18 must-have Android productivity apps

Gone are the days of a phone revolving around voice communication. These days, a mobile device is a powerful personal computer — and with the right set of tools, it can be an invaluable productivity machine.

So how do you transform your Android device from interesting gadget to indispensable assistant? We got you covered. These 18 apps are among the best functionality-expanding productivity tools available for Android today. Put them on your Android smartphone or tablet, and get ready to watch your productivity soar.

(Note that this list does not include apps already bundled in by default with the Android operating system, such as the excellent Android Voice Search and Google Now utilities.)

When you’re at your desk, it can get annoying to keep grabbing your smartphone to send texts or transfer photos. So why not just do it from your PC instead?

AirDroid makes it possible: Once you’ve installed the app on your phone or tablet, you simply pull up web.airdroid.com on your PC’s Web browser. From there, you can read and send texts, view your call logs, browse through your device’s storage, and wirelessly transfer files between your Android device and computer. AirDroid can even activate your device’s cameras and let you remotely peer through their lenses.

AirDroid works over both Wi-Fi and mobile data connections. The app itself is free to use, though some features require a $20-per-year premium subscription.

Printing from a mobile device should be easy, and with Google’s free Cloud Print application, it is.

Cloud Print works with Google’s Web-based service of the same name. A one-time setup is all it takes to connect any printers to the service; even printers that aren’t natively cloud-ready can be connected with a couple of extra steps.

The Android app lets you send any picture or document directly from your phone to a Cloud Print-connected printer. All you do is use Android’s system-wide Share command — which is available in most relevant apps — and select Cloud Print from the list of options that appears.

Stuck using an Exchange server for your work-based email? TouchDown HD is a fully featured Android Exchange client that should meet your corporate security requirements.

TouchDown HD provides an Outlook-like experience on Android, with email, contacts, calendar, and tasks in a single-screen tabbed setup. The app has its own notifications and widgets, too; even though you won’t be using Android’s native email services, you’ll still be able to get many of the same benefits. It features S/MIME encryption for sending and receiving and also supports remote wipe and data encryption.

The main TouchDown HD app is free; after 30 days, you’ll have to purchase a $20 license key in order to keep using it.

You might not realize it, but Gmail has a list-centric tasks function waiting to be used. From your Android device, an app called Tasks lets you enjoy it in style, providing easy-to-manage lists to keep your to-do items organized. You can set due dates and reminders, then check off tasks as they’re completed.

Tasks has a minimalist user interface that fits seamlessly into the Android 4.x aesthetic. It includes both home and lock screen widgets, and it syncs continually and automatically with Google’s own back end, so your data is always up to date and available regardless of what device or computer you’re using.

Tasks costs 99 cents; a free ad-supported version is also available.

As any road warrior knows, keeping track of expenses can be a pain. Expensify can ease the burden. The app provides a simple interface for tracking time, miles, receipts, and invoices on the go and generating on-demand reports as needed.

Expensify lets you scan receipts as you get them — up to 10 a month for free — then automatically pulls out the pertinent info from the images and puts it into your records. It can tap into your phone’s GPS to log miles as you drive, and it offers offline functionality for the times when you can’t get a signal.

Expensify is free, though optional premium plans will lift certain usage restrictions and unlock additional features.

Going abroad? Google Translate is the companion you need. Translate makes it easy to convert text from one language to another in ways that actually make sense.

Sure, you can type in a phrase in your native tongue and have Translate move it into another language. But you can also take a snapshot of a sign, menu, or document with your phone and have Translate decipher the text. You can speak into your phone in one language and have Translate speak back in another. And you can do it all offline, too, provided you download the necessary language packs in advance.

Google Translate is free. ¿Cómo te gustan las manzanas?