Must Have Android Apps-March 2013

Recommended apps for your android phone – march 2013.

Communication & Social

• Gmail – No need to explain what Gmail is. Because, for most of us Email=Gmail.
• IMO – Multi-protocol Instant Messenger that can handle G-talk, Facebook, Yahoo, AIM etc simultaneously with support for multiple accounts. With a sleek interface and optimal battery consumption. Look no further than IMO for your chatting needs!
• Watsapp – No need to explain this either. If you want to pay for any app then this is it. grab a copy as soon as you run out of your free subscription limit.
• Opera Mini – The fastest browser on the planet. With data compression technology it saves on your data consumption and hence your internet bill!
• Naked Browser – Cheesy names apart, this is the most secure, un-bloated and capable browser for android. It may(ok definitely!) looks ugly, but its fast and secure.
• Facebook – This is the official FB app. bloated, but if you update your location on FB frequently and sync your contacts to FB then this use this.
• Twitter – The official twitter app. Simple and gets the job done.
• Linkedin – To access linkedin, this is the best app.
• Handcent SMS – A definite must have app for the replacement of stock SMS app for android. With tons of features and facilities, you cannot go wrong with this. Also, its fast and eats less memory.
• Skype – Skype is the default app for Video chatting. Period.
• Instagram – Social photography with Instagram is the craze of the day.
• Burrp! – Finding a local restaurant/hotel was never easier. Comes with reviews and photographs as well.

Music and Media

• Poweramp – The best music player on android platform. If you decide to buy any app for android, buy this! You cannot go wrong here. It comes with huge amount of customization and an aesthetic interface. And the sound quality with proper equalizer settings is unparalleled.
• MX Player – The VLC player for android. Plays anything you throw at it. It supports subtitles and hardware acceleration as well.
• TED – The official app for viewing TED videos.
• Youtube – The official You-tube App.
• Soundhound – Cannot identify the song that you heard at some place? Just hum the tune into this app ans it will search it for you. Also gives options for downloading the song.

Productivity

• Adobe Reader – PDF document viewer for Android.
• Advanced English Thesaurus – The best dictionary/Thesaurus app. Fast and has over 1.4 Million words and definitions. 
• Dropbox – Sync your important documents across all your devices using Dropbox. You can use to sync your important files between your PC and Phone using dropbox.
• Evernote – The ultimate and most popular note taking app for android.
• OfficeSuite – View MS office documents, PowerPoint Presentations and Excel Sheets with this application.
• AlarmSticky Note – The best Sticky note widget with a built in alarm for reminding you of the task.

Personalization

• Swiftkey – The most popular keyboard  with text prediction for android.
• Swype – If swiping is your thing then swype is the ultimate keyboard for you.
• Google Hindi Input – Type in Hindi on your Phone. Also doubles as a normal keyboard.
• LauncherPro – The fastest customization launcher for your phone.
• Zedge – With Millions of ringtones, notification sounds & wallpapers, you cannot go wrong with zedge. Download high quality wallpapers at the click of a button.

Reference and Books

• Aldiko – E book reader which offers thousands of free and paid books for you.
• Cool Reader – The reader that can display tons of formats.
• Google Books – The official Google books app.
• Army Survival Guide – Just in case you are stuck in an inhospitable environment, this will ensure that you survive.
• World Factbook – Facts about all the countries in the world.

Tools & Utilities

• AirDroid – This is the app you are looking for if you have to transfer files from your PC to your Phone over Wi-Fi. With a gorgeous user-interface & many more features, you will never go back to using a cable anymore. 
• AppBackup and Restore – To backup the APK files of the app that you have installed on your phone.
• Autorun Manager(ROOTED) – This App is for Rooted Phones. There are many android apps that start up unnecessarily and slow down your phone. Auto-run Manager disables such apps and hence makes your phone run faster.
• Battery Indicator – Battery indicator app that displays your battery status as a percentage. Enables you to track battery consumption more accurately.
• Bluetooth File Transfer – This may not be the most aesthetically pleasing app, but is rich on features and hence the favourite as a file manager.
• Compass – Just in case!
• AnTuTu CPU Master(ROOTED) – This App is for Rooted Phones. You can control the frequency of your phones CPU with this app. On supported kernels, overclocking is also possible.
• Google Sky Maps – Google maps for the night sky.
• Google Maps – No need to explain this. With this app you shall never get lost/stray from your destination.
• Link2SD(ROOTED) – This App is for Rooted Phones. If you have low internal phone memory  then this app is for you. you can link the apps on SD card(which is different from “move to SD card”) and use some part your SD card as phone memory, and free your phones actual internal memory.
• M-Indicator – Local Train/Best Bus/Auto/Cab Transit application for Mumbai.
• Pixlr Express – The most feature filled photo-editing application on android.
• Pocket – Read-it-later service which stores the webpages that you marked as to be read at a later time.
• QuickPic – The best gallery replacement tool for your phone. Fast and feature-filled.
• RealCalc – Scientific Calculator for Android.
• Superuser(ROOTED) – This App is for Rooted Phones. Manage Superuser permission for your phone.
• Titanium Backup (ROOTED) – This App is for Rooted Phones. The best backup application. Period. Titanium Backup is the sole reason that many people ROOT their android devices. Along with Link2SD, this app opens up numerous possibilities for your phone.
• Watchdog – Instead of using task killer, I recommend you to use Watchdog instead. It monitors applications and when they exceed a certain level of CPU activity(Hang/Crash/Freeze) , It notifies the user. The user can then kill the frozen app and use his phone smoothly.
• uTorrent – The best app to download torrent files.

Readers of this blog are encouraged to express their opinion on the matter by leaving a comment below.

