Anyone who knows me can tell you that I am a big Android fan. My HTC Desire HD is the best phone I’ve ever had, and after 2 years its still fast and reliable. I have rooted my phone (its a branded Vodafone model, so basicly to get rid of the pre-installed Vodafone apps) and installed the Cyanogenmod ROM. The ROM itself is pretty great, with lots of customization options and tweaked to be fast and low on resources. On a later post I will explain how to flash your own Android device, but for now I want to share my favorite apps with you. This list is also not complete at all, so feel free to leave a comment with your personal favorites. Take note that most of these apps are free or ad-supported, but not all.
- Tasker – If you are a tweaker then this is the app for you, it automates everything you want and more. I have heard people that buy an android phone just for this app.
- TED Air – Watch the TED talks on your phone. Get smart while you are on the move.
- File Expert – Powerful file manager, with built-in support for SMB and FTP.
- Soundhound – Records a (partial) song and searches for the name and artist.
- Facebook for Android – Well yeah, the Facebook app for Android is pretty obvious to have.
- Facebook Messenger – The messenger app for Facebook, specially good if you don’t want to miss any messages from a (potential) lover 😉
- Torch – A flashlight app with options for blinking in case of emergency, strength of the light can be set so it doesn’t drain your battery too much.
- Dropbox – Sync files to the cloud. I personally use this in combination with KeePassDroid to sync my password file to every device.
- QR Droid – Scan those QR codes that popup everywhere. Also handy with the plugin for Chrome to easily transfer URL’s to your phone.
- Winamp – Powerfull media player, even supports playlist syncing over WiFi to and from your PC’s Winamp.
- Prey Anti-Theft – If your phone gets lost of stolen, you can track it with this app or even brick the phone completely, making it worthless.
- Firefox – There are better browsers out there, but this one has my preference.
- Steam – Chat with your friend if you are not behind the PC. Great for those “lost” hours at boring parties or whatever 🙂
- Smart measure – quickly measure the height or distance of something with just your phone’s camera.
- Google maps – For when you are completely lost, must have on every phone.
- Google sky map – This is more for fun than anything else, but it looks nice and has quite a lot of features for a star chart.
- KeePassDroid – Keep all your passwords securely with you at all times, never forget a password ever again. Set this up in combination with Dropbox for the ultimate password tool.
- BatteryCalibration – Prolong your battery useage, read my article about it for more information.
- Fancy Widgets – Nice weather app for a homescreen.
- Simple Calendar Widget – Just what the name says, overview of your appointments without hassle.
- SMS Backup – Backup your text messages to Gmail for safe keeping and keep your phone clean of clutter.
- WiFi analyzer – Check the best channel for your WiFi and see other networks nearby.
- Advanced Task Killer – Shuts down processes that are in the background slowing your phone to a crawl.
- Minimalistic Text – A widget that displays information like time, battery status and CPU load without ugly GUI crap.
- ADWLauncher – Nice, clean and fast launcher, comes standard wit Cyanogenmod btw.
I am sure I forget some great apps, remind me in the comments 🙂
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