SubscribeI’ve had my Motorola Droid for a little over a month now and I’ve had the chance to try quite a few apps. Here’s a list of my favorites in no particular order, not including the stock apps that are installed by default (ie. Gmail, Google Maps, Facebook, YouTube, etc.):
1. KeePassDroid (free) – a companion app to the desktop version, albeit by a separate developer. I highly recommend the KeePass products (all free) for password storage and retrieval. The 2.x version of the desktop app can export to a 1.x file which the Android version can read. Drop it on your SD card and you have all your passwords at your disposal in encrypted secure form. You only have to remember your master password.
2. Evernote (free) – create and view notes on your phone via text input, photographs, audio recordings, and file uploads. The notes are synced automatically to the cloud through Evernote’s website (also free, but has paid service for more storage space) so you can view/edit them on any computer or via the web. It’s like having a second brain.
3. Google Goggles (free) – I’m sure this will be installed on all Android phones in the future, but for now, you have to look for it. Goggles lets you search the web by taking a snapshot of an item such as a book, landmark, logo, artwork, business, product, barcode, or text. It will even attempt to “read” business cards and generate a contact for you.
4. Twidroid (free, paid version available) – easily the best Twitter app for Android. It makes all the lists.
5. Google Voice (free) – full integration with the Google Voice service. If you use Google Voice, you’ll want this. If not, you won’t.
6. PingDroid (free) – uses the Ping.fm service (also free) to update multiple social networks at once. I use it to update my Facebook and Twitter status simultaneously from my Phone.
7. Google My Maps Editor (free) – the companion to Google Maps. Allows you to edit maps stored in the My Maps feature of Google Maps while on the go. Great for adding new placemarks to your maps while you travel.
8. The Weather Channel (free) – get the weather report and weather bulletins for multiple locations on your phone.
9. Barcode Scanner (free) – scan barcodes or QR codes and search the web for info. This may get replaced by Google Goggles on my phone, which shares the same functionality.
10. PicSay Pro (purchased or free edition) – allows you to edit the photos you take on the phone. The Pro edition has more filters and effects than the free edition, but both are great for color correcting or tweaking your photos. They both allow for adding fun clipart or text balloons to your images, but that quickly gets old. Get the app for the filters and correction tools. The Pro edition includes effect tools like Exposure, Contrast, Saturation, Temperature, Tint, Brightness, Adjust RGB, Sharpen, Smooth, and Blur, color adjustments such as Hue, Colorize, Grayscale, Black & White, and Duotone, photo effects like Cross Process, Sepia Toning, Invert, Fading Colors, Soft Glow, and filters such as a simulated GND filter, Vignette, Spotlight, and several options for adding borders. It also includes several artistic and distortion effects that I will probably never use. It also allows for very simple masks and has a history paintbrush. It’s pretty impressive.
11. FxCamera (free) – has some quick photo filters that allow you to take photographs that simulate a polariod, fish-eye lens, toy camera and others.
12. Google My Tracks (free) – uses your phones GPS to track your route and calculate trip stats such as distance, time, speed, elevation gain, and other stats usually found on dedicated GPS receivers. Also allows you to set markers and upload your trip to Google My Maps.
13. Google Finance (free) – track your stocks from your phone, which could be depressing these days. To cheer yourself back up try…
14. DailyStrip (free) – get your favorite comic strips on your phone everyday. Currently 98 strips available. Dilbert and Calvin and Hobbes are my favorites. :)
15. Google Places (free) – get information and user ratings about local business and attractions based on your location or via search. Similar to Yelp.
16. Yelp (free) – similar to above, but with more data as it is a more established service with higher user base. The current rumor (as of 12/18/2009) is Google is looking to acquire Yelp so these may merge one day.
17. Locale (free) – this is one that I use everyday, but don’t realize it. It’s an app that lets you program your phone based on your location, time, or even battery status. I use it to automatically silence my ringer whenever I’m at school. Now I don’t have to worry about my phone ringing during class. When I leave school, Locale resets my default volume automatically. I also use it to silence my notification alerts at night. I don’t want to get woken up just because an email arrives. I use my phone as an alarm clock so this was a problem. Now, it’s not. There are also a number of plugins available for Locale that add to its functionality.
18. Amazon and Amazon MP3 (free) – shop from your phone. Dangerous (impulse buys!), but cool. Also useful for comparison shopping when you’re at a store. Check to see what prices are at Amazon to see if the store is gouging you.
19. BettrFlickr (purchased) – view your Flickr account on your phone, search for photos, and upload new photos from the Share option in most photo apps, including PicSay. I bought it mostly for the upload option. Without it, I had to resort to using Flickr’s email service which doesn’t allow you to add them to a set.
20. ASTRO File Manager – A file browser, task manager, and more for your phone. Also will allow you to back-up all your non-private applications.
21. Documents To Go (free, paid version available) – view MS Word or Excel documents on your phone. The paid version is required if you wish to edit them. Also, Powerpoint and PDF documents are supported in the paid version, but not the free one. I was fine with the read-only version.
22. ExFlashlight (free) – turn your phone’s screen into a flashlight. Also, has a red light for easier night vision and will flash a S.O.S code.
23. DroidLight LED Flashlight (free) – uses the Droid’s twin LED flash as a flashlight rather than the screen.
24. Shazam (free) – let it listen for a few seconds and it will identify what song you’re hearing and locate it on your favorite music store. Works surprisingly well.
25. SportsTap (free) – follow your favorite teams and get game time alerts and stats on players. I haven’t been able to watch the Packers or Badgers much this year, but I always know how they’re doing. Follows the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, and NCAA as well as other football, auto (NASCAR), soccor, golf, tennis, and local teams/events.
26. UltraCron Lite (free) – a basic, yet speech enabled, timer and stop watch. I use it so I don’t forget to take the pizza out of the oven…nobody likes burnt pizza.
Others I have, but don’t use very often or haven’t fully tried yet include: UStream Broadcaster and Viewer, wpToGo (wordpress blogging), Quickpedia, OpenTable, Pandora, Last.fm, Google Sky Map, Layar, Google Listen, Mobile GA (Google Analytics), Photoshop.com Mobile, Portland Transit Lite, and Voice Recorder.
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