~I’ve had an Android smartphone for over a year, so here’s a quick list of my must-have Android apps. All are free and available from the Google Play Store. This list doesn’t include applications that are built into the operating system (such as Voice Command or Google Maps).
These are presented in no particular order, so without further ado:
1. Dropbox by Dropbox, Inc.
Oh Dropbox, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways! This is a file-synchronization program that vastly simplifies the process of moving files between computers, including my phone. After registering for a free account, on each computer Dropbox is installed on, it creates a special folder. Any items you place in the folder are automatically downloaded by the other computers you have Dropbox on, and if you delete something in the folder, it will be deleted on the other computers as well.
I found this program immensely useful at work for sharing documents among my colleagues, avoiding the tedious hassle of emailing large files back and forth. I simply created a folder and electronically shared it with my colleagues, and we were all able to add and remove items in the folder. But what good is it with a phone? Here’s how I have it set up: every picture I take with my phone is automatically uploaded to Dropbox, so when I turn on my PC at home, the files download in a few seconds and are now on the computer. Handy!
You get 2 gigabytes of space for free after registering; if you need more space, you can refer other people to use the program, or pay for more. 2 GB is more than enough for my photo-sharing needs.
2. GPS Essentials by mictale.com
By itself, the GPS function on the phone can be used to locate your position on a map and can be used for navigation, but the free GPS Essentials vastly expands the capabilities of the phone’s GPS. Among other things, it includes a digital compass and its own mapping program, but the most useful feature is “Tracks”. When enabled, the Tracks function will take a GPS reading every so often, and when you’re done with your hike/bike ride/car trip, you can get all sorts of fun information about the trip such as distance traveled, duration, top and average speeds, altitude changes, and even a map showing the route you followed.
There’s also a waypoint function that allows you to enter coordinates, and the compass will guide you to them and display the waypoints on a map along with your current position and distance. I’ve been using this lately for finding geocaches. A good free app to pair with this is GPS Status, which displays your current coordinates and some other useful information.
3. Volume Sync by Jesta’s Funhouse
For a phone running on Android, there are actually two completely separate volume settings: the ringer volume, and the media volume. If you’re in a media application, adjusting the volume will adjust only the media volume, and if you’re not in an application, the volume keys only affect the ringer. This can get annoying when you want your phone to shut up completely. This application runs in the background, and whenever you mute the volume, regardless of which volume is muted, the other volume will automatically be muted as well. When you un-mute the current volume, the other volume setting will be restored back to whatever it was before.
4. Evernote by Evernote Corporation
After playing around with my phone for a bit, I was irritated to find that there was no simple note-taking program, unlike my previous “dumbphone”. Fortunately, Evernote more than fills the gap. It’s basically Dropbox for notes, synchronizing notes across multiple devices that have Evernote installed and linked to the same account. So any notes I take on my phone are automatically synchronized with Evernote on my home computer, and vice versa.
5. Unlock At Home Using Wifi by Khroma Labs
My phone contains a lot of personal information (email, phone contacts, etc.), so I have it locked with a passcode that I need to enter every time I turn the screen on, unless I’m receiving a call. This can get tedious when I’m at home, which is where this app comes in. When you’re connected to a WiFi network and open the app, you can designate one or more networks as “Whitelisted”; henceforth, when the phone is connected to those networks, the phone’s lock screen is disabled. Once the phone looses contact with the network (i.e. when you leave home), the lock screen functionality is restored.
I’ve had occasional glitches and shutdowns of this app, but overall it’s very handy and has saved me hundreds of times from having to enter my passcode when I use the phone at home.
Come back later for more of my favorite free Android apps!
