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Must Have Android Apps

dominicanyor said:
What happens to mailbo ringtones is not in the market anymore? What about advance task killer does that kill the battery faster?
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ATK isn't recommended. It isn't really needed. I've been using my phone all day, took it off the charger at 9 this morning. It's almost 1a now and I haven't charged my battery yet. Some apps have to open in order for other things to run. Killing things isn't always the best thing. If you can search on posts by me you can see one where I noted ways to save battery power.

It was in its own thread since it was specific to battery power but some moderator moved it into the Froyo upgrade thread.
 
Internetpilot said:
^^^ Well that's a bummer. I was hoping I was missing something! Haha.
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Personally, I like to have my phone, camera, and quick settings within instant reach. The phone and camera for obvious reasons, and SwipePad is great for making those a single gesture away at all times.

Though the big one for me is instant access to my quicksettings popup. I always keep my phone locked in portrait mode, so when I open up an app that I would prefer to have in landscape view... such as in the middle of watching a video monologue from my teamcoco app (or any other app that removes the notification bar), I like being able to make a single gesture to bring up the quicksetting popup, then hit a button to change whatever setting I like (screen rotation), then hit the back button without missing a second... rather than hitting the home button, navigating to quick settings, changing my orientation, then opening teamcoco again, and trying to scroll back to where the video left off.

To sum it up, I find that SwipePad is indispensable for changing screen orientation in the middle of watching a full-screen video, as well as other handy uses.
 
EarlyMon said:
How many apps do you have, and how many do you use often? I've lost track of installs, but many days I probably use 20 or so.
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I currently have a total of 40 apps installed, and on average I use about 20 of those apps every day. But I still don't see how a QuickDesk type app is going to improve my experience with that when it's pretty much the same number of finger motions to get them. You usually can't fit 20 apps on the pop-up menu type of apps anyway.
 
Internetpilot said:
I currently have a total of 40 apps installed, and on average I use about 20 of those apps every day. But I still don't see how a QuickDesk type app is going to improve my experience with that when it's pretty much the same number of finger motions to get them. You usually can't fit 20 apps on the pop-up menu type of apps anyway.
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You can on QuickDesk.
 
Internetpilot said:
Well, I can fit that and more on one home screen with a simple Rosie mod, so it continues to beg the question of why?

I guess it's just whatever works for you.
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Exactly.

It's a long-press and a tap to jump into a new app - then a single return to get back to where I was.

It's just all about choice.
 
Internetpilot said:
Well, I can fit that and more on one home screen with a simple Rosie mod, so it continues to beg the question of why?

I guess it's just whatever works for you.
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My reason is avoiding homescreen clutter. I am very much into the appearance of my phone and prefer a minimalistic and stylish look to it.
 
Internetpilot said:
I promise I'm not being argumentative -- but...I still just don't see it.
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As I said in my previous post, what I am using it for is to be a hidden place for direct dial & direct message shortcuts that I simply did not want to put on any of my home screens. And, unless I did want to stick those on my home pages, it would not be the same number of clicks to do that. I'd have to go to my home, pull up my dialer or texting app, begin dialing the name or number to pull them up in my contacts, THEN start typing my message (or speak when they answer the call). With this, I swipe to pull up the pad and slide over to the desired function and BAM, I'm there.

You can use it for any number of things, not just apps. You can put browser bookmarks, music playlists, folders, or other shortcuts. Yes, you can put all of those things on your homescreen too, but those are the sort of things that many people do not want to clutter their homescreens with.

Personally, I have my homescreens grouped by type of function. I have one for systemy type apps & widgets, another for media, another for games and goofy stuff like soundboards, another for communications & personal productivity items. So, in addition to my direct dials, I have a couple of apps that I might want to access quickly (like my notes application) but do not fit into the theme of my main homepage.

If you think it is valuable to you (I've already found it immensely useful in the day and a half I've had it), go nuts with it! If you do not see it adding anything to your phone experience, continue with what you have.

As stated many times by many people, choice is a good thing.
 
wubbie075 said:
As I said in my previous post, what I am using it for is to be a hidden place for direct dial & direct message shortcuts that I simply did not want to put on any of my home screens. And, unless I did want to stick those on my home pages, it would not be the same number of clicks to do that. I'd have to go to my home, pull up my dialer or texting app, begin dialing the name or number to pull them up in my contacts, THEN start typing my message (or speak when they answer the call). With this, I swipe to pull up the pad and slide over to the desired function and BAM, I'm there.
.....
As stated many times by many people, choice is a good thing.
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I can see what you're saying. I actually do something similar via a 3rd party dialer called aTAKEphONE. It has an iBar widget where you can have dialer, texting, etc., shortcuts with the person's pic for the icon. It's a carry-over app from my Palm days, which is why it works so well for me.

