Well after 2.5 years of using Symbian with my N97 mini, I've finally gotten my first Android phone (Galaxy Nexus). It's utterly awesome especially as I use lots of Google services. I'm sure I don't have to tell you.
OK, so what apps should I download?
I'm seeing a theme here. ;)
I guess I'm looking for supermarket apps, something to organize my receipts. Just downloaded Facebook, reviews said the new version was slow and buggy and I concur.
umm heathly habit of AV :)
Receipts just take a pic and save in google cloud, organise from your computer.
If you are in NSW there is the Transport info / 131500 app. Airport app. Tripview Sydney. I am sure there are other equivalents.
For GPS you can use Google navigation mostly and save specific areas you frequent but you can use Navfree for full offline navigation. Get your Adobe flash and other apps before adobe withraws support
Other useful apps
Nexus Flashlight
Google translate, search, gesture search pretty much all of them
Skype
Astro File Manager
and tons of others
Get your Adobe flash and other apps before adobe withraws support
Galaxy Nexus = Jelly Bean = NO FLASH :(
Yes I miss having Flash on my phone. Any other way to watch ABC iView (while waiting for them to develop an HTML5 version)?
Get it on the archive from adobe and install the APK
http://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/archived-flash-player…
ATK - Advanced Task Killer. :)
On top of the first party Google apps (Voice, Nav, Currents, Drive, Local, I recommend other mobile versions of services you might already use eg Facebook, Dropbox.
Others I personally use include CamScanner (lets me scan pages with the phone camera, not as fast as a dedicated device but very convenient), Flashlight with button widget, Instagram (yes I know, but I use it), Skype, Whatsapp (find out if any of your contacts uses this, if so, it's the cross-platform IM dream), Evernote, TripView (Sydney only), Steam, Kindle, Shazam, Doubletwist, Listen, Event Cinemas, Spotify.
Go to YouTube and search for "Best Android Apps"
For the weather I use weatherpro. I can't seem to find other apps with this much info(forecast in 3 hour blocks).
For music I use poweramp. I paid the cheaper price when they had a sale but it does have many more features than other players.
For writing reminders I use colornote. It's free and I can sync it in case I lose my files.
For the keyboard, I'm using swiftkey for it's prediction abilities but I do miss Swype's word-swyping.
I've heard tripview Sydney was good but the $3 pricetag and the inability to show the shortest trips makes 131500.com.au a better choice for me, especially since I have access to 3G almost all the time.
Receipts just take a pic and save in google cloud, organise from your computer.
Trying out an app called Lemon. It scans the receipts OCRs the total, company and categories it. From there you can login to the website and see totals for say food, entertainment, Internet, etc.
Nexus Flashlight
Skype
Good apps.
Advanced Task Killer
Installed. Guess I'll use it when the phone starts running slow.
Not sure I want to join yet another IM network. Any good programs that integrate msn, aim, gchat, icq etc?
Doubletwist, Listen
Which is better for podcasts?
Some other non-standard apps:
Neatstreets - report graffiti, road hazards whatever to council. You take a picture, it tags your location and you put a short description of what the issue is. Sort of like the REPORT button for life.
Tramhunter - Melbourne app. Finds the next tram according to your location.
OK, now a tough one. I synced up my Nokia before the switchover. Using the Ovi Suite I can export all my contacts to individual VCard files. So how do I get the contacts to the phone? Import into Gmail via computer or something?
Also, any recommendations for cases?
Thanks for all the help.
You can't go wrong with doggcatcher for podcasts.
Trillian is an awesome IM integrator- does FB, google talk, AIM, ICQ, Jabber, msn, Myspace, Yahoo.
The only IM Ive use that keeps connected in the background while using other apps and doesnt do weird stuff- better than IM+ Pro and eBuddy.
Maildroid for email. Boat Browser Mini- light fast and easy browser to use. Android Assistant to see memory/app usuage. LauncherPro for launcher if you want something light and fast.
Install tunein radio
Don't ask why, but I love an app called "Record My Call" this ensure's for any reason as I'm currently in a legal matter with a Dealership and a few times the dealer has called and abused me, that I have it recorded.
Every conversation records in the background, HD quaility, simple format. and easy to play, move, send, delete and disable!
It's also handy if your a business man, and wrote down a persons number mistakenly. You can easily listen to what they said.
Best thing is, it takes ZERO battery. I hardly notice any difference between enabled and disabled so I leave it on
be very careful recording people without them knowing , you may get yourself into more trouble than you realise.
yeah this, that's why some companies have a warning to tell their customers that they are being recorded for legal and training purposes
Useful apps that I have
3G Watchdog
AdFree/AdAway
Android Lost
Aix Weather
App2SD Pro
AVG ANtivirus
AStro
Dropbox
Flashlight
ezPDFReader
Kingston Office
setCPU
Titanium Backup
Some of these may require a rooted phone
Bonsai Blast is far too addicting. My battery life suffers dramatically because of it.
If you like retro gaming, download GBCoid, GameBoid, and Mupen64 apps to play Gameboy, Gameboy Advance and N64 Roms.
For podcasts I use MyPod. It's good and free!.
Other obligatory apps of course are Dropbox, Dolphin browser, ES File Explorer, and Winamp.
Don't forget there's a current deal going on android app store. "Great deals on great apps" - top panel of the google play apps page for me.. anyway - from the current deals:
1) swiftkey 3 - Nexus has the basic android keyboard… kinda sucks. If you're not going to get a swype like option, this one is very good. I bought it a while ago when I had a GS1, and it's come across into my nexus and works great. my current keyboard
2) Vignette seems like a pretty cool camera app so far - just bought that myself yesterday!
3) Spirits seems like a pretty fun game so far (very much like lemmings) bought that myself yesterday too!
other good apps are:
3G watchdog - maybe not 100% as useful as it was, now ICS+ tracks data usage, but still some very cool options and a nice simple widget showing how your months data is going.
Battery life - a widget. I find it easier than the notification bar battery to see how much battery is actually left.
Chrome - better than the default browser in ICS, though just upgraded to jellybean, and it's default browser has a lot more chrome in it.
Etherial Dialpad - whimsical melody/graphics thing you play with your fingers. I love it. YMMV.
Google Authenticator - 2 step authentication for your gooogle account. very important if you're moving lots of your life into google servers. But be sure to understand the application specific passwords to allow your phone to stay connected to your account after you authorise it.
GTasks - uses the gcalendar tasks feature nicely. Cool multi page todo list. really simple to use and works well. buy the premium upgrade if you like it. works better without ads in it.
They need to be fed - my favourite android game.
SMS backup and restore - if you have ICS on your phone, this is for when you get sick of waiting for everyone to release the damn OTA, and need to backup your SMS when you decide to flash your phone to jellybean.
Realcalc scientific calculator - what it says on the tin. A good calculator is handy sometimes!
PS, alternate keyboard options if you want something swype-like, then SlideIT keyboard and TocuhPal Keyboard are both pretty good. I tend to jump back and forth between swiftkey and SlideIT, depending on my mood. Touchpal is also good, but I think I got nore used to how SlideIT works because I had that first.
Bubble upnp, pptv , and if your into sports , sportypal & mx video player