10 Preinstalled (Stock) Apps You Must Replace For A Better Smartphone Experience

Most of us don't even bother to replace any of the stock apps that come with our phones. The end result of this is: you are often stuck with a set of inferior apps designed by the manufacturer, which are mostly buggy and less intuitive to use.

Here are some of the best free apps that you can use to replace your stock apps. This will definitely bring a positive change to the way you use smart phones.

1. Calendar: Sunrise CalendarAlmost all phones have a built-in calendar app that is very much limited to syncing your Google Calendar. They are often bare bones designed just for adding G-Cal events and getting notified. Sunrise Calendar is the most powerful alternative available. Not only you can sync your Google Calendars, MS Outlook Calendars, iCloud Calendar, MS Exchange Calendars etc., but it will also connect your calendar to many popular apps like Evernote, Wunderlist, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Trell o and Four Square. This will make it an all-around hub where you can see what is happening in your day. Additionally, it provides extra calendars such as Public Holidays, Schedule for football matches, and program schedule for your favourite TV shows too.

2. Email: Google Inbox / MS OutlookThird-party email apps has advanced so much that it feels primitive to even use the stock email apps on smartphones. If you live and die by Gmail, then Inbox is your app. But if you are a Hotmail, Live Mail or Outlook Mail user then MS Outlook Mail app is the right one. Although swipe gestures to delete or archive, schedule emails for later are available in both, Outlook provides you with a calendar and contacts tab, which makes it a complete package.

3. Browser: ChromeGoogle Chrome is the best browser on Android and does a good job on iOS too. It is fast and reliable and with recent updates it could save you precious data as well. Most importantly its PC and Mac version help you in a seamless cross-platform Web browsing experience.

4. Camera: VSCO CamStock camera app in phones such as LG G4, iPhone or Samsung Galaxy S6 are really good. But if you are not using any of those and still want a better image processing experience, VSCO Cam is your friend. Famous for its Instagram like editing and sharing features, VSCO Cam offers one of the best image processing camera apps that efficient and fast.

5. Gallery: Google PhotosYour photos represent the important movements in your life, and the last thing you want is to lose all those wonderful memories. Google Photos automatically sync your photos from phone to Google drive, so that you can access them from anywhere. It offers a free unlimited upload for pictures under 16 megapixels and videos up to 1080p resolution.

6. Notes: EvernoteEvernote is the gold standard for note taking apps. Whether its text, audio, Webpage, list, or reminders, Evernote got you covered. It also offers features like capturing b usiness cards, scanning documents and marking up images. Evernote syncs everything to its desktop and Web version of the app instantly. If you are looking for a place to dumb your thoughts and ideas, then look no further.

7. Reminders: WunderlistWunderlist is one of the best-designed apps for managing your tasks and reminders. It provides a tons of features from basic checklists, sharing list, starring the important ones, assigning tasks, multiple lists, folders, sub lists, attachments and chat with people who you have shared the list. Most importantly, it is very intuitive and available on all major platforms.

8. File Manager: DropboxGone are days of file managers, as almost all the phones and tablets don't even come with one. However, if you want to have access to your music, documents, pdfs or images all the time, then Dropbox can get you covered. You can upload the files to the cloud with the Dropbox apps on phone, PC or the Web and access them almost from anywhere. The free 2 GB plan is more than enough for the regular.

9. Weather: Yahoo WeatherYahoo Weather is a beautifully designed weather app. It gives you up to date weather info and displays great photos from Flickr that matches you location. Moreover, if you want a forecast for next day or week or any technical data like wind speed and humidity, you can find them with just a tap or two.

10. Keyboard: SwiftKeyPredictive keyboard is now an essential part of the smartphone experience. Though Google's and Apple's own keyboard apps does a good job, SwiftKey beats them all in terms of cross-platform sync and customization. You can modify the size and theme for your keyboard and you will also get your auto prediction synced between all your Android and iOS devices as well.

Source: 10 Preinstalled (Stock) Apps You Must Replace For A Better Smartphone Experience