Please don't read any of my posts on this subject as critical or argumentative. The Evo is a new formfactor of phone for me coming from a Palm Treo as the only smartphone I've ever owned, and I used it for almost 4 years. So I typically analyse/scrutinize what others do or go with on the Evo because I don't want to stay stuck with a old Palm approach on my new formfactor of smartphone. Frankly, I thought the iPhone and smearing up the screen with a greasy finger was just stupid and inaccurate. Hello? That's what a stylus is for! Haha. Again, I'm just making sure that I'm not missing out on a better way to do things. Thank you to everyone for their patient explanations.
 
Whether with apps like QuickDesk, SwipePad, aTAKEphONE, whatever - with Android, there's more than one way to skin a cat, and that's the beauty of it.

And most all of us are adapting from other stuff in one way or another - but really what we're ALL doing is adapting that unspoken, barely-conscious idea of what a smartDevice should be into what we've been offered before and what we've got our hands on now.

As the apps expand, I'll be ever on the lookout for new ways to use my phone.

Example - I always hated the implied loss of privacy with that direct-dial widget, but now, I think I can see how to conceal it from casual eyes at work and load up my family numbers for quick access. :)
 
Root explorer is definitely an app I can't live without. Makes moving and installing apps a breeze.

I also like the Parcels app for tracking packages.

Pulse is a nice graphical news feed app which I've been using. Makes managing feeds very simple.
 
BenChase7 said:
Does the LED Light app you guys are talking about allow you to make use of the dual LED flash as if your phone was a flash light??

Ive tried a couple apps for this, but they dont seem to work on EVO, just other Droid devices... im looking for something like this. Thanks!
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I'm new here, so if this got answered elsewhere, I'm sorry. My Evo came with a flashlight app, with 3 settings for the LEDs...Bright, Brighter, Brightest...Didn't all Evo's come with that app?

Soundhound (Now free lookup forever)
Ringdroid
MP3 Downloader
Pandora
Scanner Radio
Handcent
Scanlife
Uninstaller

those are my picks along with a lot of others I'm reading now.
 
FatalErrorz said:
I'm new here, so if this got answered elsewhere, I'm sorry. My Evo came with a flashlight app, with 3 settings for the LEDs...Bright, Brighter, Brightest...Didn't all Evo's come with that app?
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Not originally - in the early days, we had to add that via the Market and the one that became the darling caused conflict once the update occurred that had it installed.

The newer built-in one is fabulous - I used it last week on a cold winter's night in the mountains. ;)
 
Yeah I use that flashlight app a lot, as my band's practice space doesn't have lighting outside. It's super handy, though I'd prefer it just to go straight to brightest.
 
Dolphin Browser mini (a lot smoother than hd, cleaner interface and much easier to adapt to)
Minimalist text (too great for words, just try it)
And try out Launcher 7, it's... interesting

By the way, I'm really liking SwipePad. Haven't ben outside an app since I picked up my phone.
 
LogicXLz' said:
I don't know how come no one came across "AndExplorer"? And please, NO smartAss remarks like: " It's not worth mentioning...", etc.! :mad:

I tried the famous Astro and as far as the free ver. goes,... Well... Let's just say I wasn't exactly convinced...

Yet AndExplorer does everything as the other one(s) and no adds, no problems!
So the next big name is "AndExplorer"! Try it and see for yourself...
(This is not a commercial, BTW) it's an ADVICE! :eek:
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Another vote for AndExplorer. Started out with Astro and ended up with AndExplorer.
 
Webroot Antivirus. It is good for what it is, has a few more options too. It isn't bloated, doesn't use too much CPU time or memory and only scans when you install and/or download something. It doesn't scan when you open docs. Very well worth installing.
 
 
Full HDMI (the one with the green icon, works with the Evo only).

I don't know how long this has been out, but I am thrilled to finally have a single simple app that puts my phone's home screen (and whatever else i might have on my screen) ON MY TV! The HDMI out is finally useful for everything that I always wanted to use it for!

There are apparently two different authors on the market with Full HDMI apps (And both have a paid and free version). I couldn't get the one with the black icon to work... and I'm still trying to get sound to work with the one with the green icon. But the green icon one is working beautifully with the screen, which is GREAT so far! Once I get sound working I am going to buy this app!:D

Edit: I should mention that I got the sound working and bought this app minutes after making this post!
 
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