droid apps?

[TheChairmanH2K]

hey everyone

just got my first smartphone, a Droid 4 on verizon.  i know there are some useful apps out there but i was wondering if the BYOAC community had any they recommended?  useful apps are the top of my list as this phone wont be used for entertainment purposes but i wont rule some fun ones out.  thanks in advance.

[Nephasth]

I use Flashlight on a daily basis on my Droid 3.

[Hoopz]

Root (when you're ready) and go with Titanium Backup, Rom manager, etc.  Also get AdFree to block ads. 

[knave]

My must have apps:

1. Astro file manager
2. FB reader
3. Pandora
4. doubletwist media player
5. SMS backup+

For my tablet:
Netflix
HBO go
Skype

Honorable mention:
Astrid tasks
AK notepad

[Mysterioii]

ElectroDroid is an excellent FREE source of info if you're into electronics.  Resistor color codes, SMD resistor codes, LED current-limiting resistor calculator, voltage drop through wire runs by material/AWG/length, a bunch of other circuit calculators.  Pinouts, addtional resources...  lots of info there for a free package.

[wp34]

Here are some of my favorites

Amazon App Store - They offer a free app a day and are often cheaper than Google Play
Tapatalk - App for accessing forums such as this one
GoogleReader - RSS aggregator
DropBox - automatically sync files to the cloud
Keypass - freeware password encryption
EasyTetherPro - tether your laptop for free
Juice Defender - helps with battery life
Shazam - identify songs on the radio
MAME4Droid - nuff said!

[ark_ader]

Wifi File Explorer Pro.

I like how you make a comment to the developer of this app, and next week it is implemented via an update.

This app is just brilliant.  A complete must-have.

FPSE is another but I'm not sure if your phone is up to spec.  You need a fast CPU and a good GPU to get good frame rates.

I'm sure someone will prove otherwise....

[crashwg]

I find myself all to often around people who can't seem to put their phones down even in social situations where it's customary for everyone to, you know, participate...

Therefor I recommend: Bzzy

Don't be that guy.

[TheChairmanH2K]

thanks for the informative replies peeps   yeah im not really on my phone all that much so im just looking for a few useful ones for the utility belt    ill definitely check all the apps you guys recommended.

[CCM]

I find myself all to often around people who can't seem to put their phones down even in social situations where it's customary for everyone to, you know, participate...

Therefor I recommend: Bzzy

Don't be that guy.

With one swipe I can turn the sound off on my phone and accomplish the same thing... I feel no obligation to send a message back that I am busy, flying, eating, whatever... If I am busy I just don't reply.  No need for an app to do this.  I know this has been discussed in other threads, but I remember the magical time before cell phones.  If I was out, you didn't get a hold of me, plain and simple!   And somehow I lived thru those times and even went to school and held down a job.... all without a cell phone.

 

[AtomSmasher]

Google Voice and Google Navigation are must have apps.  I'm surprised they haven't been mentioned yet, but maybe they're now installed by default on new phones.
Pocket Auctions is fantastic if you're an ebayer.
I'm also a big fan of Juice Defender since it doubled my battery life.

[TheChairmanH2K]

anything google (nav, maps, books etc) came installed.  the navigation is pretty slick.

[Howard_Casto]

I really like google voice.  It kind of makes me mad that apple is doing these "Suri" commercials when google voice has been available for a LOOONG time, not to mention the fact that it's voice recogniton seems to be a bit better.  I remember doing a test of it on my pc ages ago and was astounded when it could understand my "itellectual hillbilly" accent. 

[Silas (son of Silas)]

 

[Hoopz]

I find myself all to often around people who can't seem to put their phones down even in social situations where it's customary for everyone to, you know, participate...

Therefor I recommend: Bzzy

Don't be that guy.

With one swipe I can turn the sound off on my phone and accomplish the same thing... I feel no obligation to send a message back that I am busy, flying, eating, whatever... If I am busy I just don't reply.  No need for an app to do this.  I know this has been discussed in other threads, but I remember the magical time before cell phones.  If I was out, you didn't get a hold of me, plain and simple!   And somehow I lived thru those times and even went to school and held down a job.... all without a cell phone.

 

If it's a personal phone that's fine.  For a work phone, something like this can be quite useful.  I receive quite a few texts while driving and this app will come in handy.  I don't text and drive and I try to not look at a text to see who it's from while driving.  Having an automated response to call me instead of waiting for a reply is a lot safer.

For a personal phone, I don't care as I don't pick up unless I want to talk.  I'm exactly with you on this one. 

[Hoopz]

I really like google voice.  It kind of makes me mad that apple is doing these "Suri" commercials when google voice has been available for a LOOONG time, not to mention the fact that it's voice recogniton seems to be a bit better.  I remember doing a test of it on my pc ages ago and was astounded when it could understand my "itellectual hillbilly" accent. 

Since I have my work  phone and hated carrying two phones, I ported my cell # to Google voice and set it up to forward to my work phone.  Google Voice has so many attributes that can be used, it's extremely beneficial.  I can make calls from either # on my work phone and my personal calls don't use minutes though it does use data.  The visual voicemail is handy though the computer interpreted translations are hit or miss at times.  Mostly on names of individuals or businesses.  Every day words it has down very well. 

I didn't realize that it handles... um "regional dialects" so well.   

[Blanka]

I have no apps on it. In fact, I wish it was possible to ditch some of the pre-installed apps as well, as they poop-up everytime and harvest data for who knows what reason. My droid isn't even activated at google, so I don't know what the use of that data COULD be. There is no ads on it, it has no data-connection active, so why harvest for companies with ad-profiling information if a user does not consume ads and there is no chance the data gets out of the phone to the interested company in the first place.... Android is a weird thing.. The tie with Google makes it suck for at least 50% by design (ever saw the permission tab of any application: it is foolish!).
My droid phones, it texts, and it has a handy movie and stills cam. I tried it one month with apps, but especially emailing on the phone started to mess up my communication so bad, I did throw that off the first.

The most important thing when you buy an Android phone: BUY ONE THAT ROOTS EASILY. With my HTC Wildfire S-CRAP it doesn't, which makes the phone useless beyond being a dumbphone.
If it roots you can:
- Delete HTC nonSENSE if you have a HTC. The most bad phone UI ever created on top of Android. I wish I could replace it with Samsungs or Sony's.
- Delete ASSBOOK app (important!)
- Disable any permission for any app you like without harming functioning (it can send nonsense data like location timbuktu).
- Replace Android with one of the non-Google versions for ad-free smartphone life.

Guess I'm not made for 2012 gizmo's. Lets fire up that DK cabinet....