frankmehta® publishes his list of the best FREE MUST HAVE Android Applications
Hi there guys!!! I have been thinking of making a thread like this since a long time, but didn't have the inclination to do it every single time.
A little bit of a background. I have a Samsung Galaxy S. It is, for me (and it's other owners) the FINEST piece of gadgetry I have owned this year.
For the first six months, I ran the phone vanilla. Now, I have it running Darky's ROM v9.3 Final (01/03/11) which is actually a SUPER optimized version of Froyo, but without the other bullshit.
That makes it the FIRST thing that you must have, if you own a Galaxy S.
For others, worry not, go to XDA developers and you will get your daily fix of Hacks and ROMS.
Getting to the list of softwares, they are published in a random order (not in any order of preference), and are ALL installed on my phone. The reason why I mention this is, Android phones are known to become slightly laggy when a lot of stuff is running, and battery life also takes a hit if lots of apps are running the background.
I make this list because ALL THE APPS running together on my Galaxy S have very little bearing on the battery and the phone DOESN'T sap itself out of too much battery or is NEVER laggy.
So here goes
Mind you, most apps here can be installed on ALL ANDROID PHONES. So it's not a SGS (Samsung Galaxy S) specific list unless mentioned.
1. Darky's ROM (for SGS) with VOODOO lagfix (SGS again)
2. Angry Birds:
The eternal favourite, a legend, and IMMENSE timepass. available in two flavours, original and seasons. Get both. Very good graphics and amazing gameplay.
3. Talking Tom Cat Free:
Once again, very good implementation of available resources. Good, innovative software for hours of fun.
4. PubMed Mobile:
The mobile version of Pubmed. A boon for finding research articles if you are a Dentist or a Doctor.
5. Facebook for Android:
New version finally allows tagging of pictures and is quite intuitive to use. Access speeds could be a little faster.
6. Opera Mini Web Browser:
The evergreen browser if you want unparalleled speeds while browsing the internet. It compresses pages so high resolution images and flash is not displayed. It is for those situations where a page is really heavy to load in the stock Android browser. Any page opens very quickly in Opera Mini.
7. Kindle:
This is for the book lovers. Quite a good interface and lots of readability options. Easy access to the store to buy books and quick download/install of books.
8. Shazam:
Fantastic software that 'hears' a song playing around you and goes to it's database and gets you the name and other details of the song. Very handy. Has an option to view that music video on youtube or else buy the song directly from Amazon. Used to be free, but now 5 tages allowed per month. Luckily, I managed to get the unlimited version because I downloaded a day before it became paid.
9. Speedtest.net:
The best way to check ISP speeds: EDGE, 3G or WiFi.
10. Task Manager:
NOW, this is one the BEST softwares in Android. It has the option of leaving a widget on the home page and clicking on this widget frees up lots of RAM by closing useless applications. Make sure you get the one from RYTHM SOFTWARE.
11. m-Indicator (mumbai):
For the people of Mumbai to get immediate access to train timetables, taxi, rickshaw fares and railway PNR information. The works. Quite useful when you gotta catch a train and don't know when to plan to leave for the station.
12. ByteTornado Downloader:
THis is like your usual download accelerator. It actually works. Besides, the Android browser does not allow you to download files that DONT open in the phone. Bytetornado allows it. Just paste the link, and it downloads the files.
13. Ringdroid:
The ultimate in ringtone creation. You can cut mp3 files and create ringtones for your phone. Very easy to use and fast in processing.
14. AdFree Android:
FABULOUS app. Removes all the in-app ads Google is infamous for. Works 90% of the time in removing them, hence saving screen space and bandwidth.
15. Compass:
Make use of the inbuilt magnetometer in your phone, or allow compass to get co-ordinates from GPS. This is a slick software. Very good interface. Lots of customizability.
16. Zedge:
Fun app to get MILLIONS of free photos and ringtones. You can preview tones before downloading them.
17. PicSay:
Photo editor. Android lacks one. This does the job.
18. Unit Converter: Convertpad:
Does exactly that. Converts a LOT of stuff. Even currency. Downloads the latest Forex rates every time.
19. TubeMate Youtube Downloader:
Download Youtube videos directly to your phone. UNIQUE FEATURE: Ever wanted to get ONLY the audio part of the video??? This one allows you to download the audio stream of the youtube video at the highest quality that it has been uploaded in. Very handy when you want a song and can't find it.
20. NDTV:
Slick application to keep abreast of news. Surprising to have ONLY one Indian channel actively supporting Android.
21. ESPN Cricinfo:
Lovely application for the world cup. Scores on the fly with PUSH notifications about wickets, drinks breaks and other stuff. Very nice!! Just force closes sometimes on the SGS
22. Ultra Voice Changer:
REcord your voice and play it back in the FUNNIEST and SCARIEST manner possible. Save it, upload, mms, email, facebook it.
23. Space Physics Lite:
Very clever application. Like iPhysics, but more innovative.
24. Annoying Sounds:
The one-stop solution to all SUPER irritating sounds invented by Man.
25. Fruit Ninja:
Fun game. Good graphics. LOUD sound effects.
26. TRAP:
Nice game. Basic graphics, but can keep you occupied for hours.
27. Thinkfree Office:
Loads ALL office formats. Even PDF. VERY useful. You can also edit office files and save them.
28. Aldiko E Book reader:
Lovely interface, good reading options. Better than Kindly IMHO (only in terms of UI, Kindle store kicks it's arse in terms of content)
Honourable Mentions:
Paper Toss, NFS Lite, SGS Info (for SGS only), SGS tools (for SGS only), Google Maps,Youtube application,
WILL ADD MORE AS I COME ACROSS THEM. As of now, these make my phone a FUN thing to have and can keep you occupied and be SUPER useful and resourceful at any given point of time.
PS: I love ANDROID.