With the introduction of the new Droid X this week, I thought it was time to revisit all the apps that have been reviewed on JustJon.Net so far and see what apps were must have for the new phone. These are the apps that I find to be the most used, must have apps to use for the Droid that should be as necessary to the Droid X.
All of the apps below can be reached on androlib and can be easily installed by using Barcode Scanner to scan the QR code on the page. Most of the apps I use are free , so no cost is incurred downloading most of these applications.
- Advanced Task Killer (ATK) – ATK is a great way to kill apps when not in use to free memory and save battery life.
- Astro File Manager – An easy way to view the file and directory contents of the Droid
- Barcode Scanner – When you come across a UPC or QR code and want to look it up, this is the best app for scanning and reading them.
- Bump – A fun way to share contact information with people by bumping your phones together. The future of business cards.
- Connectbot – SSH client to connect to remote servers
- DroidLight – For those times when you really need a flashlight, instead of using the screen to illuminate, use this app to turn on the LED flash on the back of the Droid.
- Gesture Search – Search your contacts, apps and other items on your phone by launching this app and drawing letters on the screen. I find it to be a quick, easy way to look up contacts and prefer to use it over the Contacts app.
- Google Goggles – A cool app that lets you take a picture and then scans the picture and runs searches based on it.
- Google Sky Map – The app I always use to demo the phone. Run the app and point your phone at the sky to get an Augmented Reality view of the constellations overhead.
- Key Ring – This great app scans the barcodes on your rewards cards (or any card with a barcode, like a gym membership), so you don’t have to carry the cards. When checking out, just hand the phone to the cashier and let her scan the UPC from the phone.
- Last.fm – Streaming music app that creates radio stations based on what I regularly listen to thru iTunes or based on a band or song.
- Layar Reality Browser – A variety of information can be seen by activating layers in this browser to gain all types of information around you.
- Mother TED – Mother TED gives streaming access to every TED Talk released online, sorted by name, category, etc. and streams them to the phone in very clear audio and video.
- Pandora Radio – A streaming music app, like Last.fm, that allows me to listen to radio stations based on a band or song I like.
- Seesmic – A nice looking Twitter client that allows the monitoring and posting of tweets from multiple accounts.
- Shazam – When I am listening to the radio or in a store and wonder what song I am hearing, I let Shazam give it a listen and it comes back and tells me who I hear.
- Shop Savvy – When you are shopping and want to compare prices, scan the UPC barcode with this app and get prices from around the web and local brick and mortar stores to see where you can find it cheaper.
- SPB TV ($10) and SPB TV Lite (Free) – A streaming video app that allows you to watch news, movies and video from around the world. Includes streams from local and national US tv news channels, music channels and older films. Lite version limits you to 6 channels, but the paid version has over 100 to choose from.
- TV.com – Streaming access to clips to CBS and Showtime shows are how the app is promoted, but the real lure is the classic TV shows you can watch. MacGuyver, Beverly Hills 90210 (classic), Twin Peaks, Family Ties, and others to select from make this a worthy app to install.
- UStream Viewer – Although the app says it is in beta when it starts (at this time), you can watch your favorite UStream feeds directly and clearly on your phone, so you can watch all the puppy cams you want. This app does not send video, but there is UStream Broadcaster for that.
This is just a small sampling of the apps available for the Droid. With the HDMI output of the Droid X, I’d love to recommend a Hulu or Netflix app, but neither are available yet. If you have any other must have apps for Android, add them below. Everyone uses their Droid differently and finds different apps indispensable.
