- Every month, hundreds of apps are released and majority of them find their sweet spots in the nooks and crannies of the Google Play Store.
- Call it human psychology or Google's trick but most of these apps, that might be super useful, often never see the light of day and become underrated.
- Here's our picks for the best 5 Android apps that you must try in May 2026 - our latest picks for this month.
Every month, we draft a new edition of the best Android apps to try, and this is for May. Amid a growing catalog of apps on the Play Store, it is almost insane to know which apps you must try. Think about it: you walk into a restaurant where the menu contains 100 items; it will surely confuse you, even though it feels great to have 100 options to feast on. Likewise, your Play Store may have millions of apps, and not all are worth trying. In fact, some of them are extremely popular, and that is what we end up using every day.
On the other hand, a large majority of these apps are duds and of no use in the long term. This leaves us with a handful of apps that you might not know, or are underrated, or live under the shadow of a rather popular rival, meaning you might never catch sight of them. Here’s our take on these handful of apps that you must try, five at a time.
Your list of best Android apps out there – the May 2026 edition
Robokiller
Category: Spam Call Blocker
You are in the middle of a meeting and expecting an important call. The phone rings, and you scramble to attend to it only to find out it was a robocall or an automatic IVR call. This is one of the worst feelings I face and happens mostly when I am expecting a call. Yes, I can engage DND, but to be honest, there need to be additional layers to prevent such calls from slipping by.
Robokiller is the perfect spam call blocker. You can add the numbers that you blocklisted, such as your telecom company calling you for new offers. The app works in more ways than you can imagine: blocking unwanted calls and keeping your contacts on the allow list, which can save millions on a daily basis, as these calls may lead to financial losses when used otherwise. The app secures your inbox from spam texts as well, for an all-around secure usage. The app was featured in Engadget, Vice, and the New York Times, to name a few, lending gravitas to its recommendations.
Download: Robokiller
Atlas Obscura
Category: Travel Guide
If you are a travel enthusiast or someone who likes discovering new places, you’ll love Atlas Obscura. A reference to Atlas, the old geographical books that we grew up reading and admiring, Atlas Obscura packs in more than 22,000 places that are often termed “must-visit,” “lesser-known,” or something that travel enthusiasts and explorers would want to check off their list.
Each place comes with its back story, and that is what the app brings to the table. It helps you organize and create an itinerary for you to visit and explore, acting as a personal travel bucket list. Mark the progress as “Been There” to tick places you visited.
Download: Atlas Obscura
Shade
Category: Utility
You are browsing Twitter (or X) or other social media or websites while your friends are watching and suddenly come across something flashy that you don’t want others to see. Say your kids are using your phone and might end up seeing something inappropriate for their ages. That’s where Shade comes into play.
The app offers a native implementation of real-time blurring on the particular section of the screen in question. Using an AI model under the hood, the app offers exceptional content filtering that works across browsers, social media, YouTube, and so on. The app works in real-time, offers adjustable sensitivity, and has a quick setting tile that lets you enable and disable it with just a flick of the finger.
Download: Shade
Flashify
Category: Utility
We all have a flash LED on our phones that turns on and off at will. However, only a few models have the ability to actually increase or decrease the intensity or luminosity of these LED flashes, which means, without this feature, your only choice is to either turn on the flash or keep it off. Although this is okay in many ways, it isn’t always ideal.
Flashify is an app that turns your flashlight into a smart and adaptive one. Designed using Material 3, the app has a clean and modern interface, lets you switch between light and dark models, and adjusts the intensity of light levels at will. You can go for extremely high or extremely dim flashlights and anything in the middle, reading the room or the surroundings.
It has one of the most effective safety features—the ability to transmit your text into Morse code light signals. It may seem like usual light blinkers, but in Morse, you can actually convey texts, such as the emergency of something else, to a greater distance than what your voice could convey.
Download: Flashify
Cookpad Recipes
Category: Food
Food is the must-have fuel that your body needs, and there’s no second thought on this. However, unless you know how to cook well, eating becomes an expensive and often inconvenient affair for the human body because you could be stuffing your belly with unwanted outside food. With Cookpad recipes, the app gives you access to countless recipes, whether you are a beginner or a super cook. The app brings recipes ranging from vegan, gluten-free, vegetarian, non-vegetarian, etc., allowing users to find dishes based on their unique and specific preferences.
This is a place to cook anything that your mood feels like or to celebrate special occasions. Moreover, Cookpad Recipes fits people across all skill levels, ensuring we can enjoy making what we love eating.
Download: Cookpad Recipes
Wrapping up!
That’s the end of our picks for the five best Android apps that you must try this month. You can check out our previous listicles to find gemstones that are worth giving a shot, a massive departure from the usual app listings you’d find on the internet. Watch out for all future best Android app listings out there.
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