As far as cloud-based applications go, the market seems to be very competitive. With the recent OneDrive controversy, users are becoming much more conscious about how and where they invest their valuable data. Pricing changes or changes in business models have started to backfire against companies pretty quickly. In other words, cloud-based applications are no longer second-class citizens on the desktop. In fact, they have become a solid business model that big companies like Google, Microsoft, and Apple heavily rely on.


Now that the cloud has become an end-user commodity rather than a product that was meant for data giants, companies are trying hard to increase the outreach of their cloud services to clients across all platforms. One such attempt is to bring more Linux users to the party by treating Linux-based desktops at the same level as their Windows and Mac counterparts. Many cloud-focused companies have already made available well-supported Linux clients for their services. This, in turn, has made Linux as a lucrative platform for people who dual boot or switch their computers a lot. That way, they can enjoy all their important files on Windows at work and Linux at home. It's a win-win situation for both parties.

Today, we will be focusing on a few such cloud-based applications that work natively on Linux without any major glitches or bugs. 

Insync

While we waxed eloquent about the cloud-based applications available on Linux right now, we would be more than glad to leave out Google's name in this case. The search giant has already angered a lot of Linux users lately over their lack of support for the penguinian desktop. While the Google Drive client seems to be well-supported on Windows, Mac, and Android, the Linux desktop has largely been ignored for more than a year.

Thankfully, some great alternatives have emerged to make sure that Linux users don't miss out on the amazing service. Insync is one such alternative. The application comes with a host of features that even the official Google Drive client doesn't offer. Features like command-line usage, Raspberry Pi usage, feed of file changes, and multiple accounts are present in this application. However, unlike Google's client, it's not free. The developers charge about a one-time $20 fee for downloading and installing the application. If you are someone who relies heavily on Google Drive and your Linux desktop, this is worth paying for.

More about Insync HERE.


Copy

Copy is an often-forgotten application in the small list of cloud-based services on this platform. What separates this app from its competitors is its focus on providing a cross-platform syncing solution with a focus on security and privacy. While it is not as secure as SpiderOak, it does, however, make security a priority. Another great thing about Copy is that it is generous when it comes to providing storage space. While Dropbox offers a meager 5 GB for starters, Copy gives you 15 GBs of storage space to begin with. Overall, it is a great backup solution if you're looking for something new and fresh.


Dropbox

Dropbox is the tried and tested solution for Linux users that has worked well in the past and continues to work well even now. It offers a stable and powerful interface that is at par with its clients on Windows and Mac. Furthermore, the support and the steady stream of updates the Linux client gets makes it a great default cloud solution for many users. Whether you are a new Linux user or a penguinian ninja, you'll have no trouble getting used to Dropbox.

More about Dropbox HERE.


SpiderOak One

These days, securing the data you store on cloud has become a number one priority for many uses. Furthermore, there is one more area where companies are a bit nebulous in their offerings towards their customers, and that is privacy. SpiderkOak is a company that plans to change that. Their service has a strong focus on keeping your data safe and secure and making sure that no one other than you can access it. By providing adequate security measures, SpiderOak is designed in such ways that not even the company's employees are allowed to access your data. The best thing about SpiderOak is that it works perfectly on Linux and can even be accessed via command line (for those terminal junkies out there).

More about SpiderOak HERE.


Written by: Abhishek, a regular TechSource contributor and a long-time FOSS advocate.

From blocked videos to annoying ads, there are many things about YouTube we don't like. These restrictions and distractions only dampen the amazing experience that the video-sharing website is meant to provide. If you are a Firefox user, however, you won't have to worry about such things. Firefox offers a variety of add-ons that let you fix pretty much any annoyance that YouTube has. Furthermore, they also let you download videos right to your desktop so that you can watch them whenever you want, even without a connection.


So, without much ado, here are some of the best Firefox add-ons that help you have a better YouTube experience. 

1-Click YouTube Video Downloader

What makes this downloading app so special is purely its simplicity. Once installed, you'll find a small button below the video you are watching. This will let you choose the quality of the video you want to download, and then once you click it, the video starts downloading automatically. The add-on supports a wide variety of major formats like MP4, FLV, WebM, 3GP thus letting you watch the video later on any device you like. While it doesn't add any fancy functions to the mix, its simplicity is the only reason, which will probably make you start using it right away. 

