My Favorite Android Apps

Image via Wikipedia

I’ve had several people ask me this, so here’s my long-awaited list of my favorite Android apps.

(Bear in mind: I’m running Froyo (OS version 2.2), I’m using the Motorola Droid, and I’m rooted, so these may not all apply to you.)

3banana – Excellent note-taking app. Syncs online, so you can edit in browser or on your phone. Good for quick notes. Several apps use it for their locally saved data.

ADW Launcher – my favorite home screen replacement by far. It’s very similar to the Froyo home screen, but it’s faster, more configurable, and with more features. I love this. LauncherPro is another good one.

Agenda Widget – handy for those of you that like seeing your calendar on one of your home screens. I use it on my main homescreen to see all of my upcoming meetings.

AppBrain – AppBrain.com is a website that lets you search for apps, read their description and reviews, look at screenshots, etc. And the AppBrain app allows you to sync your apps w/ the site, so you can find a cool looking app, mark it for installation, and then sync it to your phone to install it. With Fast Web Installer, you can have it automatically kick off installations without needing to launch an app. If you’re like me and you like to try all of the latest apps (and then uninstall them after you decide they’re a waste of time ;) ) it’s awesome.

ASTRO – file manager, plus task manager, etc. Useful if you copy files onto your phone and need to edit them, access them, etc. Great general purpose utility.

Awesome Drop – nifty app for copying files to your phone from the web. Does one thing, does it well.

Barnacle Wifi Tether (or Android Wifi Tether) – useful for using your phone as a wifi hotspot/ modem. When you’re not near a hotspot but you have 3G access, you can still get online on your laptop. (Or iPad. ;) )

Beautiful Widgets – like it sounds, it’s a bunch of beautiful looking widgets. The weather app is especially noteworthy – very nice looking and functional as well. If you ever look at your phone and wished it was just a little prettier, this app will help you get there.

Bubble – use your phone as a level. Surprisingly useful. I find uses for this all the time.

Chrome to Phone – send links and other data to your phone, directly from your browser. Send bookmarks, maps, etc.

Documents to Go – read/edit Word, Excel, etc. docs on your phone. Great if you get a lot and need to see what they really look like. I get a lot of attachments. This may be less useful for other people. ;)

Droid Light – use your Droid flash as a flashlight. Super handy. Great when you’re in the basement, or when someone blows a fuse. I’ve used this in the office, and at home. (We blow fuses in both places, and have bad lighting in both places. ;) )

Facebook/ Twitter/ Foursquare – if you use these social networks, get these. If you don’t, don’t. (Other good Twitter apps: Touitter, Twidroyd, Hootsuite.)

Favorite Recipes – like it sounds, it allows you to search for recipes, add your own, save them to your phone, etc. When saving, it uses 3banana, which is handy.

Kindle – ebooks on your phone. Syncs with your Kindle reader if you have one. There are thousands of free ebooks, and a great selection of paid ebooks.

Maps (-) – like Google Maps, but it syncs and saves maps for offline use. Really useful if you vacation or travel in areas with limited data access, like the Catskills. :)

Movies – if you like to watch movies, get this. Showtimes, theaters, reviews, etc.

NASAImages – beautiful images, all free. Set them as your wallpaper – more attractive, and science-y too (yes, that’s a word).

NewsRob – the best RSS/ newsreader app out there. Syncs with Google Reader. Downloads the text and images for offline usage – read your favorite blogs and news articles in the subway. :) Functional, practical, excellent.

OpenSudoku – Free Sudoku app. Hundreds of free boards. ’nuff said.

PanoPlanet – amazingly beautiful live background. Really nifty looking.

Retro Defense – fun tower defense game.

Screebl Pro – if you get annoyed with your phone screen timing out sometimes, and wearing out your battery other times, get this. It alters the screen timeout based on how you’re using it (i.e. when you’re holding it, it won’t time out… when you put it down, it will.)

SetCPU – overclock and underclock your phone based on usage, battery, etc.

SmartBar – handy for accessing settings and other things quickly from any screen.

SpringPad – similar to 3Banana but with more features. Supports more automated formats – things like check lists, shopping lists, etc.

Swype – my favorite keyboard. In beta, but via invite only. If you can’t get access to this, check out Swiftkey Beta. Swype allows you to literally swipe across the letters in the word and it has an amazing ability to figure out the correct word. Swiftkey is a normal keyboard, but with much, much better prediction than the built-in keyboard. Swiftkey’s most compelling feature for me is the fact that it does prediction even on the hardware keyboard on the Droid.

Tasker – allows you to program all sorts of logic into your phone to adjust its behavior – for example, my GPS automatically turns on when I use Maps or Foursquare, off at other times to save battery. When my battery gets low, it lowers my screen brightness. When I’m in a meeting, it mutes the ringer and switches to vibrate. Another similar app is Locale, which is very nice as well (but not free).

Voice – useful if you use Google Voice. If you don’t, you should. Visual voicemail, voicemail transcriptions, free calling and text messages… awesome service/ app.

WaveSecure/ Lookout – They backup your contacts, call logs, etc. And in Lookout’s case, it scans for viruses. I don’t know of any Android viruses, so I don’t really see much value there, but the backup functionality is handy. Especially if you like to wipe your phone and install different ROMs. :)

Having trouble finding these apps? Go to AppBrain.com and do a search, you’ll find it in no time. :)

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