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#329916 - 08/02/2010 18:58 Android Apps?
wfaulk Offline

carpal tunnel

Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 15209
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
Okay, I'm feeling left out over on the iPhone Apps thread, so here's one for us cool kids.
  • RealCalc: An HP10 (albeit portrait mode) feelalike calculator.
  • Arity: a 2D and 3D graphing calculator
  • ShopSavvy: Scan product (UPC, mostly) barcodes with your camera, look up product, and find prices online and in nearby stores
  • Barcode Scanner: ShopSavvy is nice, but it only supports a few types of barcodes. Barcode Scanner can read everything I've thrown at it so far, except non-QR 2D bar codes. It also provides a barcode scanner and generator library for other applications.
  • deciBel: an SPL meter. You have to calibrate it, since it doesn't know the response of the mikes in different devices, but it's pretty neat to have a somewhat accurate SPL meter in your pocket
  • RTA Audio Analyzer: an audio frequency analyzer
  • DinoDyno!: accelerometer-based auto performance analyzer. Worst possible app icon
  • Bubble: turns your phone into a bubble level. Graphics show actual bubble, making it intuitive, plus shows angle in degrees and contractor-style rise-over-run. Works on all four edges, plus the back, where it shows a bullseye spirit level.
  • Google Sky Map: a star map. You say "so what". I say "point it at the star you want to identify and it shows you the map where it's pointing. I don't really have a lot of use for this, but it's super-neat.
  • Shazam: Neatest application for any portable device. Tells you what song is being played.
  • IRC Radio: an IRC app that's reasonably good on its own, but ups the ante by optionally piping the content through text-to-speech.
  • ConnectBot: the obligatory SSH app. Also does telnet and provides an interface to the local shell. (Telnet doesn't work for raw connections, sadly, so no telnetting to port 25 to test SMTP.) Supports public key authentication and has a good interface for Ctrl characters and Esc.
  • gStrings: chromatic tuner, as for tuning a musical instrument
  • Sudoku Camera: take a picture of a printed Sudoku puzzle and have it import it into a Sudoku application. You generally have to make manual corrections, but it makes that pretty easy, by showing you the picture underneath the generated numbers. Trial only, but for Sudoku addicts, pretty darned neat.
    And since we're talking Sudoku, here are the apps that Sudoku camera will work with:
    • Andoku: Nice attractive sudoku (and sudoku extensions) app, but has no support for notes.
    • OpenSudoku: Only plain-flavored Sudoku, and a marginal UI, but support notes.
  • Crosswords: Good crossword UI, supports .puz files, but no built-in downloader (or built-in puzzles, for that matter).
  • Abduction!: Save your animal brethren from the space aliens by bouncing up platforms. Super-simple, super-fun vertical platformer, controlled by tilting.
  • Radiant Lite: a Xevious-like arcade game with neat retro graphics. Just a demo, but a very long demo.
  • Robo Defense: decent tower defense game
  • DailyStrip: viewer for online comics, including xkcd. SHould support notifications, but doesn't.
  • What the Doodle?: online Pictionary. Fun until you get retards drawing genitals or just writing the phrase they're supposed to draw. There is cheater voting, but some people seem to think that it's okay. It's probably better when amongst people who paid.
  • App Referer: show QD codes for apps on your system so that another person can scan them to download the app quickly. Relies on Barcode Reader.
  • Calorie Counter: interface to FatSecret.com. Keep track of your daily food intake. Uses FatSecret's food database, plus lets you scan the barcodes of packaged foods. I'm sure there are others just as good; this is just the one I stumbled across.
  • CIDR Calculator: for network admins with bad memories, like me. Calculates netmask info.
  • DealDroid: checks woot and woot-like web sites and notifies you of current deals.
  • PackRat: media database. Scan the barcodes of your CDs, DVDs, video games, books, etc. and import them into the database
  • Alice: notifications of your favorite music acts playing in your area.
  • Astrid: task manager. Syncs with Remember the Milk
  • Ultrachron Lite: nice stopwatch/timer app that will read out a countdown and other times.
  • Weatherbug: weather forecasts. keeps the temp and other basic weather info in the notification area. Will track your location. Includes widgets. (By the way, other than the data itself, the The Weather Channel app sucks.)
and last, but certainly not least:
  • David Lee Roth Soundboard: I can't improve on this Market comment: "The greatest application ever made. I suggest using one of these as your notification sound. It will change your life."
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Bitt Faulk

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#329920 - 08/02/2010 21:23 Re: Android Apps? [Re: wfaulk]
Robotic Offline
veteran

Registered: 06/04/2005
Posts: 1595
Loc: San Francisco Bay Area
I'm curious if you've reviewed (or had the need for) some file transfer apps.