 DOWNLOAD HERE

Ageless for YouTube

If you are over 18 but still find it annoying that you have to sign in to watch age-restricted videos, then this next add-on is just for you. Once installed, you won't have to sign in every time you watch an age-restricted video. This is great for people who don't have a YouTube account or don't want to sign up for one. 

CleanTube

If you are someone annoyed by some of the unwanted elements on the YouTube page then this extension will come in handy. By simply a single click you can hide the comments section, the sidebar, ads, and other parts of YouTube that you find annoying. What gives this add-on the upper edge is that it lets you customize the look of your YouTube page the way you want it to. If you prefer, you can customize it till the only thing you see is your video and nothing else. It is really a great tool for minimalists. 

Managing time has become so important these days. You have a meeting at 10 am, then lunch at 2 pm, and a lot of things in between. It is hard to manage so many things in one day. Thankfully, these days we have so many time management apps that it is barely a hassle anymore. As humans, we should be grateful to the wonderful technology we have at our disposal.

Technology, in many ways, has saved us from the hassle of being late to meetings, forgetting important birthdays, and missing out on some great parties. Be it an app, a web-based service, or a nifty command-line trick, never before has time management become so easy. One of the biggest proofs of this advancement is the way our calendars have been reinvented. From simple sheets of papers that we used to hang on the walls to the omnipresent "apps" we carry with us anywhere we go, Calendar has come a long way. If you're a person who lives in their browser, however, nothing comes more handy than these calendar apps. 

So, if you are looking to ramp up your productivity this week, read on as we list some of the best calendar apps for Google Chrome:

Google Calendar

Undoubtedly the most popular web-based calendar service out there, Google Calendar's omnipresence is hard to deny. Be it a corporate meeting or a family gathering, this nifty service makes sure that punctuality will be the last thing you need to worry about. What's great about Google's calendar service is that it allows you to share your calendar with your coworkers and friends. This means that they won't have to call you up every time they want to schedule a meeting with you. They can simply add an event to a calendar and you can choose whether to accept or to deny the invite (much like Facebook events). 

Another good thing about Google Calendar is that it syncs with most of your desktop applications thus helping you access it no matter where you go. This app for Chrome, though almost identical to the web app, lets you have a quick access to the service. 

DOWNLOAD HERE

Boomerang Calendar for Gmail

While this might not be necessarily an app, it does give you some great functionality if you are someone who gets lost in a myriad of appointments and commitments to keep. Once installed, you'll be able to schedule your meetings with just one click. Whenever you get an invite, the extension goes through your schedule and checks for any available spots. If it finds any, it will let you book that spot in just one click. The add-on is pretty simple and straightforward and works quite well with Gmail. 

DOWNLOAD HERE

Zoho Calendar

Zoho Calendar is part of the Zoho suite, a well-known competitor to Google Docs. While neither as popular or as feature rich as Google Calendar, Zoho seems like a perfect choice for those who want to unshackle themselves from Google's huge ecosystem. As far as the UI goes, the app looks pretty similar to Google Calendar, almost as if it is a clone. However, the fonts and many other UI elements do a good job at reminding you that this is a different application you are using. Also, Zoho allows you to embed your calendar on any website or blog. This can be very useful for bloggers who like putting out schedules and future post announcements on their site. 

Apart from being a solid, Google Calendar alternative, Zoho makes itself stand apart from the web giant by allowing you to integrate the calendar with various CRM applications.

Memo Calendar

This app stands apart from others on this list by focusing on simplicity rather than features. Memo Calendar acts and feels much like the memo calendars we used to (or still do) hang on our walls. On each date, you can stick a small note so that it could help you remember something important that you have to do that day. Be it a birthday, a meeting, or an award show, just write it down on the memo calendar and you'll be fine. If you are looking for a simple, clean alternative to Google Calendar, this is your pick.

DOWNLOAD HERE

Sunrise Calendar

Compatible with the aforementioned Google Calendar as well as iCloud, Sunrise calendar is what Wunderlist is to a plain-old to-do list. Gorgeous design coupled with all the essential features you'd want from Google Calendar or any other calendar app, Sunrise is probably the best calendar app out there (Yes, it's even better than Google Calendar). What makes it so special is the fact that it integrates with many of the important services that have similar features built in. In other words, you don't have to open Facebook to check your distant cousin's birthday, Sunrise brings your Facebook Events and GCal events together thus removing the necessity for you to keep checking multiple sites at the same time. Much like Google Calendar, Sunrise works offline and allows you to add maps to a particular event. If you are already using Google Calendar, try this. 

