The 13 best free Android apps

08. Fontest (opens in new tab)

best free android apps for designers

Get a sneak preview of how your fonts will look on Android

Fontest is a developer and typography tool that helps you quickly preview how your favorite fonts are rendered on Android. Includes six high quality free fonts.

09. TED (opens in new tab)

Haven't heard of TED? Where have you been hiding? The conferences – known for sharing the views of some of the world's most fascinating people – are an inspiration. And using your Android device you can watch them with this app. An absolute must.

10. Pattrn (opens in new tab)

best free android apps for designers

Get your colour inspiration from Pattrn

Searching for the perfect pattern wallpaper for your GNex, Nexus 7 or other Android device? Well look no further. Pattrn is a very nice app which gives you access to a huge collection of patterns created by the COLOURlovers community. You can set wallpaper for different days of the week, keep track of your favourites and more.

11. Pixlr-o-matic (opens in new tab)

best free android apps for designers

Add that retro feel to your photographs

While it's not necessarily an app that will change your workflow or outlook on life, Pixlr-o-matic is a nice tool for adding retro effects to your images or photos. It has 100 effects, 280 overlays and almost 200 different borders – so for the grand cost of nada it's worth including in our run down of the best Android apps.

12. Colour Reference (opens in new tab)

Want an app like Kuler (no longer available on Android) but don't want to cough up the cash? Well Colour Reference could be ideal. A well thought out interface makes it easy to browse colours and develop new harmonious colour schemes for using in your site or app designs.

13. FXCamera (opens in new tab)

It’s not that hard to guess what FXCamera does – yep, that's right, it's an app for adding 'effects' to your images. And there are some nice effects on offer – from the now very popular toy camera effect to fisheye lens to Pop Art-esque posters. Again, it won't change the world, but it's a nice bit of creative fun which could lead to a surprise burst of inspiration.

Words: Tom May

This is an updated and extended version of an article that was previously published on Creative Bloq. Let us know what apps we should add in future updates in the comments box below!

Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

Join now for unlimited access

Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

The Creative Bloq team is made up of a group of design fans, and has changed and evolved since Creative Bloq began back in 2012. The current website team consists of six full-time members of staff: Editor Kerrie Hughes, Deputy Editor Rosie Hilder, Deals Editor Beren Neale, Senior News Editor Daniel Piper, Digital Arts and Design Editor Ian Dean, and Staff Writer Amelia Bamsey, as well as a roster of freelancers from around the world. The 3D World and ImagineFX magazine teams also pitch in, ensuring that content from 3D World and ImagineFX is represented on Creative Bloq.