iPhone users have it easy. iMessage comes preinstalled, and it achieves more than even the best messaging apps on Android. iMessage is end-to-end encrypted, it supports SMS and it’s packed with features that range from gimmicky (Animoji) to can’t-live-without-it useful (Memoji).

The experience of one iPhone user messaging another is seamless, secure, and convenient. The same can’t be said for Android users.

If you're not tracking your habits, you're missing out on a powerful motivation tool. HabitHub is a fantastic app that can track your habits, remind you to stay on top of them and provide some great charts showing your progress.

File managers may be a dime a dozen on Android, but Solid Explorer stands out from the pack. With advanced features for managing and browsing your files, both on your phone and remotely, it's our new favourite file manager.

If you're emailing recipes to yourself, printing them out or still keeping index cards, there's a better way. Grab your Android phone, there are a ton of great recipe apps out there, but we have one we think is the right blend of features for the right price. Paprika is the app for you.

Oh, finally we can write this post. Video editors have sucked on Android for a long time. Too long. But now, Adobe Premiere Clip brings basic, easy-to-use video editing to Android. You can trim clips, mix multiple clips together, and add your own soundtrack. It's not perfect, but it's a good start.

The Gmail app isn't just for Gmail anymore. After adding support for IMAP, POP, and Exchange, plus a ton of features to manage and control your email, we recommend Gmail to manage all your email accounts -- even non-Google-y ones -- on Android.

Sharing great moments (or just snippets of your life) with friends or loved ones has never been easier, and a new class of live streaming app makes it possible for them to join you in real time. Of those apps, we think Periscope is the best today, and has the most potential for the near future.

There's no shortage of podcast managers for Android, and a lot of them are really good. We have a lot of favourites, but today we think Pocket Casts is the your option to find, download, and organise podcasts on your Android phone, as well as your other devices.

Installing apps is easy on Android. So easy that you can end up with a ton that you don't need over time. Rather than tediously paging through every app to uninstall them one by one, we recommend Easy Uninstaller. This app allows you to uninstall several apps at once, sort them by size and even clean up any junk files left behind.

Your tablet can be a great productivity tool on its own, but using it as a second screen for your computer makes it even better. For Android tablets, Splashtop is our favourite way to do this. It's cheap, touch-friendly, and it uses Wi-Fi, so you can pick it up and go.

When it comes to productivity on the go, Android has come a long way. You now have plenty of options to stay productive on your phone or tablet. While the best will cost you money, you can get respectable features for free. We think MobiSystems' OfficeSuite 8 is the best overall option for Android, but we have more options if the price tag scares you.

Google doesn't have a dedicated PC or Mac client for Android devices, but you can still manage your smartphone or tablet from a desktop with AirDroid.

It's been a while since we last looked at Android text messaging replacements. For dedicated SMS users, Handcent SMS takes the cake.

Two-factor authentication is one of the most important things you can do to protect yourself against getting your accounts hacked, and you should enable it now if you haven't already. Authy is our favourite two-factor app on the block.

Your smartphone can double up as a dictaphone. Point your handset at the speaker, and you can record meetings, lectures and interviews. Google Play has plenty of great voice recording apps, but Cogi rises to the top by recognising the core needs of recording speech better than other apps.

Reading ebooks on Android used to be just OK. Now, it's awesome. While there are plenty of sweet apps for reading books on your phone or tablet, Play Books has vastly improved over the years to become our number one choice for it's cloud sync, excellent research tools and the ability to upload your own books.

You don't switch away from your PC to your smartphone to reply to an email or an instant message, so why should a simple SMS message be any different? Thankfully, if you have an Android device, you can continue using your PC (and its full-size spacious keyboard) to read and send text messages. Our choice for this task: MightyText.

Whether your Android phone has an amazing camera or a mediocre one, there are plenty of apps at Google Play that will help you take the best possible photos with it. We think Camera ZOOM FX is the best of those options, because it packs powerful features and helps you learn to take better photographs.

Despite its unassuming name and interface, Business Calendar is -- by a good margin -- our favourite calendar app on Android. What we love most about it is its flexibility and ease of use.