apps that perform well on Android. It’s all too easy to look for an app, only to download it and find that it’s either badly designed, or buggy and doesn’t work well on your device. Hopefully, if you download from Google’s Android Excellence list, that issue should be a thing of the past. Even if you’re not looking for a particular app, the new list should be a great way to discover something new.

Christian de Looper
Christian’s interest in technology began as a child in Australia, when he stumbled upon a computer at a garage sale that he…
Android 15 will give your phone an important new security feature
Android 15 logo on a Google Pixel 8.

Google is introducing a security feature in Android 15 to guard against "juice jacking" attacks, as reported by Android Authority, The new feature is currently being tested in the Android 15 beta.

Wondering what a "juice jacking" attack is? It describes an event where a hacker secretly sends data payloads to your device, should it have the ability to both charge and transfer data over the same USB connection. This includes most modern smartphones, and examples of hardware used for juice jacking include mobile charging stations. Should the attack be successful, hackers could compromise the device, wreak havoc, and endanger your privacy.

Read more
Have a Google Pixel 8? You’re about to get these 4 new features
A person holding the Google Pixel 8a, showing the back.

A new set of features is set to debut as part of the June Google Pixel Feature Drop. These include fresh productivity tools and enhancements. Of the latest tools, four will undoubtedly be the most popular.

If you have a Pixel 8 or Pixel 8a, you will soon be able to use Gemini Nano on your phone. Gemini Nano, Google's most efficient AI model for on-device tasks, was previously only available on the Pixel 8 Pro. To access Gemini Nano, you must enable developer options on the phone. Gemini Nano is a bit limited today, but it sets the foundation for powerful on-device AI features down the road.

Read more
Google Messages is getting a feature that could save your life
Google Messages app on a Pixel 8 Pro, showing an RCS Chat message thread.

Google has announced a new partnership with RapidSOS that could end up saving your life. This important partnership will allow Android users to message 911 emergency call centers through Rich Communication Services (RCS). This new feature will begin rolling out later this winter.

As of today, you can communicate with 911 through SMS texting, but only in select locations. It’s only available to about 53% of U.S. emergency responder call centers, and since it’s SMS only, you have all of the usual limitations that come with it.

Read more