{"id":245,"date":"2010-09-20T17:19:00","date_gmt":"2010-09-20T15:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fussylogic.co.uk\/blog\/?p=245"},"modified":"2012-08-31T09:22:42","modified_gmt":"2012-08-31T08:22:42","slug":"android-applications-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fussylogic.co.uk\/blog\/?p=245","title":{"rendered":"Android Applications"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I keep seeing these \u00e2\u20ac\u0153top 50 Android apps\u00e2\u20ac\u009d lists; and am often disappointed. While they usually do have a couple of the good ones on them, they seem to think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s okay to put seven note taking applications, two location-aware apps and some just plain broken apps on the list.<\/p>\n<p>This then is a practical list; I tend not to install multiple apps that do that same job, preferring instead to pick the one I think is best and keep that. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m also not keeping them as a league table \u00e2\u20ac\u201d it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s silly to compare a media player with an ebook reader, which you think is more important will be a function of your own use. This list is categorised and alphabetical.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"general\">General<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Aldiko \u00e2\u20ac\u201d ebook reader; supports ePub and has an interface to search hundreds of out of copyright books online. Excellent.<\/li>\n<li>APG \u00e2\u20ac\u201d GnuPG for Android. K\u00e2\u20ac\u201c9 mail interfaces with this to decrypt, encrypt and sign your mail.<\/li>\n<li>arcMedia \u00e2\u20ac\u201d ffmpeg-based media player. Supports many more formats than the built in player. myPlayer can use this as its external player.<\/li>\n<li>ASTRO \u00e2\u20ac\u201d File manager. You need this for putting your music, video, and books in places you want them to be.<\/li>\n<li>ASTRO SMB Module \u00e2\u20ac\u201d Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s you access Windows SMB shares from Astro (works with Samba too). Much faster than ASTRO\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s (excellent) SSHFTP support.<\/li>\n<li>Barcode Scanner \u00e2\u20ac\u201d Lookup barcodes online quickly by scanning them with the built-in camera.<\/li>\n<li>Battery Graph \u00e2\u20ac\u201d Track down when and what is causing your battery to be used up. Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s you obsess about battery life.<\/li>\n<li>Chrome to Phone \u00e2\u20ac\u201d Combine this with the browser plugin for Chrome or Firefox to send links from your desktop to your phone with a simple click.<\/li>\n<li>Clock Sync \u00e2\u20ac\u201d Needs root to actually set the time, but even without root access it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s handy to be able to get accurate time from the Internet.<\/li>\n<li>Docs Pics \u00e2\u20ac\u201d Google Docs synchronisation. I keep shopping lists and a todo in this. Works much better than the more commonly recommended GDocs app.<\/li>\n<li>eBay \u00e2\u20ac\u201d This app is okay, but the key feature (notification support) doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t work. Hopefully they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll fix it. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s excessively large considering how little it actually does.<\/li>\n<li>Facebook \u00e2\u20ac\u201d This app is rubbish. It doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t use Android\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s notification system, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s excessively large, and most of the things you can click simply take you to the browser to the m.facebook.com pages; and not even the one you would want at that.<\/li>\n<li>Gesture Search \u00e2\u20ac\u201d Despite what it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s called, this is essentially an online handwriting recognition engine. Could be handy if you were trying to search while in the car.<\/li>\n<li>IMDb \u00e2\u20ac\u201d If you like films, then you need this app. This is the first \u00e2\u20ac\u0153big website\u00e2\u20ac\u009d app that actually does a decent job. Easy search, nicely categorised information. Essentially just a fast, efficient interface to the database.<\/li>\n<li>JustPictures! \u00e2\u20ac\u201d Improved image browser; supports linking to picasaweb, facebook, flickr, photobucket, <em>et al<\/em>. Easy to use, and fast. I have no trouble browsing my online albums as if they were stored on the phone. My one complaint is that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a little slow showing the thumbnails for local albums.<\/li>\n<li>K\u00e2\u20ac\u201c9 Mail \u00e2\u20ac\u201d Much better email client than the built in one. Fast IMAP access. I find this better than the GMail client too. Heavily customisable and very quick.<\/li>\n<li>myPlayer \u00e2\u20ac\u201d BBC iPlayer client. Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s you download programmes for viewing later, which is a truly excellent feature. Means you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have to use up your precious 3G allowance on TV; you can grab stuff to watch later when you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re on the move. Would be perfect if they integrated SkyOnDemand, 4ondemand, Five player and ITVPlayer, etc too.<\/li>\n<li>NetCounter \u00e2\u20ac\u201d keep track of your 3G allowance, and set warning levels and usage period.<\/li>\n<li>Quick Settings \u00e2\u20ac\u201d Hold down the search button to get quick access to your most commonly used settings.<\/li>\n<li>RealCalc \u00e2\u20ac\u201d The best scientific calculator app for android. Similar in appearance to a Sharp, but operationally similar to a Casio. Nice big buttons, you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t need a separate calculator with this app. Also includes a unit conversion facility.<\/li>\n<li>SDMove \u00e2\u20ac\u201d see at a glance which of your apps supports the new Froyo (Android 2.2) facility to move applications from your phone to your SD card; and perform the move easily.<\/li>\n<li>Sky+ \u00e2\u20ac\u201d Access the Sky television listings and link up to your remote-record account so you can control your Sky+ when you are out. This is excessively large, and has a few bugs, but works pretty well.<\/li>\n<li>TalkBack \u00e2\u20ac\u201d add screen reader support to Android.<\/li>\n<li>Timeriffic \u00e2\u20ac\u201d trigger time based actions. For example, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got it set to automatically dim the brightness and turn the phone to silent during my normal sleeping hours. Saves me being woken up because someone sends an email at 3am.