This app gives you an idea of where your power is going. It shows you what services are running (you may be surprised what's eating power in the background!) and how to stop them. There is also a Pro version with some added functions. That one might be worth a 5-bar rating.
This little widget is a great power saver. It basically allows you to determine how much or little power you want your phone to use based on what you're doing. I clock my power WAY down when the phone sleeps - something the phone itself wouldn't normally do since it's always looking for notifications. This app puts you more in control.
If your phone doesn't have power toggles built in (like HTC Sense does), this widget gives you quick and easy ways to turn off your 4G, WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS. You can customize the size of the widget as well as what services you want it to display.
Exactly what it says on the tin. As a Wordpress blogger, I might prefer this app to the official one - even though this one is only in beta. The UI is slicker and easier to navigate, and it's quicker to refresh.
I love being able to keep all of my rewards cards - and even my library card - stored in this app. It's so simple to set up, just scan your card and save it in the app, and when you're at the checkout the cashier can scan your phone (which you always have with you) instead of your rewards card (which you always forget).
The official Android app for Twitter is cute and it gets the job done. However, there's really nothing special about it that sets it apart from the million other Twitter apps I've tried. The notifications are kind of laggy, though.
Does a good job locating the closest wifi. The user interface could use a little work to simplify things though.
Amazing app
For those of you on the Blogger platform, this app will keep you posting on the go. It has by far the best-looking and easiest interface of any of the Blogger apps, and great reviews. It allows geotagging and pushes to Twitter as well, for added social fun. (Look for Blogaway Lite coming soon! It's in beta, and will support both Wordpress and Blogger platforms!)
This tumblr app is simple and straightforward, just like tumblr itself. You can view your dashboard in addition to creating posts - a key feature that's missing in one or two other tumblr apps.
I'm a Wordpresser, so this was one of the first apps I went after when I got my first Android phone. You can register more than one blog on it, Wordpress.com or self-hosted blogs work. It allows you to read, post, and comment - albeit without the full functionality of the main interface. But it IS a mobile app, after all. My one gripe is that you have to manually refresh every section on login, but other than that, this is a slick way to work on my blog without having to use the browser.
The full eBay website renders pretty well in most mobile browsers, but this app is a quick and easy alternative to the constant pinch-and-zoom you’d have to do to check out items on full Internet. The interface is simple and includes all the basic functions like search (and voice search) and filter. A quick tap on the item takes you to the full listing - still in the app, it doesn’t open your browser. You can sign in, watch items, bid and buy items on the app just as easily as on the website. I find it a faster load and a quicker navigation than using the site in the browser.
It only took five minutes to choose and buy a case for my Evo the other day. Go on, eBay. Encourage my bad habit. This is scarily simple.
eBuddy is a slick solution to several problems posed by stock Android apps Facebook and Google Talk. FB doesn’t have a chat function, and Google Talk requires a force close on a lot of phones, making it quite the battery hog. Ignore them both and pick up eBuddy, where you can sync not only Facebook and Google chats, but also Yahoo, ICQ, MSN, AIM and MySpace chats as well.
You have to create an eBuddy account (simple) and it’s nice that on login, you can choose which of your chat accounts you want to open. If I only want to use GChat and not show up as available on Facebook chat at the time, I can log in only to Google.
The little speech-bubble interface is cute and easy to read, and navigating the menus and settings is pretty intuitive. Overall, this is another handy all-in-one that anyone who chats should pick up before the developer realizes how awesome this is and starts charging for it.
Oh so simple, oh so useful.
Best Buy Reward Zone has a Dining component - perhaps a strange partnership, but I love it because now I get Best Buy points for EATING. At certain places, anyway. This app finds your location and makes a list with information about participating restaurants close to you. It's so simple.
If you're in the dining program, your points can add up to Best Buy gift cards... bon appetit!
Don’t let the hype fool you – some iThings CAN play nice with Android. The iSyncr app syncs your computer’s iTunes to the Android phone, which makes for one less gadget to carry around on the daily commute. There’s a Mac version of this app, and one for PC.
The user has options to sync only specific playlists or file types (podcast, audiobooks) if space is a concern. Media files will be saved to the phone’s SD card and not clutter up the phone’s built-in memory. It’s not a remote sync - you do have to plug it in to your computer to move the files - but that’s a minor inconvenience. You’d have to do it on your iPod anyway.
On the HTC Sense UI, the app interfaces with the native Android Music player. Whatever you’ve synced to your phone will show up in your playlist exactly as it does in your iTunes - sorted and ready to go. It even brings in your cover art if you choose, and you can do that fun scroll-y thing with it.
(Will NOT play certain DRM-protected files, which is why it gets 4 bars)
Groupon launched their first Android app this month, and as a Groupon email subscriber I was anxious to see what it would offer me beyond the daily emails I already receive. Additional offers? Sneak peeks at coming deals?
In a word, no. It’s the exact same coupon you’ll see in the emails. But there are a few perks to using the app. When you sign in, you can track which Groupons you’ve already bought and when they expire. For those who purchase often this might be a handy feature. In addition, you can just access your purchased Groupon through the app and then just show it on the phone at the store/restaurant/whatever to get your discount, instead of printing and having to remember to bring along a paper coupon.
Nice touch – and it saves a few trees too.
Type in a city name or a zip code and a square displays with the time and weather. You can see six locations at once. Very useful for my job where I am constantly switching between PT, CT, and ET.
The best sci. calc layout. All the functions and features are laid out on one page for easy access.
The best visual voicemail app plus so much more. Archive voicemails, record phonecalls while they're happening, and view text translations of voicemails. It's the voicemail swiss army knife.
I keep super mobile using this combined with my netbook. Kind of a pain to install if you have a new/rare phone because you have to track down your phone drivers but once installed it works flawlessly.
advertisement
