Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority
Android apps and games are our bread and butter, so we’re constantly investigating which ones might actually be worth your time. But as much as we like naming our own favorites, we’re always more interested in hearing what you think. That’s why, after rounding up our favorite Android apps and mobile games of 2025, we put them to a vote. In both cases, a clear winner emerged.
The apps poll was based on Andy Walker’s roundup of his favorite Android apps of 2025, a list that mixed new releases with apps he simply discovered this year. He focused on apps that might not be on your radar, and it leaned heavily toward tools that improve daily life in some way, though there were some fun choices in there, too.
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The games poll followed Nick Fernandez’s picks for the best mobile games of 2025. Between powerful flagship chips and Android gaming handhelds gaining traction, many of his favorites blurred the line between mobile and PC gaming — often because they started on PC or console. His list is well worth a read if you need a new mobile gaming fix for the remainder of the winter months, but the standout choice was hardly surprising.
Before that, though, let’s see how you voted when it came to the best Android apps of 2025.
For a poll largely built around productivity tools and other useful apps, the result was surprisingly lopsided. Androidify dominated, taking just over 40% of the vote. No other app even reached double digits, with Google Journal and Banana Browser trailing far behind. There was also a bit of love for the likes of DeepSeek and Octopi Launcher, but this was a one-horse race.
Maybe we shouldn’t be so surprised. Androidify is a silly and fun Android-themed app, and maybe that’s why it stood out to our readers. In a year packed with practical apps that solve very specific problems, Androidify was memorable in its own silly and playful way. AI hasn’t exactly been everybody’s favorite topic of late, but this is undoubtedly a win for the tech.
And as for your favorite mobile game, what else could the winner be?
This vote was a little closer than the Android apps poll, but that’s not to say it was close. Red Dead Redemption still finished comfortably ahead of the pack, taking just under 30% of the vote. And that’s despite the $40 asking price, which doesn’t seem to have deterred you. Subnautica came in a distant second with around 14%, while Persona 5: The Phantom X followed at roughly 11%.
After that, things flatten out quickly. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown and Where Winds Meet got around 8% each, while everything else clustered below that.
What likely helped Red Dead Redemption pull so far ahead is familiarity. For many readers, it’s a game they already remember as a standout on PC or console, so even the most striking of mobile-only releases was going to struggle to compete. Being able to play a title that once defined a generation of open-world games on a phone is still a novelty in itself, but we get the sense there’s more of that to come in 2026.
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