I've heard of SwiFTP and AndFTP. Seems like some fairly useful things to have on board, but I have no other impressions.
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10101466 (2x60GB, Eutronix/GreenLights Blue) (Woot!)

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#329922 - 08/02/2010 22:20 Re: Android Apps? [Re: Robotic]
wfaulk Offline

carpal tunnel

Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 15209
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
Yeah, I have.

The two file transfer clients I've tried are AndFTP and DroidFTP. I deleted AndFTP, but don't take that as much praise for DroidFTP. Regular FTP connects, but simply doesn't work with all FTP servers. SFTP (that is, ssh's file transfer protocol) seems to work fine. The user interface is … marginal. AndFTP also supports FTPS (that is, Regular FTP tunneled via SSL/TLS) but also fails on some FTP servers, and it supports ssh key authentication, but only DSA keys, for some reason. I don't remember why I liked DroidFTP better; the UI was probably less irritating.

SwiFTP is actually an FTP server, but is what I used to transfer several GB of data off of a microSD card I didn't have any other adapter for. I was surprised to note that it barely used any battery during the few hours of transferring.
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Bitt Faulk

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#329925 - 09/02/2010 04:43 Re: Android Apps? [Re: wfaulk]
RobotCaleb Offline

pooh-bah

Registered: 15/01/2002
Posts: 1615
Loc: Austin
I'm too lazy to do fancy QR codes like that, but here's a brief list to add to some of the excellent ones you've listed.

Swype (You'll have to search for it. Not on the market)

http://code.google.com/p/android-wifi-tether/

imgur

Grooveshark

Qik

reddit is fun

USAA

Puzzles (Simon Tatham's Puzzles ported to Android)

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#329926 - 09/02/2010 05:38 Re: Android Apps? [Re: RobotCaleb]
Dignan Offline
carpal tunnel

Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 8252
Loc: Vienna, VA
Great list, Bitt, and there's one or two I hadn't heard of before that I'd like to check out.

Lets see if I have some additions, and I have more to say about some that you posted:

APPS

Amazon - I love Amazon, and I use their app to browse and order things with my Prime account all the time

Doggcatcher - still pretty much my favorite app. a podcatcher. Google Listen is awful compared to this one, which has more features than you can shake a stick at. Plus, this is one of the best developers around, one who listens to his users and implements features they request.

Email to Self - I knew I would use this extremely simple app so often that I didn't mind paying for it. All I use it for is to be able to put an icon on my home screen which, when pressed, does nothing but open a new GMail compose window with my own address in the To: field and the cursor in the subject. I use it constantly to send reminders to myself. I'm actually quite surprised that this isn't built into Android, like shortcuts to calling or texting are. Guess Google, like everyone else in the mobile space, is obsessed with texting and completely forgot email...

Filer - file manager. great for cleaning off my SD card of the cruft that various apps deposit and don't clean off when I uninstall them.

Foursquare - yup, for some reason I find it fun, even though the app/idea is pretty pitiful if you don't live in a major city.

Greed - I seldom use it, but if I'm waiting around somewhere and really want to check the feeds in my Google Reader account, this is the best app for it (not, God forbid, the mobile Reader website, which is abysmal). Props to this developer for not requiring a login, which sketches me out in other apps.

gTasks - not on the market (if you're interested, let me know). ties in (without credentials required) to my Google Tasks list. Pretty much the only thing that makes Google Tasks useful.

Key Ring - keep meaning to use this more. lets you put all your membership cards (ones with barcodes) in your phone, so you can use your phone on the scanner instead of carrying all those cards in your wallet.

Movies - easily the absolute best app for movie showtimes. loads the times in-app instead of opening a damn browser (I hate apps that load the browser). There are at least three apps simply called "Movies," but look for the one with the popcorn icon, possibly with a blue background.

OI Shopping List - if I don't use this app when I go to the grocery store, I will forget something. If I go to the store with a paper list, I tend to forget at least one thing. With this app, I can check off items I've found so I know I got it. For example, I'll hit the produce section, checking off items as I put them in the cart. Once I'm done in produce, I'll hit "clear completed," and all I see on my list now are items I still have left to get. Extremely useful. This is one of my favorite apps lately smile

Pandora - of course

Quick Uninstaller - going through the app market or settings to uninstall is annoying, and this has a bunch of features that I haven't even used yet, like backing apps up to SD (though I'm not sure how well that works)

Quickpedia - so far, this is the simplest, fastest, and best laid-out Wikipedia app I've found for Android, and as of a couple months ago I'd tried all of them (about 5 that I could find). The one problem is that for some unknown reason, development on this app seems to have stopped at least 10 months ago. As a result, it seems like every 5th time I try to launch the app, it force closes. Argh. Still, I reference it ALL the time.

