Useful Android Apps
As Android devices become the status quo and are on the rise, it’s time to consider how best to put your smartphones and tablet PCs to work. Here is a selection of Android apps that I find to be helpful. My favorites are Google Reader & Tasks, as they work in conjunction with Google’s Chrome browser.
With hundreds of thousands of apps, Android Market has the right ones for you. When you download apps, they’re delivered directly to your device—instantly. You can also find your next first-rate read, a hot new album, or a flick from a catalog that includes everything from movie blockbusters and best selling e-books to more than 8 million songs.
Head over to https://market.android.com/ and check them out.
Google GTasks
Gtasks is a simple and efficient todo list/task list/check list/notes/ tools. It have both local mode and google account mode.
You can sync with your google tasks perfectly. And you can share you list or your task item easily via gmail/note in reader/messaging /google docs and so on.
Features:
1. Rich gtask (google task) client, simple todo list, checklist, note/notes pad tool.
2. Synchronize with multiple google accounts automatically, also support local mode. customize sync mode: auto,manual or sync when open/exit
3. scroll horizontally to switch between task/tasklist.
4. order your todo/notes items by due date/name/create order
5. order your task list easily by dragging them
6. Indent, unindent, share, move easily
7. repeat reminder enable, set reminder one-time/daily/weekly/monthly… and so on
8. quick add task by pressing the search key
9. search all task with autocomplete match
10. Widgets(scrolling in LauncherPro/ADWLauncher/GO Launcher)
GTasks, to do list, todo list, task, tasks, notes, note pad, notepad,google tasks gmail calendar,
Google Voice
Make cheap international calls with your Google number. Send free text messages.
Place calls and send text messages showing your Google number. Listen to voicemail and read transcripts.
Google Reader
Follow all your favorite sites, blogs, and more, all in one place. See what your friends are sharing, and easily share any interesting articles you read. The Google Reader app syncs with the web version, so all your reading lists are always up to date.
Chromemarks Sync
Access your Chrome Bookmarks from your device.
The ONLY Android app to give you native access to all your Google Chrome Bookmarks. Bookmarks and Folders are synced to this app on your phone and then kept in sync with your browser(s).
Changes made in Chrome are visible in this app seconds later if you perform a sync.
Access your Chrome bookmarks quickly via this app or long press the search button.
Search your Chrome bookmarks and folders from the app or via the Google Search Widget.
Sync process automatically allows you to view your bookmarks and folders off-line.
Springpad
Springpad makes it easy to save notes, products and places you want to remember
Springpad is a free application that makes it quick and easy to take notes and save anything you want to remember in one place – from tasks and lists to products, places, movies, recipes and more. We automatically organize and enhance what you save with useful links and relevant offers to save you time and money. Everything you save is synchronized and accessible on your android device and on the web.
Note Everything
Note Everything is a note-taking application on steroids. It’s simple and easy to use but amazingly powerful. Notes can be text-based, audio clips, or even hand drawn notes. Notes can be organised in folders, re-arranged, and sent to contacts. Voice notes can also have text notes attached to them.
Astrid
Astrid is the ultimate to-do list manager. Create tasks with notes, deadlines, reminders, tags and priorities. Input is straightforward and reminders can be set in any form. Astrid can also sync with online site Rememberthemilk.com. Tasks can also record time spent on each of them so Astrid also acts like a time-logger for billing hours.
Hootsuite
If you’re a Twitter fan then Hootsuite is a must for one vital reason: scheduled updates. Who has time during a busy work day to tweet a couple of times an hour? Hootsuite has the ability to schedule tweets over the course of the day or the week. This means you can spend a little time every morning and schedule announcements, links and repeated tweets for the rest of the day. You’ll look like a Twitter Ninja with barely any effort.
Evernote
In today’s world brilliant ideas don’t always wait until you’re at your desk. You could be at lunch, in a meeting or waiting in a doctor’s waiting room when your next big idea hits. Evernote makes it easy to jot down just about anything that you want to remember, from simple to-dos to video snippets that you want use in your next promotion. And Evernote’s available on just about every platform you can think of so you’ll never lose your notes.
