One last blog post...
29 November 2012
Since the Neowin powers that be have declared an end to the blogosphere abomination, I shall board the bandwagon with one final blog post.
I've been running Android since July, and during that time, I've tried out a lot of apps. Maybe I'm too paranoid, or maybe not enough, but I take my privacy seriously, and I won't install any app I don't trust. This means I've spent a great deal of time finding decent apps which don't have any unnecessary permissions. But sometimes, it's impossible to find such an app, so I have to rely on the reputation of the author to decide if an app is trustworthy or not.
Audio Concert - Did you know that even when you have a headset plugged into your Android phone, certain sounds will still come out of the speaker? With this app, you can set volumes and put the phone into vibrate or silent when a headset is plugged in. When a headset is unplugged, it restores the previous settings. There are a couple of other similar apps, but this one I found to be the best.
The Bad: It runs a background service which uses ~20MB RAM, a bit much, especially for older devices.
Call Recorder - An "event" occurred recently, and I suddenly felt the need to record all of my phone calls. This is the only one that worked with my device. There's a good chance that it won't work on your phone, in which case, there are similar apps that may work on your device.
The Bad: Any app like this will require certain permissions in order to function, but which gives it the ability to upload private information about you.
Chess, Checkers, and Reversi - They're pretty generic implementations of these board games, but they don't require any unnecessary permissions, which is why I recommend them.
ConvertPad Unit Converter - I prefer unit converters in which I can see conversions for multiple units simultaneously. This app does just that, and has an extensive list of units in multiple categories, including currency.
Glow Hockey 2 - I'm searching for games to install on my device which work well for a touchscreen. Air Hockey is one such game and this one I found to be the best.
Mobi Calculator (MobiCalc) - A nice expressive scientific calculator well suited for most needs. Nothing advanced like graphing or complex numbers.
MyPhoneExplorer Client - This requires MyPhoneExplorer for Windows. This software allows you to manage your phone from your PC. Unlike most other similar apps for Windows, this is the only one I don't find sketchy; I previously used it for years with my Sony Ericsson phone.
Painless GRE - The purpose of this app is to prepare you for the GRE standardized test, but I found it quite nice for expanding my vocabulary, with 3915 terms in total.
Palmary Weather - Looking for a better Weather app, this is the one I settled on. No radar or any such features, but still a nicely detailed weather forecast with a very nice widget.
Sound Recorder - A very simple sound recorder. I like it because it encodes to high quality MP4/AAC (44khz/128kbps) and can record in the background.
StopWatch & Timer - A simple stopwatch (and timer, though I don't use it for that). I like this one because it shows the duration in minutes in the notification icon.
Tom's Multi Timer - A very nice app for running one or more timers. Entering the time is quick and painless, and you can increment / decrement running timers.
WordWeb - An *offline* dictionary, also available for Windows, iOS, and Windows 8/RT.
The Bad: Entering words to search for is a bit buggy.
osu!droid - My favorite game for Android (and one of my favs on Windows as well). Based on Ouendan / Elite Beat Agents for NDS, it's a music & rhythm game that makes excellent use of the touchscreen. I bought a capacitive stylus just to use it with this game.
The Bad: (Not really bad but confusing) To download a song, press and hold it for a second or two. Wait a moment and you should see a progress bar to indicate it's downloading. Wi-fi is highly recommended!
Soko++ - An implementation of Sokoban for Android with very simple touch controls: simply choose a box and touch an empty cell to push it to that location.
The Bad: The automated movement takes away some of the original challenge of the game, since you can click a box and see all cells you can push that box to.
avast! Mobile Security - Say what you will about running an antivirus on Android. But if you're paranoid like me and feel the need for one, but not enough to pay for it, I consider Avast to be the best free antivirus for Android. It's the most comprehensive for free, including the anti-theft feature, which is even more extensive for rooted or CyanogenMod phones. It doesn't slow down my phone or drain the battery.
Poweramp (Commercial) - I saved this one for last since it's not freeware. I had need for a better audio player, and I didn't trust any of the freeware apps, so I explored paid apps and settled on this one. It doesn't contain anything fancy like biographies, but if you simply want something that plays music, this app does it well.