DOWNLOAD HERE

Whether you are a code ninja or a budding programmer, having a good programming environment is a must. However, with the high amount of time we spend in our browsers and on our Chromebooks, finding any coding tools that are not native is a bit of a daunting task. Thankfully, Chrome with its huge repository of apps and extensions, has us covered pretty well. So, if you are looking for some great coding tools that work perfectly in your Google Chrome browser, read on as we cover the best of the lot. 

Zed Code Editor

Zed Code Editor is a nice, clean-looking code editor designed specially for Chrome. Fully capable of running offline, its dark UI makes you focus on coding and nothing else. What's great about Zed is that it allows you to edit files locally as well as the ones that are stored on your Dropbox or Github account. Zed also supports syntax highlighting for most of the popular programming languages and can complete your code thus saving you the usual typing trouble. Another unique thing about Zed is that it has no tabs, it exists in a simple Chrome window that can be navigated using the goto UI. Built using web technologies like HTML5 and CSS, Zed is probably one of the best code editors you can have not just on Chrome but on desktop as well.

 DOWNLOAD HERE

 

Code Cola 

If you are a web developer, you will love Code Cola. It is a simple little extension that allows you to edit an online page's CSS in a visual way. Once installed, you can treat the whole web as your playground as you edit pretty much any page that you find worth experimenting on. 

 DOWNLOAD HERE

Caret

Modeled on the famed Sublime Text, Caret is an offline-capable text editor with syntax highlighting capabilities. What is special about Caret is that it is a great companion for users who love their Chromebooks thanks to its syncing capabilities. You can edit a file on your home computer and then you can continue working on it whenever you're traveling. Just hook your Google account to Caret and it will let you carry on where you left off. 

 DOWNLOAD HERE

Text

What Text lacks in features, it makes up in simplicity. Though definitely not as feature rich as the other editors on the list, this one is capable enough to become your default text editor. It has a clean and simple UI and it handles opening multiple files pretty well. With syntax highlighting for most major programming languages, Text can serve as a great, lightweight companion for a budding coder. 

 DOWNLOAD HERE

Tailor

Tailor is an experimental code editor for Chrome. With support for Git, it lets you work on multiple files with full syntax highlighting enabled. Though it doesn't have as many features, it is still a very simplistic, bare-bones app that works perfectly well offline. Though still in heavy development, it will be interesting to watch out for future additions to this project.

 DOWNLOAD HERE

ShiftEdit

If you are a web developer, you'll love Shift Edit. The online IDE lets you develop in PHP, Ruby, HTML, CSS and JavaScript with full syntax highlighting. You can then publish those files through SFTP, FTP, and Dropbox to any location you want. Despite taking a freemium approach to an IDE, ShiftEdit does live up to the expectations many web developers have from a good coding tool.

 DOWNLOAD HERE

GistBox 

 
If you are a developer who spends most of your coding life on GitHub, this next app is just for you. Once installed, you'll be able to collect the useful code snippets you find on a daily basis and organize them according to a programming language, project, or goal. Another cool function of Gitbox is the ability to quickly search through your text files. Just enter your query with a # or a keyword and the results show up instantly. What stands out in Gistbox is its simple UI and easy-to-use layout that makes it a treat to work with. 

 DOWNLOAD HERE

We have already covered a lot of enterprise applications on our site before. However, one would never expect apps in this genre to exist on a browser like Google Chrome. But, nothing could be further from the real truth. Google's effort to outsmart even the biggest players in the enterprise market are gradually paying off. Slowly spreading its wings into the business world, Google is venturing into arenas where Microsoft once reigned supreme. While the competition doesn't concern us much, but what has happened, in effect, is that the rivalry is bringing out the best in both companies.

