The Must Have Android Apps

[vshah]

a new messaging app... hmm.

Does it completely replace the integrated messaging app (think: SMS/MMS) with a standalone application, or just restyle and add more options to the integrated software?
Or does it completely replace the integrated software and proceed to completely integrate with Android on it's own?

I like how messaging is set up right now, but some of the things you described sound like nice options that I assume are not included in the messaging interface (admittedly I have not discovered all the options and features as of yet). But I like the look and feel, and like doing everything from the Contacts menu with the pop up over the contact's name feature. I'll click message from there.

all that happens when you click "message" from the contact list is that the contact list sends an "intent" to the OS for a messaging app. the OS returns a list of providers for that intent. if you only have the default app installed, there is only one provider, so it goes straight to regular messaging.

after you install handcent, you'll get a popup list asking you which program to use, as well as the option to make your selection the default.

android = win


edit: you should probably disable all notifications from the regular messaging app once you start using handcent

 

[California Roll]

Not an app but my coworker, who's probably 38, changed his notification on his new Droid so it makes that Transformers transforming sound when he gets a msg or email. So childish and so awesome at the same time.

 

[destrekor]

Not an app but my coworker, who's probably 38, changed his notification on his new Droid so it makes that Transformers transforming sound when he gets a msg or email. So childish and so awesome at the same time.

a few buddies have used the Power Rangers pager chime. We always had to say "Yes, Zordon!" when they got a message on their phone.
good times. good times.

 

[Bateluer]

K9 Mail, much better than the included mail client.

 

[aceO07]

Astro - file manager, task manager
Battery Graph - nice to see when you drained the most battery
My Tracks - good for jogging/biking/etc. tracks speed and course and misc details.

 

[slayer202]

key ring and compare everywhere sound sweeeeeet

 

[destrekor]

K9 Mail, much better than the included mail client.

What's great though, is if you are a Gmail user, the included Gmail app is by far the best mobile Gmail experience.
Everything I do is routed through my Gmail account (well, Gmail account + school email goes to my gmail account).
The only thing I miss is the ability to choose to use my school email as the "From" address, which is something I enabled in the advanced settings in Gmail.

 

[maziwanka]

is it possible to "hack" the google voice settings so you can use their voicemail service for your phone? i saw the old guide for android 1.5, but i can't find similar settings in the droid's android 2.0. would be neat to get the visual vm to work.

also, has anyone tried to route their calls through google voice? has it worked seamlessly?

 

[amdhunter]

Calorie Counter - great if you're a health nut, complete with bar code scanner and nutrition labels
Barcode Scanner - for non-food items, lets you do a Google web search to find the barcodes online
Keeper - store passwords, allows you to categorize them and sort
Solitaire - comes with 3 common game types
Finance - very clean interface, pulls portfolio info from Google Finance

Solitare is freaking awesome. Thanks!

 

[CrackRabbit]

I have a question for the Android users here.
How are you guys doing on storage space?
I read an article that the new Moto Droid (as well as most newer Android phones) have basically 256mb of app space due to OS limitations.
My roommate (who has an Iphone, who showed me the article) made a very compelling argument that Android phones would run out of space, a limitation the Iphone doesn't have.

 

[Deeko]

I have a question for the Android users here.
How are you guys doing on storage space?
I read an article that the new Moto Droid (as well as most newer Android phones) have basically 256mb of app space due to OS limitations.
My roommate (who has an Iphone, who showed me the article) made a very compelling argument that Android phones would run out of space, a limitation the Iphone doesn't have.

I have 211MB free. Almost everything is stored on the card - apps will often download images, cache data, etc, all of which goes on the SD card. The apps themselves are rather small.

Once the phone is rooted, there is an app (apps2sd) that will store the apps themselves in the card.

Its a complete non-issue. On the very first iteration of the G1, there was only about 25MB of space for apps - yes, that was too little - but after the 1.5 update, a lot more space was freed up, and the Droid has a lot more space to begin with.

 

[CrackRabbit]

I have 211MB free. Almost everything is stored on the card - apps will often download images, cache data, etc, all of which goes on the SD card. The apps themselves are rather small.

Once the phone is rooted, there is an app (apps2sd) that will store the apps themselves in the card.