Weatherbug - it kills me to recommend a Weatherbug product, as I'm used to their desktop software being filled with spy/adware (though perhaps it isn't anymore), but they do have the best weather app for Android. The Weather Channel one blows.


GAMES

Bonsai Blast - basically Zuma, but there's things I like about it more than PopCap's original. I was skeptical if the concept could work with the inaccuracies of a touch screen phone, but it does!

Radiant - like Bitt mentioned, a top-down space shooter. Easily one of my favorite Android games. The full version of the game is quite long, a great bang for your buck. Plus, since I first bought it, they've released about a dozen updates, including one that nearly doubled the length of the game. A good developer.

Robo Defense - FUN tower defense game. Gets a tad repetitive a little later on, especially if you realize that the game is easy if you:
Click to reveal..
Do nothing but upgrade missiles. Missiles are all you need to advance in the game. That and 4 or 5 freeze towers in a level and you can win every time with even a slightly creative layout.

Wixel - essentially single-player Boggle. Hey, word games are fun smile I hate that Bookworm isn't on Android.
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#329928 - 09/02/2010 11:44 Re: Android Apps? [Re: Dignan]
sein Offline
old hand

Registered: 07/01/2005
Posts: 763
Loc: Sector ZZ9pZa
(My N1 arrived yesterday, finally!)
  • Hullomail - Set a divert to have Hullomail collect your Voicemail and Missed Calls. Hullomail will then email notifications to you with MP3s. Google Account integration, so if Bob leaves me a Voicemail, I get an email from Bob with his message attached. Works in the UK and US. Android, iPhone and Blackberry "visual voicemail apps".
  • Friction Mobile - Simple but highly addictive game
  • Scrambled Net - Port of KNetwalk to Android. Fun in 'Master' mode.
  • Skype Lite - Despite the poor reviews, I like to use my free minutes to call abroad with ease for cheap/free and it works well for me.
  • SMS Backup - Saves incoming SMS Messages to GMail as read archived messages with an SMS Label. Nice.
  • Squeezecontrol - Simple, fast and easy to use Squeezebox Remote.
  • Trap! - Classic trap-the-ball game well executed.
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Hussein

Got lots of Empeg stuff that I'm having a hard time trying to fit into my new car...

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#329931 - 09/02/2010 14:39 Re: Android Apps? [Re: sein]
RobotCaleb Offline

pooh-bah

Registered: 15/01/2002
Posts: 1615
Loc: Austin
Originally Posted By: sein
  • Hullomail - Set a divert to have Hullomail collect your Voicemail and Missed Calls. Hullomail will then email notifications to you with MP3s. Google Account integration, so if Bob leaves me a Voicemail, I get an email from Bob with his message attached. Works in the UK and US. Android, iPhone and Blackberry "visual voicemail apps".


I don't suppose Google Voice works on your side of the pond?

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#329932 - 09/02/2010 15:26 Re: Android Apps? [Re: RobotCaleb]
JBjorgen Offline
carpal tunnel

Registered: 19/01/2002
Posts: 2666
Loc: Near Gales Point, Belize
Yes, in addition to all you just mentioned, Google Voice also converts the speech to text and includes that in the text message or email. Quite handy that.
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#329933 - 09/02/2010 15:30 Re: Android Apps? [Re: sein]
JBjorgen Offline
carpal tunnel

Registered: 19/01/2002
Posts: 2666
Loc: Near Gales Point, Belize
Sein, if you use Skype, definitely check out Fring. I only use the Skype part of it and it works great for making Skype calls and sending Skype messages.
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~ John

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#329935 - 09/02/2010 16:19 Re: Android Apps? [Re: wfaulk]
JBjorgen Offline
carpal tunnel

Registered: 19/01/2002
Posts: 2666
Loc: Near Gales Point, Belize
My list:

Advanced Task Killer Free - Does what it sounds like
Amazon - Everyone's favorite retailer. I use it to purchase MP3's and download directly onto the phone (only over wifi).
AP Mobile - Headlines at a glance
Battery Widget - not only indicates battery level, but allows you to easily enable or disable bluetooth, wifi and GPS from home screen
Better Terminal Emulator Pro - Lets me do geekery on my rooted Droid
fring - Skype client (also several other messaging/VOIP services)
Google Translate - For talking to Hispanic folks when I move to Belize
TTS Service Extended - required for Google Translate
GDocs Notepad with Sync - Allows you to take Memos and then syncs it up to Google Docs
DroidLight - use your camera flash as a flash light. Much better than those screen lights that just turn your screen white and turn up the brightness.
wpToGo - Post to my blog when I'm on the go
gTasks - create task lists and sync with google tasks
Enjoy Daily Sudoku - Only one I've tried, but I like it a lot.
Fandango - Movie info
GeoBeagle - Best geocaching app I've found until they release the official one. Searches for caches using location and download directly into phone. Then use gps to find, then log your find via SMS
Goggles - Augmented reality from Google. Not terribly useful yet, but I can see where it will be as the dataset increases over time
Google Sky Map - As bit mentioned, find your favorite star
Google Voice - Handles all my voicemail. Also set up to automatically redirect any international calls through google voice. I use that a lot.
Grocery King - Shopping app with the worst UI ever
Klondike Solitaire - A really nice solitaire game with a couple of issues yet to work out. Still fun.
Live Scores - Scores for my favorite leagues.
My Maps Editor by Google - what it sounds like
NIV-BibleReader - #1 best seller of all time - doesn't require wifi...stored in the phone
Pandora - radio. blah blah blah you know the drill
PdaNet - Tether without paying an extra $60/mo. I can deal with that.
Pkt Auctions eBay - eBay client
RedBoxer - Uses location services to find your nearest RedBox. Allows you to reserve a movie so the idiot in front of you doesn't get it.
Remember the Milk - Another list-maker that syncs online. Not sure whether I'll end up using this or gTasks.
Ringdroid - Never used it, but you can supposedly make your own ringtones
Shazam - identify that song that you like
SnapTell - identify random objects with your camera or barcode reader. Very cool
TV.com - watch full streaming episodes of TV shows.

A note about the list applications: I'm trying to find one that is really simple and really good. When in Belize, I'll only be going to the city about every other week, and when I go, there's a million things to remember. If you forget, you're screwed or you make a 3-4 hour round trip the next day to get what you forgot. Any suggestions for good list apps would be great.
Has to handle multiple lists and sync online.
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~ John

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#329936 - 09/02/2010 16:54 Re: Android Apps? [Re: JBjorgen]
sein Offline
old hand

Registered: 07/01/2005
Posts: 763
Loc: Sector ZZ9pZa
Originally Posted By: JBjorgen
Sein, if you use Skype, definitely check out Fring.

Cool, thanks John.

Also, since you use WpToGo have a look at the official Wordpress app released last week. Quite slick.

I use Remember The Milk on my phone and its quite excellent. Good options and great widgets. I'd recommend it if you don't mind paying the RTM subscription.

Btw, Happy Birthday!
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Hussein

Got lots of Empeg stuff that I'm having a hard time trying to fit into my new car...

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#329937 - 09/02/2010 17:10 Re: Android Apps? [Re: JBjorgen]
wfaulk Offline

carpal tunnel

Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 15209
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
Re: gTasks/RTM: check out Astrid I QR'd to in the OP. I'm not a power user, but folks seem to like it a lot.
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Bitt Faulk

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#329938 - 09/02/2010 17:23 Re: Android Apps? [Re: Dignan]
tfabris Offline

carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 28466
Loc: Seattle, WA
Quote:
Key Ring - keep meaning to use this more. lets you put all your membership cards (ones with barcodes) in your phone, so you can use your phone on the scanner instead of carrying all those cards in your wallet.


They can DO that?

I wouldn't think a laser scanner would be able to read the screen of a phone.

The Fandango people were talking about doing something like that for their ticketing app on the phone, which, if it works, would be just fantastic. I just didn't think it could be done.
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#329939 - 09/02/2010 20:40 Re: Android Apps? [Re: tfabris]
JBjorgen Offline
carpal tunnel

Registered: 19/01/2002
Posts: 2666
Loc: Near Gales Point, Belize
Sure. There's a couple airlines that already offer e-tickets this way. They just scan the phone.
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~ John

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#329948 - 09/02/2010 22:50 Re: Android Apps? [Re: tfabris]
Dignan Offline
carpal tunnel

Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 8252
Loc: Vienna, VA
Originally Posted By: JBjorgen
A note about the list applications: I'm trying to find one that is really simple and really good. When in Belize, I'll only be going to the city about every other week, and when I go, there's a million things to remember. If you forget, you're screwed or you make a 3-4 hour round trip the next day to get what you forgot. Any suggestions for good list apps would be great.
Has to handle multiple lists and sync online.

I mentioned one in my post. Look for what I said about OI Shopping List. I use it all the time. And happy birthday!

Originally Posted By: tfabris
Quote:
Key Ring - keep meaning to use this more. lets you put all your membership cards (ones with barcodes) in your phone, so you can use your phone on the scanner instead of carrying all those cards in your wallet.


They can DO that?

Apparently. They have plenty of tips on how to maximize the chances that the scanner will read the screen, like keep the screen dim and hold it a certain distance from the scanner.

I suspect the scanners in the airport are tweaked to read a phone screen, whereas the ones at the grocery store are set up for paper, but will work with the phone if you adjust the phone to work within its range.


Edited by Dignan (09/02/2010 22:51)
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