Both Microsoft and Google are trying their best to give enterprise clients exactly what they need, and for consumers, this is a huge bonus. If you are a Chrome user or a Google fan that uses the search giant's services in their company, there's much more you can do with your browser. And, the following applications and extensions let you do exactly that. So, without much ado, here's a list of the best applications and extensions for Chrome tailored for enterprise customers:

Contactually

With the ability to integrate with CRM's, Contactually helps you manage your work relationships better. The way this service works is that it prioritizes your email contacts so that you can connect with the right person at the right time. If you are into business and are looking to build a network of connections, Contactually might help you take things up a notch. Its email-centric workflow is great for anyone who uses LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook to make their work relationships easier. 

 DOWNLOAD HERE

Presentme

Presentme is a great service that lets you create personalized sales messages. Integrated with Google Drive, the app is great for creating personalized sales messages you can deliver to your prospective clients. What's nice about Presentme is that it brings everything together in a neat little place. You can manage your presentations, videos, and other stuff all in one place and focus only on the task at hand. Another great thing about Presentme is that it lets you create full presentations from scratch and then publish them instantly to your clients. This way, you get an uninterrupted workflow that helps you manage things in a much more organized way. 

 DOWNLOAD HERE

BookedIn

Whether you have a salon, a small motel, or a big restaurant, you can use BookedIn to accept bookings online. This simple application lets you create your own booking webpage where your clients could look you up and then make their bookings. With web-based scheduling and client reminders, BookedIn aims to be a one-stop solution for booking and scheduling and it does do a good job at it. 

 DOWNLOAD HERE

Nutcache

Nutcache is a free multilingual online application for invoicing and time management. If you are looking for something to help you track your invoices, multiple projects, and lost time, this app claims to handle it all. Its web-based interface works great for tracking your time on those big projects. Within the app itself, you can create unlimited invoices and estimates and then track them when they are overdue. If you are more of a budget person, Nutcache also lets you keep an eye on your expenses. One of the nice things about this app is that you can monitor your spending and then bill your clients accordingly. Overall, it is a great free app for small businesses that are looking for a simple and cheap solution.

 DOWNLOAD HERE

Insightly

Insightly is a free CRM and project management application that is targeted towards small businesses. It integrates with Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Apps as well. What's noteworthy about Insightly is how well it handles its integration with the rest of the Google services. Be it client relations or project management, this app works well on many fronts together. The web app itself has a nice, sleek look with a search bar at the top that allows you to search clients, projects and many other things. The tab-based layout then brings it all together in one place making it easier to sort things out.

DOWNLOAD HERE

Written by: Abhishek, a regular TechSource contributor and a long-time FOSS advocate.

Despite having a complete dominance over the webmail market, Google has repeatedly tried to reinvent the way email technology works. Whether it’s the defunct Google Wave or the more social Google Plus, the search giant has made numerous attempts to revolutionize this technology. However, despite its valiant efforts, email still works pretty much the same way it used to work ten years ago. Many people, despite the surge of alternative messaging platforms, haven’t been able to get rid of their beloved inbox. Furthermore, in enterprise settings, email still is the backbone of communications across various departments. In short, email is here to stay and yes, Google knows that.

That’s why, instead of reinventing email, Google is trying on a new strategy. They are trying to make your email usage more productive. Google’s latest endeavor, titled Google Inbox, is a new app by the Gmail team. Its goal is to help you use your inbox to get things done. Let’s take a look at this new app and see whether it is here to stay or turn into another axed project.


Google Inbox: What is it?

If you are a productivity fanatic, you must definitely have heard the buzzword “inbox zero.”  It’s the bragging right of individuals who aren’t that burdened by the barrage of emails that land in their inbox every day. While there are many strategies to manually achieve that coveted inbox zero, Chrome extensions being one of them, many users still find it difficult to handle their inbox effectively. This, in turn, leads to the perpetuating problem: people are being controlled by their email instead of them being in control.

Google Inbox aims to fix this issue by organizing your incoming emails into “bundles” so that you can see only the stuff that’s important and sweep away the rest. Today, your email inbox isn’t just about mails from co-workers, bosses, and friends; it also includes newsletters, promotions, purchase receipts, unsolicited spam, and much more. Thus, instead of focusing on the emails you need to reply to urgently, you end up checking a hundred different things that are irrelevant to your workflow.

By bundling your email into categories like Purchases, Updates, and more, you can quickly get to emails that matter to you the most. Another great thing about these bundles is that you can sweep away all the emails in that category by a simple click. So, let’s say you have about 100 promotional emails that you don’t even want to see, you can simply click on the double tick marks and voila, all the messages in that bundle get archived. 