Must Have Applications For Android-April 2012

Hello guys….I know its been a long time since I have posted anything here. But, now that I am back we will have a look at must have android applications for the month of April 2012. These applications range from email applications like Gmail to apps such as Angry Birds. So the list goes like this;

1) Gmail

Yes, the official Gmail App that comes with the phone is a must have. the Gmail app uses push-email technology. It notifies you as soon as the email lands in your inbox, just like a SMS. In addition, it synchronizes the contacts, labels, and much more.The user interface is intuitive and fast. You can even configure multiple email accounts on the same application. All in all a great application to satisfy most of your email sending needs.

2) Opera Mini

Although the default web browser gets the job done decently, Opera Mini steals the show by its speed. The Web page compression technology that Opera uses, makes browsing even on an a 2G-edge connection seem lightening fast. This is also helpful for people on limited data plans for 3G, because opera servers achieve a data compression of about 50% hence you can browse without the worry of exceeding your download cap.

Not just that, the speed dial page means you do not have to type long url’s on your phones touchscreen keyboard. With a great bookmark manager, ability to save entire webpages, find a keyword in the webpage and a superb download manager, Opera Mini is undoubtedly the best web browser for your android mobile handset.

3) IMO

IMO stands for I Am Online, which is undoubtedly the best multiprotocol messenger available on the android operating system. IMO supports almost all the popular chat services like Yahoo, Gtalk, Facebook, AIM, Jabber, Skype et al. It supports multiple accounts, even of the same service, ie you can configure two(or more) Gtalk accounts on it at the same time. You can link all the accounts together so that you do not have to sign in into each account separately every time you decide to go online, the app signs in automatically into all the accounts.

The interface is highly polished and extremely user friendly. It has features like ability to attach Audio files in chat messages, photos and emoticons. The main area where this app scores over its competitors like ebuddy is power usage. The application hardly uses any battery power. Even prolonged chatting over the app did not have a noticeable effect on the battery life of my phone. So, to sum it up IMO is good looking, has lots of options and does not drain the battery.

4) WhatsApp

Why should BB boys have all the fun? This idea lead to the designing of this app and not to mention this app has surpassed even the original BBM in terms of sheer user base. Sending messages, pictures, audio clips, location messages, and group chat were never easier. Its ability to read contacts from the phone contact list means that you do not have to add each and every friend of yours into your chat list. Your phone number becomes your identity.

Also, since the App is not limited to just android, but is also available on iOS, BB and even on symbian operating system means that you will be connected to your friends irrespective of which OS their phone runs on. Although, it is a paid app after the initial evaluation period, it is better to spend $1.99 than buying a BB Brick!

5) Bluetooth File Transfer

Although the ugliest of them all, this is a feature filled application. You can manage your files, access and unzip compressed files, bookmark favourite folders, copy-paste-move multiple files and even share them by bluetooth. It has bluetooth FTP and OPP file receiving services(a must on Sony Ericsson Phones). The app scores in its light footprint  in terms of CPU and RAM usage. The application scores over its counterparts that it can send applications that are installed on your phone to your friends phone by bluetooth! Hence, eliminating the need to download apps everytime from the market and waiting for them to install over your crappy 2G connection.

The only downside to this amazing application is the AD Banner which is at the bottom of the application. But, its non intrusive and a small price to pay for such a great file manager.

6) Evernote

Elephants dont forget, neither does Evernote, nor will you if you install it on your phone! It is the most popular note taking application available. Its available for android, PC, Mac, iOS et al. Hence your notes will remain securely backed up and ready for you to access anytime anywhere, whether you are on your PC or are mobile. With features such as real time synchronization, the notes are synchronized immediately to the evernote servers and are synced across all your devices.

7) PowerAmp Player

It is undoubtedly the best music player for android. Available as a paid app and a full featured 15 trial version, it entices you with its sleek and polished interface. When you get over the initial good looks, it manages to amaze you further by its robust sound quality. It has a 10 band graphic equalizer with dedicated Bass-Treble control and standard equalizer presets. Audio quality is as good as an iPod.

With features such as gesture control, swype to change the song, headset control and the ability to browse the audio library folders are some of the features. It has a beautiful Standby lock-screen through which you can control the player. All these features make it the best audio player for android.

8) MxVideo Player

This is the video playing counterpart of PowerAmp player. In order for this app to work the codec need to be installed. After this initial installation which takes up quite a bit of space on your phone, you are good to go. This player supports almost all the video formats that you can throw at it. It comes with an elegant interface, has gesture controls and even support for subtitles. With the ability for hardware acceleration, it can support HD formats on high end phones such as Galaxy SII and the likes.

9) Google Maps

This is the best maps and navigation application that is available on the android platform. The application is intuitive to use, comes with audio recognition and also has lots of features. This means that with Google Apps on your phone, you will never get lost in a new locality!

10) Cool Reader

This one is for the bookaholics. It is the most feature filled and configurable ebook reader on android. With tons of options to tinker with, you can adjust the font, brightness, spacing, margins, enable gestures to turn pages, lock orientation and much more. It supports popular ebook formats like epub, doc, txt, html, pdf etc.

With configurable background colour, it is easy on your eyes for prolonged reading. It also scores aces in power consumption department. Reading for about an hour at 40% brightness reduced the battery by only 5%. Hence a must have for all the book worms out there.

11) Angry Birds Space

Last but not the least, this is the newest version of the ever famous, mind blowing, pig slaughtering awesomeness that is Angry Birds. In this version of the game, the pigs have stole the eggs and are hiding in outer space. The game has 60 levels in it that will keep you busy for hours at end. The game comes with surprisingly detailed graphics and an even more interesting gravity defying(literally) shots.  The aim of the game being simple, kill the F***ing  pigs..!!