Its a complete non-issue. On the very first iteration of the G1, there was only about 25MB of space for apps - yes, that was too little - but after the 1.5 update, a lot more space was freed up, and the Droid has a lot more space to begin with.

Thanks Deeko!
I figured there had to be a way around the 512mb ROM (not sure why the limit is so low on that) limit but I couldn't find anything on the web on how it was done.
Any ideas on when A2SD might be ready for 2.0? All the builds I have seen are for 1.5.

 

[vshah]

Thanks Deeko!
I figured there had to be a way around the 512mb ROM (not sure why the limit is so low on that) limit but I couldn't find anything on the web on how it was done.
Any ideas on when A2SD might be ready for 2.0? All the builds I have seen are for 1.5.

one 2.0 is in the android open source project it should happen pretty quickly

 

[Muadib]

I have 211MB free. Almost everything is stored on the card - apps will often download images, cache data, etc, all of which goes on the SD card. The apps themselves are rather small.

Once the phone is rooted, there is an app (apps2sd) that will store the apps themselves in the card.

Its a complete non-issue. On the very first iteration of the G1, there was only about 25MB of space for apps - yes, that was too little - but after the 1.5 update, a lot more space was freed up, and the Droid has a lot more space to begin with.

Yeah, but how many apps do you have on your Droid? I just removed a bunch of apps from my iPhone, and I'm still almost at 2GB worth. Apps don't use much space, but games surely do.

 

[Deeko]

Yeah, but how many apps do you have on your Droid? I just removed a bunch of apps from my iPhone, and I'm still almost at 2GB worth. Apps don't use much space, but games surely do.

I don't know, a few dozen.

Often if an app/game is large, it only downloads the core files from the Android Market. For example - Doom. You download the core app onto the phone itself - 317kb. Then, when you launch the app, it downloads the necessary maps, images, and sounds onto the SD card - I think its 30-40MB maybe.

Like I said, it really is a non-issue. The G1 initially had less than 1/10 the available space as the Droid, so app developers found a way.

 

[destrekor]

speedtest

Because it was showing that my connection, regardless of what server I chose (from a few miles away to 800 miles away), I was consistently hitting 1.5-2mbps.
Color me impressed, sweet jesus I like that with a phone. And that's just EVDO Rev A.

 

[Rottie]

does it hav3e facebook and mysoace apps??

 

[Cdubneeddeal]

does it hav3e facebook and mysoace apps??

Mine has Facebook built in but not Myspace. I'm sure there's an app for it.

 

[SandEagle]

can't believe no one mentioned Nesoid.

nesoid
shop savvy
shazaam
snap and tell
fxCamera
Google Finance
IcViewer (for PDFs)
Opera Mini
TuneWiki

 

[gizbug]

Not an app but my coworker, who's probably 38, changed his notification on his new Droid so it makes that Transformers transforming sound when he gets a msg or email. So childish and so awesome at the same time.

Do you have a link to this sound file, and how to add it so when I receive a msg it plays it?

 

[PlatinumGold]

cool. i like their approach. also, i found this program Locale - if it works like it says it's supposed to, bad fucking ass. i always forget to turn vibrate on when i go to work.

i use it, and it works. very happy with it.

 

[lokiju]

What I've found I've been very fond of is going to http://www.androlib.com/ and searching out apps and then using "barcode scanner" by zxing to scan the QR barcode on the screen, which takes me straight to the app in the market place.

Just like all the apps in this thread. I search it out on androlib and then if it looks like something I'd like I scan the QR barcode from my monitor and install it.

 

[troytime]

is it possible to "hack" the google voice settings so you can use their voicemail service for your phone? i saw the old guide for android 1.5, but i can't find similar settings in the droid's android 2.0. would be neat to get the visual vm to work.

also, has anyone tried to route their calls through google voice? has it worked seamlessly?

you don't have to 'hack' anything.
log into google voice and set it up to use google voice as your voicemail
you'll have to confirm your number, but it's super easy - and really cool

 

[cecco]

Anyone use Flexilis for mobile protection? Or are anti-virus apps even necessary on a mobile device?

 

[gizbug]

Anyone use Flexilis for mobile protection? Or are anti-virus apps even necessary on a mobile device?

Nope.