Email as a To-do List

While there are some amazing To-do list software out there, Wunderlist and Todoist -- for example, Google Inbox promises to be strictly an email tool. And yes, it does live up to that promise. What Google does is that it integrates the to-do functionality into your inbox as a simple add-on feature rather than it being the showrunner. This means, by clicking the check mark you archive away all the emails you’ve worked on and then move on to the most important ones. In a way, this adheres very strongly to the GTD approach that was quite popular a few years ago. So, in a way, the To-do functionality makes it easier for you to focus on the most important things in your inbox and take away the rest.


So, Can it Replace Gmail?

Well, it is a strange question because Inbox isn’t meant to replace Gmail. Inbox is designed to take Gmail and make it into a productivity powerhouse. Whether you are buried in a barrage of promotional emails or you spend your Sundays chasing the coveted “inbox zero,” this email app will help you sort through the mess a lot quicker. It won’t write your mails, nor would it do your dishes, but it will definitely make you spend fewer hours in the “just checking my mail phase” and move you closer to a pristine neat inbox.


Conclusion

Google Inbox is definitely here to stay. It is meant to be a booster pack for your email and yes business customers are already seeing the appeal to it. While it may not replace your webmail just yet, but we won’t be surprised if it does so a couple of years down the line. 

Chrome has transformed itself from a mere browser to a full-fledged operating system. It now has apps, extensions, themes, and a complete ecosystem built around it. Developed by Google, this browser, which is based on an open-source project, has become one of the most popular products made by the search giant. In fact, combined with Android, Chrome has the potential to become a formidable force that might be able to completely unshackle users from the clutches of Microsoft.

Chrome OS on the other hand, isn't lagging behind either. Its popularity is growing in huge numbers and a more tangible proof of that is Evernote, a company that has created an app just for them. This ever-growing presence of Chrome coupled with the domination of Android is like a Google fanboy's dream come true.

Having said that, despite its soaring success, Chrome isn't as great as it used to be when it first started. What used to be a blazing fast alternative to the then-reigning Firefox has now become a bit bloated. Too many features and tracking that may drive privacy conscious people a tad crazy has pushed a few people to go back to the mighty fox. While we don't think a regular Chrome user would be able to move to another browser so easily (given the amount of services it's tied to) we think Firefox still deserves another chance. It's a browser that has stood the test of time and has matured despite the strong competition.

1. Customization: This is a big area where Firefox's new Australis revamp has managed to take the browser a couple of steps ahead of Chrome. With the new design, you can customize pretty much any area of Firefox thus making it look the way you want. Be it a download button on the toolbar or an address bar that sits alone just like you have on Chrome, Firefox lets you shape your browsing experience any way you want.

2. Privacy: Google's main revenue source is advertising. And needless to say, that worries a lot of people who are concerned about their privacy. With Google's tracking built-in, Chrome tracks your searches in the Omnibox along with the suggestions. Also, most people don't like having all their data in one place, and that's why ditching Chrome might be a good idea. Firefox, on the other hand, has a strict focus on maintaining its users' privacy and this might help soothe any frustrations you have about making the switch. 

3. Better Extensions: When it comes to extensions, Firefox still reigns supreme. What makes its extensions so good is that they fit in perfectly with the rest of the browsing experience. Also, they allow you to change or modify pretty much every aspect of your browsing experience, something you'd rarely find in Chrome. Overall, Firefox's add-ons, though many of them require a restart, are much more mature and stable as compared to those on Chrome.

4. More organized: Compared to Chrome, Firefox's browsing experience is much more organized. Firefox comes with Tab groups out of the box, which allow you to club various types of tabs together and thus reduce clutter. Think of it like virtual desktops for your browser. What's good about the feature is that it's easily accessible. Just press Ctrl+Shift+E and the browser zooms out allowing you to rearrange the tabs in groups. You can even search through your tabs in this zoomed out mode thus relieving some of the tab overload we face on a daily basis.

5. Completely open source: Last, but not the least, Firefox is completely open source. This means that you can trust on it more than any other type of software in the world. Chrome, on the other hand, is based on an open-source project called Chromium. As much as Google emphasizes the fact that it's "based on an open-source project," it's still not open-source, and many FOSS enthusiasts like us agree with the fact.