I've been running Android since July, and during that time, I've tried out a lot of apps. Maybe I'm too paranoid, or maybe not enough, but I take my privacy seriously, and I won't install any app I don't trust. This means I've spent a great deal of time finding decent apps which don't have any unnecessary permissions. But sometimes, it's impossible to find such an app, so I have to rely on the reputation of the author to decide if an app is trustworthy or not.
Audio Concert - Did you know that even when you have a headset plugged into your Android phone, certain sounds will still come out of the speaker? With this app, you can set volumes and put the phone into vibrate or silent when a headset is plugged in. When a headset is unplugged, it restores the previous settings. There are a couple of other similar apps, but this one I found to be the best.
The Bad: It runs a background service which uses ~20MB RAM, a bit much, especially for older devices.
Call Recorder - An "event" occurred recently, and I suddenly felt the need to record all of my phone calls. This is the only one that worked with my device. There's a good chance that it won't work on your phone, in which case, there are similar apps that may work on your device.
The Bad: Any app like this will require certain permissions in order to function, but which gives it the ability to upload private information about you.
Chess, Checkers, and Reversi - They're pretty generic implementations of these board games, but they don't require any unnecessary permissions, which is why I recommend them.
ConvertPad Unit Converter - I prefer unit converters in which I can see conversions for multiple units simultaneously. This app does just that, and has an extensive list of units in multiple categories, including currency.
Glow Hockey 2 - I'm searching for games to install on my device which work well for a touchscreen. Air Hockey is one such game and this one I found to be the best.
Mobi Calculator (MobiCalc) - A nice expressive scientific calculator well suited for most needs. Nothing advanced like graphing or complex numbers.
MyPhoneExplorer Client - This requires MyPhoneExplorer for Windows. This software allows you to manage your phone from your PC. Unlike most other similar apps for Windows, this is the only one I don't find sketchy; I previously used it for years with my Sony Ericsson phone.
Painless GRE - The purpose of this app is to prepare you for the GRE standardized test, but I found it quite nice for expanding my vocabulary, with 3915 terms in total.
Palmary Weather - Looking for a better Weather app, this is the one I settled on. No radar or any such features, but still a nicely detailed weather forecast with a very nice widget.
Sound Recorder - A very simple sound recorder. I like it because it encodes to high quality MP4/AAC (44khz/128kbps) and can record in the background.
StopWatch & Timer - A simple stopwatch (and timer, though I don't use it for that). I like this one because it shows the duration in minutes in the notification icon.
Tom's Multi Timer - A very nice app for running one or more timers. Entering the time is quick and painless, and you can increment / decrement running timers.
WordWeb - An *offline* dictionary, also available for Windows, iOS, and Windows 8/RT.
The Bad: Entering words to search for is a bit buggy.
osu!droid - My favorite game for Android (and one of my favs on Windows as well). Based on Ouendan / Elite Beat Agents for NDS, it's a music & rhythm game that makes excellent use of the touchscreen. I bought a capacitive stylus just to use it with this game.
The Bad: (Not really bad but confusing) To download a song, press and hold it for a second or two. Wait a moment and you should see a progress bar to indicate it's downloading. Wi-fi is highly recommended!
Soko++ - An implementation of Sokoban for Android with very simple touch controls: simply choose a box and touch an empty cell to push it to that location.
The Bad: The automated movement takes away some of the original challenge of the game, since you can click a box and see all cells you can push that box to.
avast! Mobile Security - Say what you will about running an antivirus on Android. But if you're paranoid like me and feel the need for one, but not enough to pay for it, I consider Avast to be the best free antivirus for Android. It's the most comprehensive for free, including the anti-theft feature, which is even more extensive for rooted or CyanogenMod phones. It doesn't slow down my phone or drain the battery.
Poweramp (Commercial) - I saved this one for last since it's not freeware. I had need for a better audio player, and I didn't trust any of the freeware apps, so I explored paid apps and settled on this one. It doesn't contain anything fancy like biographies, but if you simply want something that plays music, this app does it well.
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