Someone recently purchased an Android phone and asked what were some of the apps they should download. I started to list a couple off but decided I better write all this down. My list is a little nuts.
Launcher and widgets
Launcher Pro Plus – Fast, extremely customizable Launcher replacement. The pro version offers widget resizing, scrolling widgets and more.
Folder Organizer – Creates groups of applications, contacts or shortcuts. I use an extremely minimal homescreen that uses two widgets (showing date, time, weather and battery) and five shortcuts. I use a swipe-up gesture on those to reveal a folder of additional shortcuts. For the love of jebus, make sure you go into Preferences and disable the “Notify on new apps”.
Circle Battery Widget – The previously mentioned battery widget, customizable and clean.
gTabSiMiClock – The widget I use to show date, time and weather, another minimalist design.
Communication and internets
Awful – For reading the SA forums.
Baconreader – For reading reddit.
Google Reader – I’m reading RSS feeds a couple hours a day and this is still the best app for reading them on the go. It has offline sync support but with zero options. It’ll sync your “most read” feeds every hour. That works in a pinch if you don’t have internet access for a bit.
Plume – The only Twitter client that supports the ability to do background updates but doesn’t fire a notification when new tweets are loaded. My Twitter timeline has about a thousand new tweets each day, I know that when a Twitter app syncs, it’s going to find new tweets. I want my timeline to be updated at all times, I definitely don’t need to be told there are new tweets. The rest of the interface is really usable, though I prefer the design of Twicca.
Utilities
adbWireless – No need to carry around a USB cable, this allows you to debug your phone from anywhere.
AK Notepad – Simple notes app.
Dropbox – If you use Dropbox, this is a must. The app is simple as it basically just lets you upload or download a single file at a time.
KeePassDroid – In conjunction with Dropbox, I always have my latest password list no matter where I am.
OneBusAway – This is Seattle-specific, but this is a fantastic app for finding and tracking buses.
SwiftKey – I used to love Swype dearly, but the number of incorrect word suggestions has simply become overwhelming. SwiftKey is slower but more accurate and thus less frustrating.
Titanium Backup – If you are rooted, you must install this application. Other than the obvious ability to completely backup and restore your system, it lets you keep multiple backups of files and more.
Shopping
CraigsNotifica – Let’s you set up various searches and it’ll notify you when new items are posted to CL.
eBay – This app is pretty terrible, but I haven’t found a better app for repeated eBay searches.