– By Jeffrey Taylor

Once again, we find ourselves confronted with the task of narrowing down the ever-growing number of Android apps. With over 1 million apps in Google Play, there’s no doubt that we’ll find some of the most powerful ways of boosting an Android device’s mobile capabilities.

At the end of 2013, I asked for my readers’ assistance in nominating apps for the list, and thanks to them, we’re here.

I approached this list with the fundamental ideology that each year’s list of the top Android apps for lawyers should encompass the gamut of apps from productivity to gaming to communication. I’m carrying this ideology forward for this most-recent list, and the full list categorizes the apps based on their use. This excerpt focuses just on the Productivity category.

For instance, apps like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn aren’t listed. Though they might be useful and have universal appeal, quite frankly, they’re not unique enough to deserve long-term mention. However, I do mention apps like Hootsuite or Plume, which are Twitter clients, because they have features that I believe promote more efficient use of the social media platform.

If I’ve reviewed an app, then you’ll see that app’s name linked like this. If I haven’t reviewed the app on this site, then you’ll see the price linked like this, ($1,000).

Now, here are my picks for Best Android Productivity Apps for Lawyers:

1. Adobe CreatePDF ($19.99) — convert documents to PDF on your Android device
2. Able2Doc (free) — convert PDF documents to MS Word documents for mobile use
3. Air Display ($9.99) — enables you to use your tablet or smartphone as another monitor
4. AirDroid (free) — transfer files to your Android device over a WiFi connection
5. Bitcasa (free+) — similar to Dropbox with unlimited storage space.
6. CamCard – Business Card Reader (free+) — scan business cards and add them to your Android contacts; tablet version here
7. CamScanner (free+) – “scan” documents with your phone and convert the picture to PDF
8. Cloud Print (free) — print documents directly from your Android device to a printer connected with your Google account.
9. de Mobo (free) — control presentations in your Chrome browser from your Android tablet or phone; utilizes a Chrome app
10. Dictadroid ($2.99) — digital voice recorder for dictation
11. DocuSign (free+) — electronically sign documents from your tablet or smartphone; send documents to others for signature
12. Drive (free) — this service offers document creation — Word Processing, Spreadsheets, Presentations, Surveys, Forms, Diagrams — and file storage for those documents and pictures.
13. Dropbox (free+) — online (cloud) file storing for syncing files between multiple devices or computers.
14. Evernote (free+) — a robust note-taking system for journal-like storage of anything you can think of.
15. ezPDF Reader ($3.99) — read, edit, annotate PDF documents on your Android tablet or smartphone.
16. Gmail (free) — easily manage email messages.
17. Google Calendar (free) — easily replaces the default Android calender and syncs across devices
18. Google Earth (free) — view pictures of the Earth, street views, and other elements
19. Google Keep (free) — similar to Evernote, but without many of the “bells”; great app for keeping simple lists, adding reminders, and clipping webpages for later.
20. Google Translate (free) — translate phrases from one language to another
21. LogMeIn ($29.99) — remotely access your desktop computer from your tablet or smartphone
22. Microsoft Remote Desktop (free) — easy to use/manage remote desktop manager; great for in-office (same network) remote desktop protocol (RDP), not so easy for outside network use
23. MightyText ($3.99) — link your tablet or desktop to your phone to make sending and reading text messages easy
24. Mint Personal Finance (free) — great for managing personal finances; similar to Quicken or Quickbooks mobile accounting
25. OfficeSuite Pro 7 ($14.99) — one of the best apps to replace Microsoft Office on an Android device.
26. QuickOffice (free) — the second best MS Office replacement, which integrates with Google Drive.
27. Papyrus (free) — take handwritten notes on your tablet or smartphone.
28. PushBullet (free) — share links, pictures, files, notes, and other items between your tablet or smartphone and your Chrome browser.
29. Quill ($1.00) — another handwriting app that’s slightly better than Papyrus.
30. RealCalc ($3.49) — scientific calculator with more advanced features than the default calculator
31. RepliGo Reader ($2.99) — a PDF reader and editor
32. Simple Date Calculator (free) — calculate the number of days between two dates and a number of other functions
33. Tasks ($0.99) — tasks manager that syncs with Google Calendar