10 best free Android apps

It's no secret that your shiny, powerful top-of-the-line Android smartphone or tablet is only as useful as the apps it runs. That's why it comes with plenty of apps built in, from a browser and text messenger to music player, calendar, email and much more.

While those apps cover the basics, most users want to do even more. That's why Google Play has more than 1.3 million apps you can download that let you do just about anything.

I know plenty of your read that number and thought of the hours it will take to find some good apps. Not to mention the expense!

It doesn't have to be overwhelming, or expensive, because I'm about to tell you the 10 best free Android apps. These will help you get the most out of your gadget without draining your bank account.

1. BATTERY DOCTOR

Does it seem like your phone or tablet's battery always dies at the most inconvenient time? It's downright frustrating, and it's happened to all of us. That's why the newly updated and redesigned Battery Doctor is such a handy tool to have.

Sure, these handy tips and tricks to save battery life help, but to pull them off, you need to know what's hogging the power.

Not only does it tell you how much juice your gadget has left, it offers dozens of power-saving tips and tricks, too. For example, it monitors your phone to see which apps are burning up your battery life. That makes it easy to get rid of or turn off power-hogging apps you don't need or use.

2. RETAILMENOT

Whether it's from coupons or promo codes, I love saving money. The RetailMeNot site is a great place to grab promo codes and now you can take the savings wherever you go with the RetailMeNot app.

It has coupons for over 130,000 physical and online stores, including grocery stores. You can save and store coupons for later, and share the savings with your friends through social media.

3. CHROME

Google Chrome is one of the Web's favorite browsers. You would think that Android gadgets would come with it by default since they're both made by the same company.

They don't, but you can still switch from Android's default browser to the Chrome app. It not only loads pages fast, it compresses data while browsing, can sync tabs with Chrome on your other gadgets and includes other handy features like voice search and gesture control. There's even incognito mode for private browsing.

4. FACEBOOK MESSENGER

In case you haven't heard, Facebook recently announced that messaging will no longer be available in the Facebook app. In order to use the messenger feature, users now need to download the standalone Facebook Messenger app.

Facebook is marketing the new Messenger app as "free texting from Facebook" and the app does look a lot like basic text messaging with some added features. You can message any of your Facebook friends using a Wi-Fi connection or your data plan.

The app also lets you send picture and video messages, similar to other mobile messaging services. One of the coolest new features, though, is its calling capabilities, which lets you actually call your Facebook friends all over the world for free using your Wi-Fi connection. That's really handy if you are overseas.

5. FLIPBOARD

Imagine being able to collect all the news, articles and feeds you read online into one gorgeous reader app. That's exactly what Flipboard allows you to do.

You can read your Facebook and Twitter streams, publications like Rolling Stone and The New York Times, and even Instapaper and Readability. This is one of the most popular and award-winning apps available.

6. KINDLE

Not everyone wants to spend money on an e-reader when they already have a computer, smartphone and/or tablet. That's fine because you don't actually need a Kindle to read e-books.

Just load up the Kindle app on your Android tablet or smartphone and the entire Amazon e-book marketplace is available. Even better, you can load the app on multiple gadgets. So when you switch from a tablet to a desktop, or your Kindle to a smartphone, you never lose your place. The Kindle app even transfers annotations and highlights you've made.

7. GOOGLE TRANSLATE

One of the biggest obstacles to travel is the language barrier. I've often wished for the universal translator from Star Trek. Amazingly, we're almost there.

The free Google Translate app can translate 80 languages. That covers the Americas, the Caribbean, Europe, much of Asia, major African dialects, the Middle East and even countries in the South Pacific like Indonesia.

The app is very versatile. You can speak, type or hand write a phrase and then choose the language to translate to. The app does require an Internet connection, so if you are traveling abroad, make sure you have a working data plan or a Wi-Fi connection. Find free Wi-Fi anywhere with this cool app.

8. YELP

Yelp is a handy user-generated guide to local restaurants and attractions. With theYelp app, you can read reviews no matter where you are. There are more than 50 million reviews on businesses across the entire world!

Find businesses based on distance from you, price, neighborhood, or what's open. Read customer reviews and download daily deals. Make restaurant reservations through OpenTable, right from the app.

9. PAPERKARMA

This app claims to get rid of your junk mail and - surprisingly - it actually works.

Whenever you receive mail you don't want, simply open PaperKarma on your smartphone and take a picture of the junk mail. The app contacts the sender for you and removes your name from its mailing list. It's really that easy.

10. POCKET

There are so many informative articles on the Web, you definitely don't have time to read them all. Coming back later usually doesn't work. It's easy to forget where you saw a certain article.

Pocket, formerly known as Read It Later, is the perfect solution. It's an add-on that allows you to save articles to read later on your computer, smartphone, tablet or e-reader.

From here on out, if you find something you want to come back to, you can save it to Pocket to read later.