Categories
Mobile

My favourite Android apps: 2014 update

I thought I’d update my list of recommended applications. Let me know if there’s some missing!

Quick note: I use only Nexus devices (direct from Google) so it has some shortcomings that are fixed by HTC, Samsung etc. But I prefer to fix some of them myself instead of living with all the bloat and slow updates from the other vendors. 🙂

Highlights

  • Agent – Lets you silence your phone when sleeping or in meetings. Read messages out loud when driving and remember where you parked. Nice little utility.
  • Amazon Kindle – Yeah. Books. 🙂
  • Audible – Audio books for my commutes. 🙂
  • Authenticator – 2-factor authentication. If you don’t know what this is it’s time to read up on it after Heartbleed. Works for Evernote, Gmail, Dropbox, Amazon and lots more.
  • CamScanner – Scan documents with your cell camera. Awesome. 🙂
  • Circa – News summaries. Works really well for catching up fast, and lets you follow topics once you find them interesting.
  • DashClock Widget – Customize your lock screen in awesome ways.
  • Deliveries – Package tracking for ALL providers
  • Dropsync – Some folders in Dropbox I actually want offline and on the phone, so this handles that. And it’s two way, so when I delete something on my computer it gets wiped off the phone too.
  • Evernote – Everything that needs to be remembered. It’s extremely flexible so you need to find your way of using it, but it’s worth it.
  • KineMaster – Video editing for your mobile phone. Pretty slick.
  • LastPass – Remember passwords and use different ones for each sites. Heartbleed…
  • NRK Cast – Cast NRK programming to Chromecast. Norway only.
  • Plex – Your media available everywhere. And with Chromecast. 🙂
  • Pocket – Read it later, got way too much stuff stored here.
  • PriceSpy – Compare prices. Think it’s limited to Nordic countries.
  • Shush! Ringer Restorer – Automatically restore your ringer when the meeting is over.
  • SwiftKey – Must have keyboard replacement. Just try it.
  • Textra – Simple and easy SMS and MMS application. Because I run Nexus the only other app installed for SMS is Hangouts. But try it, even if you have a decent one already.
  • Waze – Awesome free and social GPS driving application. Real time updates and re-routing based on traffic from other drivers that use Waze.

The rest

  • AirAudio – Sends your audio to AirPlay compatible devices. I have several Airport Express throughout my house that are wired to speakers. Spotify in sync over the entire house. 🙂
  • AllCast – Lets you cast videos and pictures to your Chromecast. Big screen baby!
  • ASTRO File Manager – Good file manager with support for advanced operations.
  • Avia – Media player with Chromecast support.
  • Banjo – Social media aggregator that focuses on friends near by, or just a map of everything that happens around you.
  • Battery Left – Predicts how many hours you have left of battery time based on you normal usage pattern.
  • BitTorrent Sync – Sync between your mobiles and computers. No central storage like Dropbox, but free and it might be a good thing the files doesn’t pass through the US. 🙂
  • Chromecast – Well not really much functionality here except for managing your Chromecast. It really means you should buy an Chromecast. 😉
  • ClockSync – Synchronizes your clock with the big internet. Requires ROOT.
  • Cloud Print – Print documents from your phone if you have set up cloud print on your computer.
  • DashClock Fitbit Extension – Well, used in DashClock to show Fitbit info.
  • DashClock Sunrise Extension – Shows sunset and sunrise on Dashclock.
  • Dashclock Yr Extension – Shows you the local weather in Dashclock
  • Device Manager – Locate your lost tablet or second phone. 🙂
  • Dropbox – Well, Dropbox. Let’s me access things on Dropbox without using space on the phone.
  • Endomondo PRO – Exercises. Great Fitbit integration too.
  • Facebook – Well, Facebook 🙂
  • Fitbit – Because I use a Fitbit Flex. 🙂
  • Flipboard – Good news aggregator for social media. Slick experience.
  • Foursquare – Best check-in network I guess. Not the most active user, but I’m intrigued by the recommendation possibilities.
  • Instagram – Yeah. 🙂
  • LinkedIn – Yeah
  • Markers – Simple graphics.
  • Meetup – Find Meetups and events close by. Great resource in Oslo as there’s a lot going on.
  • Messenger – Facebook Messenger. Despite all the noise recently about forcing everyone to use this, I really like this app.
  • Muzei – Dynamic wallpapers with multiple sources
  • Muzei 500px Editors Choice – A source for wallpapers
  • Netflix – Well, Netflix…
  • Nirvana ✓ – My TODO app. I like it’s adherence to the basics with some flexibility.
  • NRK Super – Entertain your kids in a pinch. Norway only.
  • NRKRadio – Live and recirded radio. Norway only.
  • NSB – Trains and tickets in Norway.
  • OpenVPN Connect – Call home… 🙂
  • PhotoCast – Cast photos to Chromecast. Does it in a fancy way. Still too slow though.
  • Pushbullet – Custom notifications from everything. Supported at IFTTT too.
  • QuizUp – When you have too much time on your hands… 😉
  • Quora – Awesome Q&A site. Get really insightful information on whatever you are wondering about.
  • Remote Desktop – Access your computers.
  • RuterReise – Oslo bus, tram and subway info.
  • Server Auditor – SSH client.
  • Shazam – Identify that song playing right now.
  • Skype – Yeah…
  • Snapchat – Well…
  • Speedtest – Check your network speeds wherever you are.
  • Spotify – Music…
  • Sun Surveyor – Check how the sun moves around a certain spot. Awesome when buying a new house.
  • Sync.ME – Sync information from LinkedIn and Facebook to your Google contacts.
  • Tasker – Make your phone do just about anything automatically.
  • Timely – Simple clock, alarm, timer, countdown app.
  • Titanium Backup – Backup and restore applications with settings. Requires ROOT.
  • Trello – Simple boards for todo, project, kanban etc.
  • TripAdvisor – Find and write reviews of everything. They also have specific offline guides for large cities, so make sure to search the market for them before travelling.
  • TripIt – Manage your itinerary and booking information.
  • TuneIn Radio Pro – Radio. Lots of radio.
  • Untappd – Social network for beer drinkers. 🙂
  • Vivino – Social network for wine drinkers. 🙂
  • Wakelock Detector – Since I am running a lot of applications I need to find the bad boy sometimes. This helps me find the ones using up battery. 🙂
  • Wifi Analyzer – Helps me diagnose bad connectivity and crowded channels.

