In this month's pick of the best Android apps, we've got some gorgeous animated wallpapers to bring character to your phone, a crucial tool for freeing up storage space and an alarm that's guaranteed to get you out of bed – at all costs!
Amazon Prime Now
Amazon
Free
Amazon is one of the most popular online retailers – not only because of its vast selection of goods, but also thanks to its impressive Amazon Prime delivery scheme and membership rewards.
One of the most recent perks for Prime users is 'Amazon Prime Now': a service which offers one-hour delivery on a selection of products from amazon.com. Complete with this companion app, Prime Now lets you order the essentials, no matter what time of day or night, and get it delivered to your door within a couple of hours. This makes it perfect for last-minute gift shopping, to replace a broken gadget as quickly as possible or even an emergency morning milk and cereal delivery!
While Amazon Prime Now isn't available in every city just yet, for those cities which have it I recommend checking out the Prime Now app, which gives you a complete list of all the products which fall under the Prime Now banner. Choose something to buy, then book yourself a delivery slot for when you'll be available! For a one-hour delivery you may expect to pay a fee for such speedy service, but other delivery slots are available for same-day delivery at no extra cost.
If you're an Amazon Prime subscriber and want to get even more out of your subscription, install Amazon Prime Now and take advantage of rapid delivery to your home.
Material Islands
Jenny Hanell
Free
Material Islands is a live wallpaper selector, with a selection of different environments to pick from to replace your standard Home screen background.
Choose from sandy beaches, towering pyramids, floating icebergs and more to brighten up your background, each drawn in a 'material design' which "makes more liberal use of grid-based layouts responsive animations and transitions, padding, and depth effects such as lighting and shadows"– or, in layman's terms, a very attractive, colourful way.
You can customise Material Islands even further by telling the app which times of day you class as morning, afternoon, evening and night. This triggers visual events in your wallpaper – so when morning comes around, you'll spot the sun changing position over your island, and the colours and hues also changing to suit the mood! You can also pick a static image if you're trying to save battery life, or just like how a particular island looks during a certain time of day – although it must be said, Material Islands uses hardly any battery life at all.
If you're looking to spice up your Home screen and want to find a colourful, aesthetically pleasing backdrop, you're sure to find an island you like in this smart live wallpaper picker!
CCleaner
Piriform
Free
There's nothing worse than a full phone, with no room for more apps and games and no easy way of knowing what to remove. CCleaner is a tool most commonly found on PCs and laptops for freeing up space and clearing out junk wherever it gathers – and recently, it's made the transition to Android, making many a smartphone user jump for joy!
If you have enough free space to install another app, download CCleaner and keep it installed on your handset to stay on top of your storage space. Run CCleaner every week or two and say goodbye to your low memory warnings! You'll be able to remove empty folders, unnecessary files and redundant downloaded files at the touch of a button – without worrying about deleting anything important or causing problems on your handset.
If you're like me and constantly downloading and removing apps and games, having a quick spring-cleaning tool to hand makes a world of difference. Check it out today for your Android phone or tablet and see what kind of space it can save for you.
Shake-it alarm
SuperCommon
Free
Are you one of those people who can't get out of bed unless your alarm has been snoozed for over an hour? Do you struggle with waking up, even when your pets are howling for food and your family are stomping around the house? Shake-it Alarm might be the tool for you! Designed for people who need an extra bit of motivation in the mornings, this is one way to force yourself out of bed.
Once an alarm is set, you can choose one of a few different ways to dismiss its cries. These methods are far beyond the usual 'slide to dismiss' alarms: instead, you'll have to furiously shake your phone for an extended amount of time, or bellow at your handset as loudly as you can!
For the adventurous sleeper, you could also set the alarm to pick a random dismissal method, which means every morning you'll have to comprehend exactly what your phone is expecting from you before you can even begin dismissing the alarm.
One of the best features I've found with this app is its wake-up notifications, which give you a brief overview of the day's news and weather after you've dismissed the alarm. The art style behind the app also appeals to me: it gives a rather twisted image of a bear being forcefully tapped or shaken awake as you try to stop the alarm from ringing.
All told, it's truly devious app for people who need an extra nudge to get out of bed, or simply like waking up to a challenge!
That's it for September's selection of the very best Android apps – but be sure to come back next month for some more fantastic picks! And for more articles from our Agents directly to your inbox each month, get your name down below for the Geek Squad newsletter!