android apps

For all you music techies heading to Coachella this April, start downloading! Although Coachella hasn't released its official 2013 app (yet), we found four others to consider that'll have you dancing well into the desert night. Including everything from lineups to live updates, there's nothing you won't miss. Check out which app is right for you — just don't forget your charger!

• Stagecraft: 2013 — Stagecraft's goal is to help you make the most of your music-festival experience. First, start by customizing your schedule so you can hop stages like a pro, then set alarms so you don't forget which band's up next. Live updates will let you know about any important changes, while artist biographies and genres will help you make informed decisions without requiring a cellular or WiFi connection.
• ShowScoop — This app brings social media specifically to the concert scene. Download it to rate concerts, share photos, and read reviews so you never waste your money or risk a Coachella mishap.
• MyCoachella.com — MyCoachella.com is dedicated to covering the desert music scene; Coachella and the Stagecoach country music festival included. Get live blog updates, photos, video, and lineups.
• Coachella 2013 Insider — First, search the lineup. Then set up your schedule. When that's all squared away, check out the site map, Craigslist updates, and the forum. Don't worry about getting lost on the scene; the maps and your favorites are all accessible without an Internet connection.

Whether you're putting up a sublet on Craigslist or selling your old sneaks on eBay, temporary phone numbers are a great way to contact strangers (or vice versa) without having to give up your real digits. Disposable numbers add that extra layer of privacy when communication is necessary, but email just won't do.

These apps offer a wide array of services for short-lived numbers, including SMS, voice calling, recording, and voicemail, among others. Keep in mind that most temp numbers can't make calls to 911 or other emergency services, and do not support SMS. But if you're just looking for a safe, secure line, these temporary number apps will help you stay sleuthy.

The check-in app Foursquare released an update for iOS and Android (free) today that puts four years worth of data to work on behalf of its burrito-craving, brunch-hunting users.

Since 2009, the location-based social network has encouraged people to broadcast where they are in real time. Three billion check-ins later, Foursquare has revamped its search and exploration functions to better recommend where you should go next.

So what's new in version 6.0? The app is smarter about the places you're familiar with — and the ones you're just visiting. After touching down in a new city, Foursquare summarizes the most popular sights and attractions as soon as you open the app. If it sees that you're in a neighborhood you frequent, the app shows you recently opened spots or nearby places on your to-do list.

Foursquare's core features are now more prominent than ever, too: the check-in button is fixed to the bottom of the app's landing screen and the search bar has been moved to the top.

Friends who aren't on the Foursquare train often ask: is it Yelp, Facebook, or Twitter? The check-in app is a hard one to peg down, and the best answer is that it's a little bit of everything. It has a rating and recommendation system like Yelp (although it's not as overwhelming), a social component like Facebook, and the real-time, instantaneous feel of Twitter. But the new personalized location-based features of Foursquare 6.0 might put the app in a league of its own.

The GIF-friendly blogging platform Tumblr gave their Android app (free) a fresh new interface with smooth transitions and bouncy icons.

The new update puts a fixed "create post" button at the bottom right of the screen. If inspiration strikes while you're scrolling through your dashboard feed, tap the compose button to create a video, chat, link quote, photo, or text post.

Tumblr has put an increasing amount of attention on mobile within the past year. The blogging network launched a dedicated photo app and a long-awaited iPad app. Download the pretty new app for Android devices — and don't forget to follow POPSUGAR Tech on Tumblr!

It doesn't matter whether you have an iPhone, Android, Windows Phone, or BlackBerry — without apps, our smartphones would be a lot less, well, smart.

With hundreds of thousands of mobile apps out there, it's impossible to get to know them all, which is why we're reaching out to YOU, our readers, to find out what hidden gems are on your home screens and which apps you cannot live without.

Take a screenshot of your phone's home screen, upload the shot to Instagram, and add the #POPSUGARTech hashtag to your caption. Tell us what kind of device you're using (iPhone? Galaxy Nexus? Nokia?), and why the apps on your phone are so download-worthy. We'll grab our favorites and showcase them on our homepage all month long.

So what are you waiting for? Submit your home sweet home screen right now! And don't forget to follow @popsugartech on Instagram.

Google+'s app updates for iOS and Android are right on trend, with more photo-centric features than ever before.

Powerful photo-editing tools from the desktop/mobile application Snapseed, which Google acquired last Fall, are now built into the Google+ iOS app for iPhone and iPad. In addition to selecting filters for their photos, users can adjust saturation, contrast, brightness, filter strength, and more, before sharing the images with their circles.

Google+ hasn't added photo-editing functionality for Android users yet, but the Android app did get a redesigned stream today that puts more social features up front and gives image galleries more visibility.

The +1, reshare, and comment buttons are now more accessible at the bottom of a post. Instead of cropped image previews, the entire photo will be displayed. When a gallery is posted, users can now swipe through the entire album from the stream.

Both the iOS and Android apps have a new profile design that reflects the recently introduced large-and-in-charge cover photo size.

While the new photo tools and updated stream are certainly an improvement over the existing app, Google+ is still trailing behind Facebook and Twitter, which have already introduced similar features. But with Google+'s more prominent role in other Google services, like search, Gmail, Drive, and even non-Google sites like Zagat, it might be only a matter of time before online users feel compelled to sign up for the company's social platform.

Do you use Google+? Will the latest update draw more users to the social network?

Without seeing someone's facial expressions or gestures, there's a lot that gets lost over text, which is why modern mavens turn to emoticons to express what words can't.

Path (free for iOS and Android), the mobile-based "intimate social network," released a major update that takes the art of Emoji conversation a step further, with a private messaging feature that supports a brand-new language called Stickers, voice, location, photo, video, and other multimedia.

Stickers are "pieces of art to be used in messaging," according to Path. Like the coffee-wielding fox you see here, the app's stickers are larger and more animated than your typical Emoji. There are scene-based sticker packs like "Weekend" and character-based packs like this fox named "Pepper."

Path is about nurturing close, personal relationships, and the new visual language is intended to make communication over the platform more dynamic. But, more importantly, the sticker packs are a way for the company to monetize the social network without ads or charging for the app. Path 3 comes with two free packs designed in-house, and additional packs created by artists like David Lanham, Hugh McLeod, and Richard Perez can be purchased in-app for about $2.

Are stickers the Emoji of the future? Get the update and let us know if you think Path's new visual language will "stick" around.