Useful Apps for The DHD.

[El Presidente]

This is by no means a definitive list, it's just a list of apps I've either found useful in the time I've had my handset or I've seen come up a few times on this forum. If there's an app you don't see here and you think it deserves a place, drop me a PM and I'll see about getting it added. Incidentally, this post will be quite lengthy, if anyone wants a more compact version, let me know and I'll trim it down a bit.

I've linked to some paid apps here, most of which have a free alternative.

My first recommendations is.....

DO NOT INSTALL A TASK KILLER

There we go.

If you take nothing else from this thread and just heed the above, then this has been worth it.

Seriously, to a certain extent, they weren't needed on Eclair (2.1) and they were definitely not needed in Froyo (2.2). Given the Desire HD ships with Froyo, I'll let you do the math. Android is designed to be its own task killer, just let it do its job, it is pretty good at it. Just because you see an app held in RAM, that doesn't mean it's taking up battery. I hear things like "I use it to free RAM to make my phone faster/make XXX run better". If Android needs more RAM, it'll free it of its own accord as and when required. If you notice your phone acting sluggish, reboot. If it's consistent, check what's taking up CPU usage and if it's an
app you've installed, uninstall. If it's one of the stock apps, post here, I'm sure someone will be able to help.

If you want more info on why Task killers are not required, you can look here. If you want a more technical overview of how Android manages tasks, take a look at what google have to say about the matter, here.

Phew.

 

[El Presidente]

Utilities

Given some folk have issues with HTC Sync, my first recommendation would be MyPhoneExplorer. This is an improved syncing solution allowing you to do all that HTC Sync does, along with a lot more. You can browse the SD Card of your phone, sync contacts, pics, calendars, send SMS from your PC and amongst other things take screenshots of your device (normally you need root access for this). All of this can be done wirelessly. You'll also need to install the app on your handset too which is here.

Whilst taking about flaky HTC software, it's worth mentioning Lookout. This will perform all of the functions htcsense.com is supposed to do. This is 100% confirmed as working. It's also a security app, I'm not convinced how this is really relevant on Android, but if it makes you feel better, then go for it. The best way to ensure you're protected is by looking at app permissions before you install them.

A must have app is Tasker. It can pretty much automate anything to do with your handset. If you want to deactivate the pin lock when connected to your home WiFi, tasker can automate it. If you want all notifications to stop between certain times of the day, Tasker can stop them, it's clich

 

[El Presidente]

Customisation & Launchers

One of the main advantages Android holds over iOS, is that it's so customisable, both with the general look and feel and the sheer amount of alternative apps available to replace the stock ones (I'll get on to this later). The main way of changing the look of your handset is via a Launcher. The most popular are ADW Launcher, Go Launcher Ex or Launcher Pro. My personal preference is Go Launcher Ex, for no other reason than that it's free! Each has their own advantages, an excellent comparison of the features of all of them is made here. Have a play about with all of the launchers available, see which one fits your purpose.

Once you've your launcher installed, you have the options of additional themes, icon packs and various other apps to make the handset your own. You can start off with the clock, the 3 most popular are Minimalistic Text, Clockr or Bob Clock D3. There are also a number of other Weather widgets out there which will add a clock to the screen in a similar way to the default Sense weather/clock widget. Take a look at Fancy widgets or Beautiful Widgets.

If you want to start playing about with icons etc, your launcher should give you the option to download themes designed to work with it. These themes can also contain Icon Packs, but it's worth creating your own to add a personal touch. I use Simplistic Text, another one a lot of people use is Desktop Visualizer.

If you want to take a look at what's possible, take a look through this thread.

I'd like to point out that NONE of the HTC widgets will work if you're using an alternative launcher.

 

[El Presidente]

Communications

The Stock SMS app is pretty basic, it's also pretty problematic and is prone to the occasional failed message since the 2.3.3 update. In order to add a little flavour (and fix some issues), there are a number of 3rd Party SMS clients available on the market. My choice is GoSMS, no particular reason, I just installed because I'm using Go Launcher and it made sense to use the SMS pack. When you first install, it's quite cartoony and looks horrible but you can download themes and customise it pretty extensively so it doesn't stay like that for long. Other popular alternatives are Handcent or Chomp SMS. I've never used so I can't really comment on either, but I can imagine they are much the same as Go.

There are a number of alternative email clients too, the most popular being K9-Mail. It does what you'd expect, nothing fancy and isn't as error prone as the stock app on the handset. I like it because you can configure it to have white text on a black background which fits in more with the general feel of my handset. That's a pretty fickle reason though.