Conclusion: Firefox is not perfect. It still has some aspects wherein Chrome will beat it hands-on if there ever was a competition between the two. But if there were a war between all the browsers in the world, both Firefox and Chrome would come out on top making them the two best choices any Internet user could make.

Written by: Abhishek, a regular TechSource contributor and a long-time FOSS advocate.

YouTube is one of the best things that happened to the Internet. From the latest music videos to the full-length movies, this Google-owned website is used by millions of people around the world. What's more appealing about this site is that it has also given rise to thousands of "YouTube Stars" who have developed a full-time career out of making videos. In other words, YouTube has grown from being a mere video-sharing site to a content platform.

Having said that, one of the biggest gripes about the site is that it can only be accessed via a web browser. You have to start the browser, open the site, and wait for the video to buffer. Not so cool. Thankfully though, developers have come up with some nice apps to overcome that limitation. These apps allow the users to circumvent the web-only restriction of YouTube and watch their favorite videos on the desktop. Such apps are widely available on Windows and Mac and some of them even allow users to download the videos.

As for Ubuntu users, there are still plenty of reasons not to be disappointed. There are about half a dozen YouTube apps already available for Linux and in this article, we're bringing you a list of the best of them.

Minitube

If you hate Flash, Minitube is your best bet when it comes to watching YouTube. This fabulously designed application looks as if was meant for the desktop and desktop only. What Minitube does is that it focuses on making sure that you do everything that you'd normally do on the YouTube website on your desktop. And yes, it does live up to its expectations. One of the best features of this application is that it allows you to subscribe to channels you like without having a YouTube account.

Other features include spelling suggestions, filtering videos by date, and a full-screen mode with cursor support. One nifty addition to the software is the ability to find parts of a video that are in a series. This means that you'll be able to enjoy long movies or concerts that are uploaded in parts, without having to search around for them after every video.

To install Minitube, type in or paste the following commands in your terminal (Ctrl + Alt + T):

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nilarimogard/webupd8
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install minitube

Atraci

Atraci is an amazingly simple app that focuses more on music rather than the video themselves. If you are someone who visits YouTube just to listen to your favorite songs, this app is for you. Simply search for your favorite artist and then the song will start playing instantly. You can also watch the video if you want which is shown at the bottom left corner of the screen.

To install Atraci, simply type in or paste the following commands in your terminal (Ctrl + Alt +T):

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/atraci
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install atraci

VLC

VLC, though a general media player, can also function as a great YouTube player. All you have to do is copy the URL of the video you are watching on YouTube. Then, press Ctrl + N in the VLC main video. There, paste the video URL and wait for it as the video starts playing. Although this is not a convenient method for watching videos on YouTube, it is still a great trick for enjoying the familiar comforts of a desktop. 

  

(For the Geeks) Command line YouTube player - MPS-YouTube

If you're a geek, nerd, or a programming prodigy, a command line YouTube player will give you plenty of bragging rights. MPS-Youtube is a fabulous player that lets you search and play videos from YouTube, download them, and even view comments all using just your command line. Written in Python, the text interface is used for sifting through the videos. Then, once you've chosen the video you want to play, the software then hooks into mplayer or mpv to show you the video. Though this won't work on a full sans-X11 terminal, it will surely give you the thrills of doing the latest things in a cool old school sort of way.

To install MPS, simply paste this command in your terminal:

[sudo] pip install mps-youtube

For more information on how to use and configure the tool, check out the application's github page.

Written by: Abhishek, a regular TechSource contributor and a long-time FOSS advocate.

If you are someone who uses Microsoft Exchange a lot, then switching to Android might not have been as smooth as you imagined. Despite having great compatibility with MS Exchange out of the box, Android users still are looking for some better apps that can help them get the most out of their business emails.

That's why we have compiled a list of some of the best Android-based Email clients out there for Microsoft Exchange users. While not at the level of the original applications, these Android apps also help business users be more productive.


Nine - Exchange ActiveSync

Nine is a fabulous app that uses the Direct Push technology to sync with MS Exchange server with the help of Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync. Upon first glance, what stands out most about this app is its clean UI. Following most of Android's UI standards, Nine is probably one of the most beautiful business apps out there. Once installed, Nine gives you a full suite applications: email, calendar, contacts, and even notes. All of the data is synced to the server, including notes and sms. Moreover, there are also all the essential widgets you need to get a quick glance at your important stuff. Overall, a good clean application for all your business communication needs. 

