These 5 paid Android apps are so good I'd pay for them again

I tinker a lot with Android apps, and many are open source alternatives that offer incredible daily value.

Some do a better job than popular apps in the same space, while others strip away essential features and paywall them behind a subscription.

But many free apps are more reliable, incredibly polished, and respect my privacy, and I wouldn't mind paying for them.

Material Files is the one-stop file manager that rules them all

Putting every other app to shame

I absolutely love Material Files and always recommend the app to fellow Android users. I can't stop talking about it, and for good reason.

Material Files will feel right at home for users who have dabbled with Google Files.

It has a clean Material You dynamic theme, a true-black night mode option for AMOLED screens, and meticulous attention to detail.

But Material Files is more than a simple file manager app. It has all the features you would expect from a file manager, including archiving, extracting, and viewing.

It also supports network access for FTP, SFTP, SMB (NAS Storage), and WebDAV right from the app, all while being bloat-free.

As an open source file manager, Material Files has no telemetry or tracking of any sort. It also doesn't require a cloud subscription.

You can support the developer with donations, and I have, because I want this app to keep getting better over time.

If you use Linux, you can use Material Files, a desktop Linux file manager that supports SELinux context.

Material Files is a fast, no-nonsense file manager that I install when I use a new device.

Helping with range anxiety

If you drive an EV, you will at some point experience range anxiety. It's one of the reasons I never bought an EV, but I frequently rent one for long city drives.

But without PlugShare, I would have been stranded on the road countless times. The app is more like Waze for finding EV charging stations.

It works with Android Auto and, in my opinion, is one of the most important apps to have for EV users. Even more so than Waze.

PlugShare's main superpower is its community, which helps users find the right charging stations with up-to-date reviews, pictures, and information.

After entering your vehicle model and plug type, you can use PlugShare's filter feature to find stations with compatible plugs.

The app also uses a community-maintained review system and offers additional information, such as nearby eateries or bathrooms, while you charge.

You can also get up-to-date information about chargers at these stations, such as the plug types they offer and whether they're operational.

But since I use the app often and don't mind contributing to its development, I subscribed to remove the in-app ads.

Owning or running an EV without a reliable charger finder can be stressful, and PlugShare does an excellent job of mitigating that.

NotallyX can easily replace Google Keep and deserves my money

Note-taking should be simple

NotallyX reminds me of the good old days of Google Keep, when notes were private and had no AI integration.

The app is an open source fork of the original Notally app but looks and feels exactly like Google Keep.

But unlike Keep, it has no bloat, tracking, or ads. It also supports rich text, task lists with subtasks, reminders/notifications, and attachments.

What I love is that it is completely offline, and if you want to switch from Keep, you can easily import all your data.

The app also supports daily local backups, which you can password-protect. Other features make it an easy app to pay for. Some of them include:

• PDF export support
• Biometric and PIN lock
• Customizable text size
• Customizable colors for each note

NotallyX is a minimalistic, privacy-first, open source notes app that deserves all the praise it gets. If you want to de-Google your online footprint, put NotallyX at the top of your list.

Aloha Browser's subscription unlocks incredible features and saves storage space

The Swiss knife of Android browsers

I switched from Chrome to Brave a long time ago, and even though Brave is an incredible browser, it still lacks some important features.

I gradually switched to the browser because of everything it offers. I mainly switched to Aloha for its built-in VPN feature, which everyone can use for free.

What's neat is that Aloha has a setting that lets the VPN activate only in the browser, not device-wide. But if you want it to apply to the entire device, Aloha lets you do that too via its premium tier.

I subscribed right away, and I unlocked other core features that became more important over time than the device-wide VPN.

Aloha browser can detect and download video and audio from almost any website.

I use this feature often to download videos, but the subscription also unlocked core features that take the experience to the next level. These include:

• 80+ global country VPN servers
• Exclusive fast VPN servers
• Phone-wide VPN protection
• Multi-threaded downloads
• Parallel downloads
• Archive and unarchive files
• Private folders
• Wi-Fi file sharing
• Multi-device syncing
• Customization options

Take another look at that list; Aloha includes all of these features in one app. No additional downloads or extensions are needed, which makes my life a lot simpler.

You might be wondering how, but with Aloha installed, I didn't need download managers for multi-threading and parallel downloads because the browser handles them effortlessly.

I didn't need a separate VPN app either; Aloha made me cancel my Surfshark subscription. Aloha also has a built-in media player that works like VLC, so I didn't need that app either.

So if you add it all up, I saved considerable storage space by using Aloha, since it offered the same services under one roof.

An offline authenticator app that does a better job than Google

Open source 2FA that is focused on security

Aegis Authenticator does everything Google Authenticator can do but completely offline and telemetry-free. Unlike Google Authenticator, Aegis prioritizes security and control over syncing 2FA codes to a server.

It's an essential open source app to have if you want to de-Google your digital life. Aegis doesn't require an account, tracks nothing, and keeps your codes on your device instead of a server.

This means you will never face server-side hiccups, unlike Google's offering.

You can easily import all your codes from Google, Authy, Microsoft, and other authenticator apps, so switching takes no time.

The app also offers password + biometric unlock, screen-capture prevention, and automatic backups that I can control.

But the feature I appreciate most is how it displays codes. In Aegis, you can tap to reveal codes instead of having them flash as soon as you open the app.

It's an extra security layer I never expected to appreciate. I switched to Aegis a while back and recommend trying it out for yourself.

Quality free apps are quickly making a name for themselves

Free Android apps have upped their game, and many are open source with no form of monetization. These apps prove that free apps don’t need predatory subscriptions and can still offer an incredible experience.

Supporting them via subscriptions isn't compulsory, while others accept only donations to keep development going.

I didn't hesitate to support them after using their apps extensively and getting more use out of them than 90% of apps on the Play Store.