<\/li>\n<li>Vignette Demo \u00e2\u20ac\u201d Camera effects. Loads of them. You have to pay to get full resolution, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s good fun even at low res.<\/li>\n<li>Voice Search \u00e2\u20ac\u201d Google\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s voice search facility.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 id=\"navigationmapsweather\">Navigation\/Maps\/Weather<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Google Sky Map \u00e2\u20ac\u201d Novelty item really, but is good for lording it over your iPhone wielding friends.<\/li>\n<li>London City \u00e2\u20ac\u201d tube map.<\/li>\n<li>Maps (Google) \u00e2\u20ac\u201d best online mapping, satellite and terrain in addition to roads. Google places and Latitude are built in. Latitude is handy for finding out where your friends with fine-grained privacy controls.<\/li>\n<li>My Maps Editor by Google \u00e2\u20ac\u201d let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s you add favourite places to your \u00e2\u20ac\u0153my maps\u00e2\u20ac\u009d section of Google Maps.<\/li>\n<li>My Tracks \u00e2\u20ac\u201d record GPS traces and view them later. Good for hikers.<\/li>\n<li>NavDroyd \u00e2\u20ac\u201d Offline SatNav app using OpenStreetMap maps. Has potential, but not quite there yet. I bought this to show support, but there is a free version without route planning (although I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve forgotten what it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s called).<\/li>\n<li>RAC Traffic \u00e2\u20ac\u201d Live traffic incident reports from the RAC overlaid on a Google map.<\/li>\n<li>Rainy Days \u00e2\u20ac\u201d Recent radar imagery overlaid on a Google map to show you rain cloud patterns.<\/li>\n<li>Free the Postcode \u00e2\u20ac\u201d help create an open UK postcode database. Stick it to the post office who somehow think that they have been publicly funded to create a database that they can then sell back to you when it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s <em>your<\/em> address.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 id=\"games\">Games<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Air Control (Lite) \u00e2\u20ac\u201d land planes.<\/li>\n<li>Andrix \u00e2\u20ac\u201d Android version of classic Qix game.<\/li>\n<li>Chess \u00e2\u20ac\u201d simple, easy to use and small.<\/li>\n<li>OpenSudoku<\/li>\n<li>Robo Defense FREE \u00e2\u20ac\u201d An enjoyable tower defence game.<\/li>\n<li>SeQ \u00e2\u20ac\u201d the old pegboard mastermind game.<\/li>\n<li>Solitaire \u00e2\u20ac\u201d Klondike patience.<\/li>\n<li>Trap \u00e2\u20ac\u201d Fun game reminiscent of Qix but more appropriate for a touch screen game.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 id=\"novelty\">Novelty<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Force Fields \u00e2\u20ac\u201d gravity simulator.<\/li>\n<li>SchottGunn \u00e2\u20ac\u201d Shot gun simulator.<\/li>\n<li>The Schwartz Unsheathed \u00e2\u20ac\u201d light sabre simulator.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 id=\"computing\">Computing<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>3CXPhone \u00e2\u20ac\u201d connect to your Asterisk box or other SIP phone provider to make VoIP calls or integrate with your office phone system.<\/li>\n<li>androidVNC \u00e2\u20ac\u201d VNC client for Android, not bad.<\/li>\n<li>ConnectBot \u00e2\u20ac\u201d SSH client for Android. Pretty good, and can be a life saver if you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re a systems admin.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 id=\"specialised\">Specialised<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Aviation Weather \u00e2\u20ac\u201d download aviation weather reports for individual air fields.<\/li>\n<li>Depth of Field Calculator \u00e2\u20ac\u201d photography tool. Not perfect.<\/li>\n<li>Exposure Calculator \u00e2\u20ac\u201d photography tool. Not perfect.<\/li>\n<li>gStrings \u00e2\u20ac\u201d tuner.<\/li>\n<li>phoforpho \u00e2\u20ac\u201d photography tools. Lots of different calculators. Still not perfect.<\/li>\n<li>Photography Assistant \u00e2\u20ac\u201d rudimentary light meter. Doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t work very well, but I suspect that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s down to hardware limitations rather than this apps fault.<\/li>\n<li>Ultimate Holdem Timer \u00e2\u20ac\u201d if you play poker, this is a must. Define arbitrary round times, break times, small and big blind structure and variable ante. Lets you concentrate on playing rather than clock watching and remembering what the current bets are.<\/li>\n<li>SayNoTo0870 \u00e2\u20ac\u201d search for normal landline number equivalents for the expensive 0845 and 0870 special rate numbers. Good for mobile users with inclusive minutes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 id=\"phone-introspection\">Phone Introspection<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Android Sensor Data \u00e2\u20ac\u201d low-level hardware sensor reader.<\/li>\n<li>Compass \u00e2\u20ac\u201d Get decent access to the built-in compass and GPS data in certain modes.<\/li>\n<li>GPS Test \u00e2\u20ac\u201d shows lots of information from the GPS and compass.<\/li>\n<li>Multitouch Visualizer 2 \u00e2\u20ac\u201d test your multitouch hardware (the Desire multitouch is not good; it can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t cope if the touch points cross).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I keep seeing these \u00e2\u20ac\u0153top 50 Android apps\u00e2\u20ac\u009d lists; and am often disappointed. While they usually do have a couple of the good ones on them, they seem to think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s okay to put seven note taking applications, two location-aware apps and some just plain broken apps on the list. This then is a practical\u2026 <span class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fussylogic.co.uk\/blog\/?p=245\">Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[9,6],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fussylogic.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fussylogic.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fussylogic.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fussylogic.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fussylogic.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=245"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.fussylogic.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":572,"href":"https:\/\/www.fussylogic.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245\/revisions\/572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fussylogic.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fussylogic.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fussylogic.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}