Every week we cover new Android apps with Fresh Meat on Wednesday, followed by Android Gaming on Thursday and Top 10 App Updates on Friday. When Monday rolls around, we look back to see which apps were the most appealing to our audience. Read on for the five most popular Android apps from last week. These apps are ones that are most likely new and haven’t appeared in the top five list more than three times.

1. Roomi

App info: Roomi is the first mobile app to take the guesswork out of finding the right roommate:Connect with Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram to create your social profile and update roommate preferences.

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2. Flyperlink

App info: Flyperlink is a revolutionary web browser optimized for multitasking on mobile devices. Features:Link – Click on a link and select Flyperlink to open a floating web browser which shows its content.

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3. MARVEL Avengers Academy

App info: Experience the MARVEL Avengers as you’ve never seen them before! Build the ultimate Super Hero academy, and play as your favorite Avengers characters reimagined as students developing their superpowers.

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4. Laserbreak 2

App info: Laserbreak 2 is the much anticipated sequel to the very popular Laserbreak – the highly addictive and original puzzler that has hooked millions of players worldwide.

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5. Dreii

App info: Dreii is a puzzling game about skill, logic and friendship. It subtly connects players in real-time across the world, to help one another in a battle against gravity.

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Note:  To ensure that all apps receive a fair chance to make the list, we will retire any app that has made the list for three consecutive weeks.

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Kids are exposed to more than ever before with the advent of modern technology, particularly mobile devices. Monitoring exactly what our young ones have access to and making sure they stay safe online may seem like a daunting task but there are tools out there for keeping a handle on your child’s digital life.

Pumpic is one such tool. It aims to bring parental controls to your child’s Android phone or tablet and give you remote access to the important data on the monitored device. Pumpic cites usage monitoring, limit setting, adult content restrictions, and anti-bullying as possible benefits of its app and accompanying control panel. While there’s certainly a balance to be struck between the privacy of our little ones and being able to keep tabs on their activity, if you are wanting a little more control over your dependants’ digital devices, Pumpic could be a useful app to check out. (It’s important to note that the use of Pumpic is for monitoring your own children or employees only. Much more information on the terms of use can be found at Pumpic’s website.)

Let’s explore the apps features. Pumpic allows you to track over 20 different aspects of remote activity remotely. This includes call logs, SMS, location data, browser history, contacts, photos, and installed applications. If the target device is rooted, you can also get access to data from social networking and chat apps like WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Viber, Kik, Snapchat and more. Rooting comes with its own risks, but does allow you to get extra value from Pumpic if you wish to do it.

While there are a number of monitoring capabilities to gain, getting set up with Pumpic is not the most straightforward process. Firstly, you have to sign up for a Pumpic account via the web before you can start using the service. Once you have, you requires physical access to the target device as you need to download the monitoring app’s APK file and follow the in-app wizard to complete the installation process. For seasoned Android users, this may not be such a big deal but for the average parent, it may not be so easy. Pumpic does, however, offer a step-by-step tutorial as well as email support and live chat for users who are struggling. Once installed, the monitoring app is visible on the target device but cannot be uninstalled without a passcode.

Once you are set up, however, the data from the target device is almost immediately accessible. You may have to wait for all of the device’s photos to show up, but information like call logs, SMS chats and browser data was present the first time I logged into my control panel with more media- heavy data gradually filling out. The data available through the browser-based control panel is thorough hand easy to navigate through — check out Pumpic’s demo data for an accurate depiction of how this data appears.

Here you can easily view all the data gathered and take action — block specific websites or app usage, remotely lock or reboot the target device, block particular numbers for calls or SMS, and so on.

The Pumpic Mobile Monitoring control panel app — available on Google Play — is also easy to use but only shows a limited amount of data and doesn’t give you the same depth of information or control over the target device. Good for keeping an eye on the device while on the go, but you’ll mainly want to use the web-based control panel.

I can see the use of Pumpic being valuable to parents who want to set limits for their children. Being privacy conscious, being privy to all of the data on the target device makes me feel a little uncomfortable with every chat, call, website visit and photo being easily viewable. I can see why some parents may want to see this data and the positives that can stem from being able to monitor this stuff, but Pumpic is most useful in my opinion in its ability to set limits.

Being able to set a daily usage limit on a per app basis is exceptional. Want your kids to spend only 60 minutes per day on Facebook? You can limit the app to just that amount of time and cause the app to immediately close once that limit is reached. Son or daughter spending too much time on Minecraft? You can set a time limit and even allow the app to soft close (keep running after the limit expires, but become blocked once the app is closed meaning your kid’s game doesn’t get lost with the app suddenly closing).

With all this information on the target device and its user available, privacy and data security is of the upmost importance. The Pumpic site and control panel is secured by SSL and the data is stored in Pumpic’s own servers and none of the information from the target device is shared with third parties — this is important when dealing with such private information.

Pumpic charges a monthly fee for its monitoring software and there are two different plans with varying features. The basic plan costs $5.33/month based on a 12 month subscription. One, three, and six month plans are also available. The premium plan costs $7/month based on a year and gives you access to more data types including those from third-party apps. A plan grants you access to monitor one device, but if you purchase a six or twelve month plan you get 2 extra devices thrown in. Check out Pumpic’s demo site that is already populated with example data for a preview of the type of monitoring possible.

Check out Pumpic’s website for more information and to sign up for an account. Download the free Pumpic Mobile Monitoring app from Google Play.

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Huawei is a rapidly growing company, both in the US and overseas. The company recently added the value-packed Honor 5X smartphone to its line-up, but it’s also been pushing its new GX8 smartphone. The GX8 features a blend of specs that places it between the mid-range and high-end markets, like a 5.5-inch 108p display, 1.5GHz octa-core Snapdragon 616 processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage plus microSD card slot, 13-megapixel rear camera, 5-megapixel front-facing camera and a 3000mAh battery. On the software side, the Huawei GX8 is still running Android 5.1 Lollipop, placing it behind the times with software.

If you’re interested in the Huawei GX8, then you’ll be excited to hear that the device is now available through Huawei’s online store, GetHuawei.com, as well as BestBuy.com. Additionally, the GX8 is now available in select Best Buy retail stores and will launch at Newegg.com beginning tomorrow, February 9. Pricing is set at $349.99 and the device is available in Horizon Gold, Space Grey and Mystic Champagne.

Sources: GetHuawei.com, BestBuy.com

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