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Topic: Mobility

Good Android apps for the Galaxy S4, Note 2, and other big screens

Summary: You can never have enough apps and good ones are the best. The apps in this collection work beautifully on the large screen of the Galaxy Note 2 as they should on the newest Galaxy S4.

James Kendrick

By for Mobile News |

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(Image: Screenshot by James Kendrick/ZDNet)

Beautiful Live Wallpaper

$2.49

In the past, I have not used live wallpapers, as they can hit the phone battery pretty hard. The long life of the Note 2's battery led me to use the Beautiful Live Wallpaper, and I haven't regretted it.

In addition to looking good, Beautiful Live Wallpaper displays useful information on the home screen. Current weather conditions are shown with high-resolution animations. The screen color changes throughout the day to reflect both the weather conditions and the time of day. A rising sun and moon can be toggled on to complement the action. Waving grass or wheat completes the animated image across the bottom of the screen.

Beautiful Live Wallpaper is part of the Beautiful Widgets package, also a nice home screen addition.

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Topics: Mobility, Android, Apps

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10 comments
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  • I guess I can't abandon iOS completely...

    I'm just waiting for the next Galaxy Note to be released this year to finally jump into Android after being on iOS since '07 so I'm NOT trolling...but...man, some of these apps are hideous!! I can't understand why Android's apps can look so...Windows 3.1-ish. It's just code, right? If the developers can release Zite on iPad to look gorgeous, why do they make the Android port so awful?

    Whatever. My next phone will be the next Note but I'll cling on to the iPad to have the best of both worlds I guess.
    furious00
    Reply Vote

    • apps are craps

      true - they look crap which is why I don't have games on my note 2. if they could do decent graphics I would!
      greg-w-h
      Reply Vote

  • Disagree

    Your premise that you can never have too many apps is false. Unless you have no life in the real world, you CAN have too many apps. How about engaging in some real interaction with real people and not machines.
    John Hanks
    Reply Vote

  • Apps suck

    99% of the apps available out there suck and every damn web site wants to force their attempts at developing one down your throat. To use them usually they require you to sign up, create a password, enter your private info, etc. On a tablet or phone, this is ridiculous. I use Lastpass to remember all the crap accounts I'm required to make with my browser, but with all the pointless apps, I have to open LP, re-enter THAT password, C&P the one for the app. It's a huge waste of time and offers me no benefit at all while it clutters up my screen with icons for garbage I probably use once every other blue moon. Apple and Google all rave about the number of apps they have in their stores, but it's like boasting about the size of a turd in your toilet as far as I'm concerned.
    Berish Beri
    Reply 3 Votes

  • note 2 battery life using live wallpaper

    you either don't seriously use tge note 2 or don't know what you are talking about. I got rid of live wallpaper and it's a good thing. Note 2 battery life is about 8 hours at best on any day if you seriously use it. I don't mean gaming but use it as a wi-fi hotspot, gps, email, web browsing etc. you NEED either a charging case or car charger or both. Live wallpaper actually means a lot less than 8 hours. get serious when recommending apps!
    greg-w-h
    Reply Vote

    • Mine lasts all day

      Even when traveling (as I currently am) my Note 2 battery easily lasts all day, even with live wallpaper running. I use it pretty heavily, too.
      JamesKendrick
      Reply Vote

  • Unacceptable article format

    It is now the second quarter of the new year.

    ZD Net only had one important New Year's Resolution this year. '"No Slide Show Articles with out a prominent 'View-as-one-page' link." How's that working out for you so far?
    Leo Regulus
    Reply 1 Vote

    • More reasons the format is unacceptable

      What's worse, I only see one "Next" link, and it's at the top of the page, so one has to scroll up to find it. And the images are not only larger than they are on the phones themselves, they are taller than my laptop screen, so yet more scrolling is required. Strike three, you're out.
      dw4comp
      Reply Vote

  • boring

    Not impressed with this selection of apps, don't have any of them apart from flipboard. I wonder why you bought the office application when Samsung does it's own office appealed Polaris office, but maybe it's worth it.
    richard in norway
    Reply Vote

  • Quickoffice is rubbish

    try to navigate a largish spreadsheet in quickoffice and the zooming and scrolling is illogical and stupifying.
    Polaris office handles spreadsheets better.
    Kingsoft Office beats them all, and it's free!
    the best app on Android is Opera Mobile Browser. Maxthon browser and Dolphin for programmable gestures.
    must have Android apps:
    VLC player: plays more formats than any other player.
    Astro file manager: although the new UI sucks a bit, all the power features are still there. Backing up APKs is very useful feature to keep older versions of apps when new updates screw up certain functions.
    warboat
    Reply Vote
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