Free gems in Android

The Android Market or Play Store has loads of free applications available. But most of them are either limited in function or riddled with advertisements. But there are a few good free applications available which are as good as most paid versions and most importantly, without annoying advertisements. Given below are some them

1. Google products
All google android apps are free of charge. Most of them are well designed and apps such as gmail, maps, voice actions and google drive are the best in their respective categories.

Although not developed by Google inc, "Sky Map" is free application worth checking out. It turns your phone into a dynamic start chart. Just point your phone to the sky and it will show the names and details of stars and other heavenly bodies. The application uses the phone's magnetic and accelerometer sensors and location details to orient itself in the virtual celestial sphere. It is an open source application supported by Google.

2. Temple Run 2
The Highly addictive successor to Temple Run, is better than the first game. While keeping the same game mechanics, the developers have improved the game environments and the graphics.

3. Swiss Army Knife
Swiss Army Knife has a very useful set of tools like compass, level, ruler, unit converter, stop watch and timer. While being ad-free, due to its simple and clutter free construction, it is of a very small size- in fact, it is smaller than most standalone tools.

4. Fb Reader
Probably the best free e-book reader on Android. It supports the integration of dictionaries and has a vast searchable catalogue of e-books built into it.

5. Evernote
Evernote is an excellent note taking app. With the ability to attach recorded audio and pictures and synchronize with an online server, it is arguably the most feature packed application in its category.

 * Note : At the time of writing this post all of the above apps were free of charge and ad-free. However there is no guarantee that they will remain that way in the future.