Alright, as you see this is a quick alphabetical dump of many of my apps. Let me know if something can be done differently.

Categories
Mobile

Recommended Android Applications

So a lot has changed since I posted an update to my Essential Android Applications. Currently running Android 2.2 so be aware that some of these apps require that. Doin it the easy way this time with AppBrain:

51 total, 49 free (96%), 2 paid (3%), 59MB total size, $10.23 total price

View this Android app list on AppBrain

Categories
Mobile Personal

Essential Android Applications

I have a new post on this. Go here: https://blog.f12.no/wp/2010/08/06/redommended-android-applications/

I have had my HTC Magic for a little over a month eight months now. I’m still satisfied, though I’m contemplating getting a Google Nexus One next year. I’ve updated my apps list below. Not all of them are necessary for handsets like Hero, but I’m still on Magic so I need some extra extensions. 🙂

System

  • PandaHome – Home screen replacement. Gives me as many home screens as I want and a nice dock.
  • Locale – Profiles for your android. Adjusts sound etc. based on location or other parameters.
  • AutoLock – Delays the need to draw your unlock pattern.
  • Useful Switchers – Easy access to switch on and off the things that consume battery.
  • TasKiller – Kill off tasks.

SMS and contacts

  • Handcent SMS – iPhone like SMS handling with bubbles and all.
  • SMS Popup – Popup covering the screen on SMS instead of just the top bar notifications.
  • SMS Templates – Templates for sending SMS.
  • SyncMyPix – Get profile pictures from Facebook as contact photos.

Connectivity

  • Toggle Data – If you don’t have a free data plan, you really don’t want your Android to go checking the net all the time. This lets you turn off and on data usage.
  • Wisync – Automatically turn off data sync when not on WiFi.
  • Wifi Analyzer – Nice to have when messing around with my APs to find the free channels.
  • WeFi Connect – Scan, connect and test open connections in the area until one succeeds.
  • NetSentry – Keep track of downloaded data.
  • Bluetooth File Transfer – Send and receive files over Bluetooth (sadly not standard).

Productivity

  • Share Your Board – Takes a snapshot of your whiteboard, corrects the angles, crops and increases contrast. I mail mine to Evernote for search and storage.
  • Evernote – Capture anything, for ever. It even does OCR on any images so you can search for what you have written.
  • GDocs Notepad – Notepad that Syncs to a folder on Google Docs.
  • Remember The Milk – My essential GTD app. Nice widget for displaying list of current tasks. Only works if you are a paying member of RTM.
  • Thinking Space – Easy mind maps for Android. Syncs to “the cloud”, but no alternative client for editing (yet?).

Media

  • Spotify – Music like I like it.
  • Google Listen – Podcasts
  • Qik – Stream your video live, and store them when you’re done broadcasting.
  • Shazam – Figure out which song is playing on the radio.
  • SnapTell – Snap pictures of videos, books etc. and get online quotes and links to IMDB etc. Also supports bar codes.
  • Backgrounds – Easy way of finding new ones when you get tired of the one you got.

Travel and location

  • Flightstats Lite – Not really a good app (just sends you to the web all the time), but nice shortcuts for getting your flight status.
  • TripIt – Keep track of trips and contacts trips. Nice sync option to have everything on your phone before you leave.
  • Trafikanten – Bus, train, tram and subway info for Oslo.
  • Here I Am – Send your current location via SMS or Mail.
  • My Tracks – Get the tracks and stats from your trip and export GPX file for Geotagging.
  • MyCityBikes – Status for bikes in Oslo and other cities. Lets me find nearest bike, and nearest free slot.
  • Wikitude – Augumented reality and the ultimate show off app. Can also help you find restaurants etc. near by. 😉

Misc

  • Barcode Scanner – Scan barcodes and open in browser or do a search. Eases installation of applications on the links below.
  • Seesmic – Twitter client with twitter lists.
  • Transdroid – Add and manage torrents in a variety of torrent clients on your computer.
  • Brightkite – Location based social microblogging. The best so far. 🙂
  • Bubble – Level anything. 🙂
  • Meebo IM – Connect to just about any IM service, and use the same account as meebo.com.

Anything else I should be using? Let me know. 🙂