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10 indispensable Android apps

Summary: This new collection of Android apps features everything from a friendly keyboard to a convenient payment processor to a versatile music player.

Jack Wallen

By Jack Wallen |

 |  Image 10 of 11

If your Android device also serves as your music playback device, you owe it to yourself to install Poweramp. For me, this app is worth it just for the 10-band graphic EQ. For others, the vast number of supported formats will make this a must-have music app. You will also find plenty of other features, such as outstanding OpenGL-based cover art animation and gapless playback.

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Topics: Apps, Android, Banking, Enterprise Software, Hardware, Mobility

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23 comments
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  • RE: 10 indispensable Android apps

    Funny - only ONE of the listed apps is at all useful to ME - but then I am not the typical consumer for Droid stuff anyway - hate to be an early adopter, because past experience says I most often get burned in so doing.
    Willnott
    Reply Vote

  • RE: 10 indispensable Android apps

    PowerAmp is not free....the trial is....but it is a great music player and well worth the few bucks or so to purchase the licence
    ColdFusion_z
    Reply Vote

  • RE: 10 indispensable Android apps

    I am drowning in email. Please remove my email address from all future distributions
    Slepow
    Reply Vote

    • RE: 10 indispensable Android apps

      @Slepow -

      Don't be lazy. There are means for you to disable newsletters and other things. Find them.
      HypnoToad72
      Reply 1 Vote

  • RE: 10 indispensable Android apps

    Ty.
    Very good list.
    chaunceybell
    Reply Vote

  • Nice but lack of memory

    Would love to run some of these but with the crappy app memory provided on many Android devices I can't get much on. Even after offloading what I can to SD, the remaining app memory is miserly and results in continual lack of memory messages on start up and the gmail app gives up syncing then too.
    StevenNZ
    Reply Vote

    • RE: 10 indispensable Android apps

      @StevenNZ

      What phone do you have that is so bad?
      heathman
      Reply 1 Vote

      • RE: 10 indispensable Android apps

        @heathman Sounds like an iPhone owner pretending to be an Android owner to me.
        anothercanuck
        Reply Vote

    • RE: 10 indispensable Android apps

      @StevenNZ HTC Flyer 1Gb ram 32GB on board, upto 32GB MSD, wi-fi & gprs (sim) ??599.99 slashed to ??299.99 on Amazon or Expansys!! Beautiful device... Amazing at half price. :-D
      tigertim36
      Reply 1 Vote

  • Not my top-10 list...

    Besides the usual Google apps, the 6 apps that I use most are:<br><br>- Remote Desktop Client" by Xtralogic -- the best Windows Remote Desktop client I've found on Android, and it supports Network Level Authentication (which most of the others don't) so you can connect to the latest versions of Windows desktop and server in the most secure way. WAY worth the money I paid.<br>- "IP Cam Viewer" by Robert Chou, so my wife can watch our pets when we're not home -- constantly updated and improved. Definitely worth the money.<br>- "K-9 Mail" mail client by K-9 Dog Walkers, so that I can check my Hotmail account - blows away the stock Android mail client! Free.<br>- "Audible" audio book player by Amazon. Free.<br>- "Visual Voice Mail" by T-Mobile. Free. (I've heard that Verizon charges extra for similar functionality)<br>- "Thinking Space Pro" by Mindjet, for idea brainstorming. Compatible with FreeMind data files. Very unique menu system. Worth the money!
    Bit-Smacker
    Reply Vote

    • RE: 10 indispensable Android apps

      @Bit-Smacker Wow. How did you get hotmail to run on k9? I can't get my @live.com to configure. Keeps giving me error message, wrong username or password.
      bikerrich
      Reply Vote

      • POP3 with SSL

        @bikerrich I found this link that explains how to do it and it works on every standard POP mail client I've tried:<br><br> <a href="http://windowslivehelp.com/solution.aspx?solutionid=a485233f-206d-491e-941b-118e45a7cf1b" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://windowslivehelp.com/solution.aspx?solutionid=a485233f-206d-491e-941b-118e45a7cf1b</a>
        Bit-Smacker
        Reply Vote

    • RE: 10 indispensable Android apps

      @Bit-Smacker

      If you use Remote Desktop Client, you must absolutely use ThinServer XP as server. It converts your XP machine into a Windows terminal server !
      bojanwojan
      Reply Vote

  • RE: 10 indispensable Android apps

    You can try my app as well "World Time & Widget"
    https://market.android.com/details?id=com.mahesh.worldtimeplus
    askmahesh@...
    Reply Vote

  • Android is a misnomer...

    an android is a mechanical iteration of a human, that being said, the logo is a cute little green robot, love the logo, just sayin'. As for that app list, meh, might use maybe one or two of those, I don't 'live' on my mobile devices like the author.
    tek_heretik
    Reply Vote

  • RE: 10 indispensable Android apps

    Odd. My Android device is completely free of the apps listed and still functions perfectly. How can that be if they are truly 'indispensable'?
    zdnet@...
    Reply 1 Vote

    • RE: 10 indispensable Android apps

      @zdnet@... I was wondering the same thing when I read the title! LOL
      johnlemke
      Reply 1 Vote

  • RE: 10 indispensable Android apps

    Cheap though Thumb Keyboard might be, now that iOS have copied the split keyboard idea, I can't help but expect Droid to update with the same function some time soon.
    I'll keep my $3 and buy some chips.
    eLearner
    Reply Vote

  • RE: 10 indispensable Android apps

    For me the indispensables are:

    1) Opera Mobile: a silky smooth browsing experience. Seems more compatible since upgrading my HTC Flyer to Honercomb. Embedded flash video support broken since Honeycombe though (cliking black box will bring the viedo up in another window, however).

    2) Citrix Reciever: This is a front end for Citrix's virtual hosting environment. It allows me to connect to a virtual workstation at work. Yeah, it's a tiny screen at just 7 inches, but it is useful. The other day I was called on an emergency basis to disable and modify several hundred user accounts at work that had been compromised. With the aid of a bluetooth keyboard and the HTC Flyer's stylus I was able to connect on my tablet, modify a script I had, and get the accounts disabled and modified all while watching my girl play baketball at her school.

    2) Office Suite Pro: I find this the most feature-filled, user friendly Office suite currently available on Android. Still has a way to go, though, as do all Andoird office apps.

    3) Skype: It's how my daughters talk to gradma and grandpa on the weekend. Works great on an HTC Flyer and saves the hassle of setting up the laptop or gathering everyone around the computer.

    4) Hulu+: It's how I watch "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" over breakfast, even when I'm at a Panera.

    5) Astro File Manager: best way to navigate the file system. Has a bunch of other features I haven't even explored.

    6) PicSay: a picture editing app with a bunch of fun features (such as editable speech bubbles).

    7) Desk Notes: a widget that allows you to put a "sticky" note on your homescreen. Nice visual reminder of something I need to do that greets me every time I turn on my tablet.

    8) Movies/Flixster: I have this on my tablet as well as my phone. Links to Rotten Tomeatoes reviews. Nice way to check, when you're standing at a Redbox, whether a movie is worth renting. Also has showtimes for movies at local theatres.

    9) Google apps: maps, g-mail, market... they're all essential.

    10) Tower defense game du jour. Too many to list. I tear through these the way Newt Gingrich tears through wives. Use it up. Toss it aside. Start the next one.
    dsf3g
    Reply Vote

    • RE: 10 indispensable Android apps

      @dsf3g

      Also: Dropbox, Yahoo, Barnes & Noble, The Weather Channel.
      dsf3g
      Reply Vote
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