16 Must Have Android Apps
Android apps to help with everything
from getting around to productivity to TV watching.
I love my Android phone. Coming from an iPhone, I found the level
of control with Android to be far superior to what I experienced with iOS. For
me, it was the applications that sold me on Android. In this article, I'll be
sharing my must have Android applications. These apps range from critical to
making life easier and everything in-between.
1. Mr. Number – There is little in life that's
more annoying than having your smart phone ring during dinner. Even worse than
that, is discovering the call is coming from a phone solicitor. This is where Mr. Number saves the day. You can use Mr. Number to
block problem incoming numbers. Best of all, you'll have the ability to either
send the caller directly to voicemail or just block them completely.
2. SleepBot – How well are you actually sleeping?
With the SleepBot app, you're able to determine
the quality of sleep you're getting without having to purchase a secondary
device. Also helpful is the app's ability to record both sounds and movements
during a sleep period. This application can be extremely useful in determining
specific times of sleeplessness and providing details to your doctor.
3. Google Goggles – On its surface, Google Goggles might seem more like a toy than
anything one would find useful. Quite to the contrary, I've found this
application to be extremely helpful when I need to identify something. Even if
the app can't recognize the image I snap with my phone's camera, often Google
provides me with a close enough sampling of alternatives.
4. Waze – I've used a plethora of GPS solutions
over the years. Most of them were terrible or just outdated. And many of the
smart phone apps simply lacked the kind of functionality I was looking for. Then
Waze came along and made using GPS software
tolerable. The two killer features for me are the alerts to speed traps and
sending others your real-time driving info.
5. Dropbox – I'd dump Dropbox today if it wasn't so reasonably priced and
convenient. Unfortunately, it's also very useful for syncing music to my Android
device for local playback. This feature alone has me happily using Dropbox on my
phone with no end in sight. An added bonus is being able to sync my documents
with my Android tablet. This is useful when I need to edit a document that I was
previously working on from my desktop computer.
6. SwiftKey – I've tried to use the default
Android keyboard. It's "okay," however I need something that will help catch my
written mistakes. While not perfect, I've found that SwiftKey is pretty close. If you allow it to learn
from your phone's history, it's surprisingly accurate in its suggestions and
auto-corrections. Install, choose the keyboard skin you want and you're all set.
The only downside is that I lack this on my desktop PC.
7. Tasker – I've had a bit of a love/hate
relationship with Tasker. I love it as it allows me to automate
various aspects of my phone's interaction with the real world. But I hate it
because I keep finding new uses for it. From using location services to make
your phone turn off certain services to sending SMS messages when you get to
work – this app does it all! I should point out that this is not an easy app to
use out of the box. You will need to spend some time working with it to fully
get the hang of it.
8. Any.Do – I've been holding out for just the
right task manager for sometime. And truth be told, I still use different tools
for different tasks. But for my work tasks, Any.Do has been rock solid. This app also allows
for sub-tasks, which has made complex lists easier to sort through. If you work
with a team then Any.Do pro is the way to go. It makes task list collaboration
much easier to work through.
9. Elixir 2 – If there is one application you
install, it needs to be Elixir 2. It's designed to help the masses understand
some of the mysterious stuff running in the background of their Android devices.
This app is also awesome for hardware troubleshooting. Proximity sensor or
software issues bugging you? Elixir 2 will allow you to verify that
your Android phone's sensors are all acting correctly. I have found that its
report generator is an invaluable tool for determining device health, component
temperature and if everything is firing on all cylinders.
10. Firefox – I'll be the first to admit I only
recently installed Firefox on my Android devices. My reason why was a
painfully practical one – ad blocking. Truly mobile friendly ads are fine in my
eyes, they don't interfere with my user experience. Yet sometimes you might find
a page that simply won't load at all due to a slow ad server. This and the
ability to install other add-ons to my mobile browser won me over rather
quickly. I've found Firefox to be a faster, smoother experience than Android's
native Chrome browser.
11. TV Show Favs – I don't watch TV
like most people. My viewing habits are usually pretty binge-centric and
on-demand. Whether this means buying up individual episodes on Amazon (on
demand) or catching something on Hulu. So I need to be aware of upcoming
episodes. This is where TV Show Favs comes in. Not only does this app make
keeping track of which episodes are coming out soon doable, it also keeps track
of stuff I've already watched. As an added bonus, it's great about letting me
know if a series is going to end or be canceled as well.
12. WiEye – Usually wifi access is fairly
straight forward – it either works or it doesn't. But there are instances where
you need to troubleshoot connection issues and find out if too many people are
on one channel. WiEye can be an amazing help in discovering how
many local access points are broadcasting. It's also useful for determining if
any of the local access points are broadcasting without encryption.
13. Splashtop – There have been times where I
receive an email or a phone call from someone needing remote support – now.
Since I've already installed Splashtop on their computer, using my Android
device, I'm able to offer remote assistance on both wifi and the mobile network
without any network slowdown. Splashtop does a fantastic job of providing a
finger-touch control interface that allows you to use the remote desktop with
tremendous performance.
14. PIA (Private Internet Access) – If you find
yourself using untrusted wifi on occasion, then you're going to want to make
sure you're using the PIA VPN app for Android. It's dead simple to use,
simply enter in your account information once and connect. The VPN software will
ensure you're connecting to the fastest VPN server and your getting solid
throughput performance. There are other VPN solutions out there for Android,
however none of them match both the speed and performance found with PIA.
15. SmartThings – It's been said that 2015 is the
year that "the Internet of things" becomes a common buzzword with smart devices
working together to make life around your home easier. Recently I've been
testing out a smart device hub called SmartThings. It comes with a smart hub
that I connected to my router, then I added smart sensors to expand the
"network" of smart devices. The key to controlling these items comes from their
SmartThings Android app. It allows me to monitor
sensors being triggered and even turn devices on or off. What I love about this
app is that it offers me the ability to receive alerts as push notifications and
SMS alerts. Bundle their alerts with the ability to make real-time changes to
aspects of my home from anywhere and it's easy to see why SmartThings is such a
popular concept.
16. Mirror Beta – Not all that long ago recording
from your Android device's home screen meant you needed to root your device.
Some devices I have no problem doing this with, while others I would rather
avoid rooting altogether. Thankfully Mirror Beta doesn't require me to root anything. It
allows me to record my Android screen as a video file. Even better, I can demo
Android applications over a Roku box as a live stream by installing the AllCast
Receiver application.
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