Whatsapp is an alternative messaging program. It uses your phones 3G or WiFi connection to send messages so it means you don't need to worry about eating into your monthly SMS allowance, just your data allowance. You can also send pics, vids and sound files with it. The only downside is you can only do it to other people who are using Whatsapp. This is cross platform though so you can send to iOS users.

 

[El Presidente]

Internet/Data Usage

Whilst there is very little wrong with the stock internet browser on the phone, there are a plethora of options for you to choose should you wish. My personal preferences are Dolphin or Opera Mobile.
Dolphin is slick, minimalistic and pretty customisable, it's also meant to be the fastest browser on Android, but I can't confirm. I use Opera when I can't view pages properly (certain pages have features are disabled/not supported on Android, even with desktop view enabled).

Skyfire is another one that some people use. Skyfire will promise to render any video of any format on any website (silverlight doesn't work on Android) so it's just like you're using a browser on your PC. I've yet to see it work though and found Skyfire pretty clunky.

If you're worried about data usage, you can keep tabs on it with either Netcounter or 3G Watchdog Pro. Netcounter is pretty basic, it allows you to set up the dates your billing period finishes so you can monitor your usage in any given month. 3G Watchdog will do the same, but can break data usage down by app so it can be quite handy if you think a rogue app is chewing through your allowance. There is also a free version which doesn't offer the app breakdown function.

 

[El Presidente]

Media & Camera

The DHD will play most video formats you can throw at it, as long as you install one of the media players on the market. Rockplayer is my choice, but other decent alternatives include Moboplayer or Arcmedia. I've used all 3, but for no reason other than I prefer the feel of it, I always go back to Rockplayer. I'll point out there that whilst the media apps will play 99% of file formats, if the resolution of the video is more than that of the DHD (800x480), you'll end up with a choppy, out of sync video.

If you're looking to stream vids on sites like tvcatchup etc, Realplayer outstrips anything I've used. I wasn't a big fan of the app on the PC, but the Android app is pretty good.

Whilst I like the camera app that comes with the phone, Camera 360 is a pretty feature packed option. You can customise the pics by adding themes, colour schemes etc. You can also download different theme packs which allow you to take the customisation even further. It's worth mentioning though, I uninstalled as I found when in use, this app used about 1% of my battery every 30 seconds! Others have used it with no issues though.

I don't use my phone as an MP3 player, but Poweramp seems to be a music player that's mentioned quite a bit. There's also Winamp. Take a look at both, use which ever you prefer.

If Podcasts are your thing, I hear good things about Dog Catcher.

Many people have asked "How can I transfer my iTunes library to my Android handset". The answer is doubletwist. Again, not used this, but this solution appears to work for most people. Alternatively, you can try iSyncr which allows you to sync your Android device directly with iTunes. It costs a little, but it means you don't have to mess about with porting your library with doubletwist. There is also a Mac version and an addon which allows you to sync via WiFi.

 

[El Presidente]

Misc

These don't really fall into any particular category, but are apps which both I and others have found useful since owning the handset.

In the unlikely event they port Crysis, either Portal game or any of the Halo series to Android, I won't really use my phone for gaming. However, Angry Birds and it's add ons (Rio & Seasons) tend to keep me occupied on long night shifts. I'm also getting in to Cut The Rope at the moment, you can download that via the Getjar website.

I also read a fair bit, so I use the Kindle app. This will sync your books and progress with all your devices so if I'm reading something on the move and want to finish when I get home, I can continue from where I left off on the laptop.

I cook a lot, I spend a great deal of the kitchen so I'm always looking for new recipes to try. So Recipe Search is a handy app. If I'm in Tesco or the market, I can open the app, select my criteria and it will give me recipes based on what I've selected. It will also tell me what Ingredients I need to buy.

If you want to kept abreast of news relating to one of the greatest football clubs in Europe, check out Aberdeen FC.

ES Security Manager is a handy wee app for keeping your device secure. It will lock the handset and display a message on screen with your contact number if the SIM is changed or you send an SMS with the your chosen password to it. It will also send your contacts, SMS messages and GPS location to your gmail account.

CoPilot is a very good (and expensive) alternative to the Navigations app. I have a separate Tom Tom so I've never used CoPilot, but I've heard others rave about it. Whilst talking about the GPS, if yours is temperamental, installing GPS Status might sort.

If you've seen a QR Code online and wondered how you read them, Barcode Scanner will read it for you.

Google Goggles is a clever app which lets you take a picture using the camera and they search for it online. In principal it's a good idea, but it only works 70%(ish) of the time for me.

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As I said in my first post, if there are any apps you feel belong here, let me know and I'll test and maybe add them.