DOWNLOAD HERE

MailWise Email Client for Exchange +

MailWise is an application that helps to address the problem many users face with long conversation threads. Once installed, you will find clean, card-like conversation threads that are easy to navigate and reply to. Among other features, MailWise also acts as a full-fledged Exchange application bringing most of the good stuff from the desktop to your phone. Much like the aforementioned Nine, MailWise too comes with a really good-looking UI. The best part though, about this app is that it is completely free without any ads whatsoever. 

CloudMagic

If you are looking for a good consolidated solution for all your email needs and not just Exchange, CloudMagic is a great app to try. Clean, simple, and easy to use, CloudMagic brings all your mailboxes together, including your MS Exchange inbox. This is very useful for people who have a couple of personal accounts and another business account. Once installed, CloudMagic will let you access all of them (or more) without having to switch apps. Definitely worth a try even if you are not an MS Exchange user. 

BlueMail

Similar to the aforementioned CloudMagic, BlueMail too helps you consolidate all your inboxes in one place. What's great about this app is its intuitive UI. With just one swipe across the screen you can either delete or archive a message. Another good feature is the thread view that allows you to view your emails as conversations, thus making it easy for you to communicate with your friends and colleagues. Again, this is not a dedicated MS Exchange app, but useful if you have a lot of email accounts. 

K-9 Mail

K-9 Mail has been around for quite a while and there is a good reason for that: this app is completely free and open-source. Once installed, you'll be able to add IMAP, POP3 and Exchange 2003/2007 accounts with ease. With support for IMAP push email you can even completely ditch official Gmail app for an open source alternative. Furthermore, with multi-folder sync, flagging, signatures and filing, K-9 proves itself to be a good alternative to a full-fledged desktop Exchange client. Also interesting is the feature to store mail on SD card making it easier for users to avoid running out of storage space. If you are new to the app, a great place to start is to browse the app's wiki which has detailed information on how to configure and make the most out of K-9.

Written by: Abhishek, a regular TechSource contributor and a long-time FOSS advocate.

As far as writing screenplays is concerned, Hollywood has only one standard: Final Draft. For years, much like Microsoft's monopoly with Windows, the software had no big competitors. From big Hollywood directors like Spielberg to small independent studios, everyone considered Final Draft the gold standard of screenwriting software. In many ways, it still enjoys the same monopoly; however, the stronghold it had over the screenwriting industry isn't the same as before. With its high price, clunky UI, and lots of persistent bugs, Final Draft is slowly being taken over by lesser-known tools in this huge shift that is happening in the screenwriting industry.

Many big writers have slowly started to move to alternative software. One of the biggest proponents of this move is John August, screenwriter of movies like Big Fish and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. His efforts in pushing the open Fountain format, as well as creating Highland, a Mac-based screenwriting software are an indication of how badly Final Draft users need a change.

If you've been stuck with Final Draft for years or are a Linux user looking for alternatives, this is a great time to start writing your screenplay. These days, a lot of new tools have come up that let you write your script either on your Linux desktop or in a browser. And yes, most of these tools are as good as -- and many times -- better than Final Draft.

FadeIn

FadeIn is a wonderful cross-platform application that helps you focus on your writing. Eliminating all unnecessary distractions, its page-only full screen-mode makes sure that you're only looking at what matters most: your script. If you've been a Final Draft user for a long time, don't worry, FadeIn can easily import your FDX files without any major changes to the formatting. Much like Final Draft and other big screenwriting tools, it lets you outline the screenplay, organize scenes, and it even features an autocomplete typing mode that saves you a lot of time. Furthermore, FadeIn also has its own Android app so that you can finish your script on the go, if you are someone who travels a lot. FadeIn works across Linux, Mac, and Windows. It costs about $50, which is quite a deal when compared to the high price of Final Draft. 

DOWNLOAD HERE

WriterDuet

WriterDuet is another great tool that does much more than Final Draft. Apart from letting you import FDX files, this web-based tool also lets you collaborate with other writers. This means that even if your screenwriting team is miles away, you can finish that big script together along with a full-featured video chat to help you discuss important ideas. What makes WriterDuet stand apart is that despite being a web-based app, it functions pretty much like a desktop software. You can outline your script, format it by industry standards, export it as PDF, and plan your plot on a nice virtual corkboard. Furthermore, you can also dictate your script if you are having one of those lazy days. The web-based tool is free to use, however, to add features like offline mode, script backups, script error-check and more, you'll need to upgrade it to the Pro version (~$45). Definitely worth a try if you are a new writer who doesn't want to spend a lot of cash on a professional tool. 

