My name is Tom and I am an Android app addict. I currently have over 150 apps installed on my G1 phone. So here are my top 20. I haven’t included any games in my list, since that is more a matter of personal preference. I also find that the more games I install on my G1, the less I end up using my own phone. My kids use it the rest of the time. So here are my top 20 apps in no particular order. Sorry I don’t have links. You’ll can search for them in the Android Market.
- Picasa (a great tool for uploading and viewing Picasa photos)
- JET CET PDF (the only PDF viewer currently available)
- iSkoot (Skype client. Check the fine print though — it does uses you cell phone’s minutes)
- GPS Tracker (post your current position to hidden or public URL — even has a Facebook plugin)
- fBook (Facebook app)
- Android File Manager (good app to have)
- Twidroid (currently the best twitter client for the G1)
- Orienteer (displays compass and GPS coordinates — a must for geocaching)
- Power Manager (shows battery life — must have)
- Yellowbook V2 (search for a business and it presents you with Google maps and phone numbers)
- Video Player (best video player, IMHO)
- ShopSavvy (barcode scanner app that allows you to compare prices and read reviews)
- Compare Everywhere (other barcode scanner app)
- DoggCatcher (Podcast app — still very beta, but very cool in that it allows you to update podcasts over wifi. So iPod Touch, why can’t you do this?)
- TunesRemote (controls your iTunes via your wifi network)
- textonphone (access 1000’s of free books — search and download books to your phone’s local library)
- Shazam (analyzes and (somehow) recognizes songs being played on radio, TV, anywhere you can get a 10 second sample)
- Ringdroid (make your own ringtone by clipping out a snippet from any MP3)
- Voxofon Call Router (VOIP client)
- Toggle Settings (a great app for dimming the screen and turning off the ringer, etc). Keeping the screen brightness down is a great way to save your battery.
If you have other favorite Android apps, I would like to hear about them.
Tom, I read that there used to be a great iPhone podcasting app called Podcaster but Apple yanked it from the app store because it was supposedly redundant (i.e. competitive with iTunes?) yet the iPhone version of iTunes does not offer the same features.
Those barcode apps sound interesting. So you use the phone to scan a barcode in a store and it returns the comparison/reviews for you?
FYI, I tried out the iPhone version of Shazam in a loud (lots of people talking loudly) restaurant and it correctly identified an obscure Ella Fitzgerald rendition of White Christmas. You could barely hear the song over the crowd. Impressive.
Clay, if Podcaster has the ability to update podcasts OTA (or over wifi at least) it’s a real shame they pulled it. The barcode scanner apps are real geek magnets. I tried to discretely scan a couple barcodes in a Radio Shack over the weekend, and I had people asking me all about it. Same thing happened in Sam’s Club. I especially like that ShopSavvy breaks the results into products available online and in physical stores. You can also build and save wish lists with it. Anyway, comparison shopping just got a whole lot easier!
What about White Pages Caller ID? I just installed it but haven’t tried it yet.
Also, Mileage is a cool little app to keep track of gas mileage.
Tom, how have you installed so many apps onto your phone? I upgraded my SD card to 8gb but I can’t seem to save apps on it so I run out of space often. Thanks for your help in advance!
Hi Chris, I have about 154 apps installed (but I don’t recommend it). Unfortunately, the current version of Android doesn’t allow users to store apps on the micro-SD card. I hope this will change in the future.
Omair, I agree that White Pages caller ID is a cool idea, but when I tried the app it wasn’t able to pull up the information fast enough to be useful. Perhaps this is because my area only has EDGE for now.
I agree that Mileage is a very cool app for tracking your car’s mileage and fuel costs. A sudden drop in fuel economy can be a sign of impending car trouble, so it’s actually quite useful.