The sort of questions I continually get asked are: “What’s your favourite application at the moment? What launcher are you currently using? What wallpaper has caught your attention this week?” I’d be lying if I said that it hasn’t got a little laborious answering the same questions over and over again, so I’ve put together this roundup of the current configuration of my smartphone.
For the past few months, my go-to handset of choice has been the International variant of the Galaxy S6 Edge, which launched back in April. I love its premium build quality, its incredibly gorgeous 5.1-inch curved QHD display, its 16-megapixel rear-facing camera which works a treat in low-light conditions and its 2,600mAh non-removable battery.
Here’s what I have installed on the device and how I have it set up.
Launcher – Google Now
I’m presently using the extremely fluid official Google Now Launcher which is super easy to install. I’m a huge fan of the Nexus lineup and have owned a Nexus 4, 5 and 6 – so having the same overlay on my S6 Edge makes me feel right at home. It also gives me one-swipe access to Google Now from the home screen, which is great as I am a frequent user of the service.
Wallpaper – Ocean Delight by Sheno C
Truth be told, I’m not a huge fan of stock Android wallpapers. For this reason, my background is a minimalistic ocean-centric Material Design render that was created and uploaded to Google+ by Sheno C. The image itself is a very simple abstract sketch that looks stunning on my S6 Edge. The gradient from the sky to the ocean is clear and smooth, and the blue hue is really crisp.
Third-Party Applications – Daily Mail Online, Fenix for Twitter, Relay for Reddit, Spotify Music and WhatsApp Messenger.
- Daily Mail Online / Free – The Daily Mail Newspaper has been my primary source of world news for as long as I can remember, so it makes perfect sense that I should have its mobile client installed on my smartphone. The application automatically downloads the top stories for offline reading, which is great for when I’m on the Underground or anywhere with no signal.
- Fenix for Twitter / $5.49 – Fenix is by far my favourite third-party Twitter client. It’s jam-packed with all the latest and greatest functionality, including the ability to: view conversations in an easy to read layout, preview images on your timeline and open links using an internal browser. Not a day goes by when I don’t use this app. It really is awesome.
- Relay for Reddit / Free – Relay has been my preferred Reddit client for over a year now. It’s cleaner and smoother than most of the competition out there. Whatsmore, its baked-in animations, quick image previews and themes present an exceptionally fluid and personal browsing experience. It even has a comprehensive set of Moderator features, which are ideal for keeping spam out of the subreddits you manage.
- Spotify Music / Free – Music consumes a large part of my day and Spotify enables me to access albums from my favourite artists for a fixed monthly fee. There’s even offline playback, which is splendid for my daily commute to work, and the recently-implemented Chromecast compatibility makes it the ultimate party companion.
- WhatsApp Messenger / Free – This is the very first application I install on all of my smartphones. I can’t stress how amazing WhatsApp is. I use it on a daily basis to stay in contact with family, friends and colleagues. Furthermore, WhatsApp Web enables me to respond to messages from my laptop without having to take my handset out of my pocket.
Accessories – dBrand Skin
As with any smartphone, protection is key. No matter how rugged and durable the manufacturer claims the unit is, it’s always better to have an extra layer of protection. Sometimes they can even improve the appearance of the device. Since I got my hands on the Galaxy S6 Edge, I have had the Matte Black dBrand skin applied, and it has done a great job of keeping the handset clean.
So there you have it, folks. That’s how I’ve had my smartphone setup for a while now. What launcher and wallpaper are you using on your phone? What are some of your must-have applications and accessories? Be sure to let us know in the comments section below.