 DOWNLOAD HERE

Celtx

Celtx is another popular screenwriting application that has been around for a while. With good formatting capabilities, outline mode, and even storyboarding tools, it is hard to believe that this software is free to download. Also, additional features for writers such as distraction-free mode, index cards, and corkboard can be added for a very low price. Celtx can import scripts from various formats and then lets you export them to PDFs once you are finished writing. For many writers who are just starting out, Celtx remains a hot favorite as it is free, open-source, and works across all major platforms. 

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Trelby

If you are looking for a simple, no-fuss screenwriting tool, Trelby is something you should consider. This free, open-source, multi-platform application has all the features you need to write a screenplay from start to finish. To begin, you can import your screenplay from various formats including .FDX. The main UI lets you choose between three views: draft view, WSIWYG, and a full-screen distraction-free mode. What makes Trelby so special is that it is very minimalistic which helps you focus just on what you're writing. And yes, it's open source. 

 DOWNLOAD HERE

Written by: Abhishek, a regular TechSource contributor and a long-time FOSS advocate.

Chrome is not just a browser. It has managed to reinvent itself by first turning into a full-fledged operating system, and then an ecosystem. Thanks to the relative openness of the platform and the plethora of efforts developers have put in, extensions and apps on Chrome offer pretty much the same functionality as a big ol' desktop. If you are a foodie and spend most of your time looking for something delicious to cook, these few extensions and apps are just what you need:

BBC Good Food

BBC Good Food is an app that lets you try out more than 200 recipes. With a beautifully designed interface, the simple layout features pictures of mouth-watering dishes from various cuisines. Moreover, if you are someone who travels a lot, or has a flaky Internet connection, the app also lets you view recipes offline. For the health conscious, the app comes loaded with all the nutritional data and health facts so that you won't have to sacrifice your health regimen for a tasty treat. The app also has full-featured videos that help you cook up any dish you want.

Gojee

Gojee is an app that features some of the best hand-curated recipes out there. Be it a moist chocolate cake or a cool Martini, you'll get to see big hi-resolution pictures of your favorite dishes in the app itself. The recipes are written by some of the best food writers around and you won't have any trouble replicating the dishes that are shown in the picture.

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Famous Food Finder

If cooking at home isn't something you want to do, then checking out a cool restaurant might be a great idea. But which restaurant to go to? Well, if it was some place that you saw on TV, this next app lets you find exactly that. Famous food finder is an extension that lets you locate restaurants that were featured on various popular TV shows. Once installed, the extension searches the site famousfoodfinder.com and gives you results laid out on a cool-looking map. By giving your location to the app, you can also find popular restaurants that are near your place. 

DOWNLOAD HERE

Fridgg  - Food Fanatics

If you are looking for something more than just a recipe app, Fridgg is just the perfect app for you. It is a community of food photographers, food bloggers, and food fanatics where you will find photos of delicious dishes from all around the world. Fridgg acts more like a food blog or a journal that lets you post pictures of beautiful dishes. More than just finding food pictures, you can also discover recipes, blogs, and food tips. Anyone from around the world can post their pictures and the photos are upvoted by the community of bloggers. 

DOWNLOAD HERE

Recipe Cookbook

Recipe cookbook is a simple application that lets you search through a database of recipes any time you want. The app works as a great kitchen reference with a page with nothing more than just a search box. Simply enter your query, let's say "strawberry" and the app presents you list of recipes involving strawberries. The results are full of pictures of the dishes you want to cook. It is a great app to keep in your App drawer if you are someone who loves to cook. 

Myeatbox

If you are someone who would like to document your culinary journey, Myeatbox is an app that let's you do just that. Whether it be logging your meals for a diet or creating your own recipe cookbook, the app is quite versatile when it comes to letting you share your love for food with other people. While not quite as good as compared to other apps on the list, it is still a good addition to your list if you are a foodie.

Written by: Abhishek, a regular TechSource contributor and a long-time FOSS advocate.