Dropbox
You probably already use Dropbox on your desktop so why not on your phone? With Dropbox’s online storage you’ve always got access to your important documents, even when you’re in the middle of nowhere with just a phone for access. Dropbox on Android makes it easy to access your files no matter where you are. But more importantly, it’s also easy to upload documents while you’re on the road so that they are accessible back in the office.
Instafetch
Like most people you’re probably swamped with articles on the web that you really want to read, but you don’t have enough time to read at the time. Instapaper makes it easy to save these articles to your account in simplified text format so that you can read them later. It’s better than bookmarking and because articles are synchronised to all your devices you can read them when offline as well. Instapaper is not available on Android but Instafetch is a worthy client and could well become your default reader once you get the hang of it.
Swype
Typing on a smartphone (or a small tablet PC) is one of the biggest productivity drains. Most of the effort is spent replacing the word the phone thinks you want with the one you actually want. And, if you have a really small phone and big fingers, the problem is exacerbated. Swype is a predictive text input keyboard replacement that is really smart. You only need to trace the words you want on the keyboard and Swype does the rest. It’s seriously fast once you get used to it and extremely accurate.
Oanda currency converter
How many times a week do you need to know the exchange rate for various currencies around the world? Even if it’s just to buy a book from Amazon.com it’s handy to have a one-stop currency converter. Oanda has long been my favourite currency portal on my desktop and now the Android app makes it even easier to use. Onada’s app offers a full range of conversions and you can easily set your preferred currencies.
Document Scanner
Search for “Document scanner” in the Android Market.
Document scanner is a pretty handy tool to have at hand all the time. Have a receipt, a document, a letter you need to scan? Take a pic and Document Scanner converts it into a PDF. Better still, Document Scanner allows you to crop the image and correct the perspective if you took it an a weird angle. Document Scanner can also upload your scan to Google Docs, Dropbox or a host of other services.
CamCard
Search for “CamCard” in the Android Market.
Another scanner, but this time for business cards. Even though everyone is going digital most of us carry printed business cards wherever we go. CamCard is an easy to use card scanner that does basic character recognition on the cards it scans and puts those into your contacts. Very handy and pretty accurate.
3G Watchdog
If you are using Android, you know how Internet data hungry it is. Many Android users get surprised to see their monthly data rates if they have postpaid plans and the prepaid users are shocked to see how their data gets exhausted so soon.
But now there is a solution for you to keep a watch on all your data usage whether 3G, Edge or GPRS. Watchdog helps you keep a close watch on costly internet data usages. It monitors the Mobile Internet as you are consuming the data and shows the status icon (green/orange/ red) in the notification bar. You can also get the detailed report of the data usage.
Watchdog has more than 1 million users. It’s available for free, but the pro or paid version offers added features like: data consumed by each application, data usage history in various ways, five custom widget styles and much more.
AirDroid
Android offers endless opportunities, and one of them is AirDroid, a highly innovative, fast and free application. AirDroid enables you to manage and control your Android devise from your web browser over-the-air or WiFi. Right from your web browser you can perform a number of over-the-air operations.
Here are some of the highlights of AirDroid for Android:
Transfer the files wirelessly: This feature lets you transfer files to and from the device via the web browser using the wireless or WiFi connection.
Everything from the browser: You don’t require any client in your computer as you can perform all the functions and use the features directly from the web browser. No drivers are required and there are no limitations of computer environment.
Manage SMS from desktop: Manage your contacts and groups from the desktop and send the individual or group SMSs from the comforts of your desktop.
Media management: Manage your music and photos from your desktop and also see them on your desktop.
AirDroid offers many other features like application manager, tools for managing your device from the desktop etc. all from the web browser.
ASTRO File Manager
ASTRO File Manager is one of the most popular applications in the Android market and has had more than 19 million downloads. It is considered to be among all-time best Android Applications list and has been recommended in a number of books.
ASTRO File Manager helps you organize all your pictures, movies, music and all other files in your Android mobile. ASTRO File Manager performs the functions in your mobile similar to Windows Explorer or Mac’s Finder in your desktop.
With ASTRO File Manager you can:
Organize all the files: copy, move, rename, backup or zip your pictures, music, videos, or documents.
Share: Share the files freely with other devices with support for Windows networking, Bluetooth and SFTP.
Manage: Uninstall, backup or restore apps. Kill processes that waste battery life and slow device speed. Manage your SD card.
