Thursday, February 3, 2011

50 Android Apps to Inform, Monitor and Manage

With the right apps, your Android phone can become an incredibly versatile tool. It can call up useful information in moments at the touch of a finger, track and monitor all manner of information and events, and help you manage that information.

Whether you need to stay on top of your business mileage, your appointments, your workouts, the weather or the latest scores, there's an Android app that can help you do it better.

To help you find what you're looking for, here's a list of 50 of the best Android apps for accessing, monitoring and managing your information.

1) DiskUsage Want to see at a glance precisely which applications are using up all the space on your phone's internal memory or SD Card? DiskUsage gives you an easy visual representation, and as an added benefit it acts as a file manager for your SD Card. Free.

2) Android Time Card This time clock allows you to check in and check out on your phone and then e-mail your time sheet to yourself in CSV format. It supports multiple timers and even allows you to record your mileage for when you're on the go. Paid: $2.95.

3) Speedtest.net Speed Test This app benchmarks the speed of your mobile network. It provides both download and upload speeds. Free.

4) aTrackDog Have trouble remembering to check for updates to your apps? aTrackDog finds the newest version of all your apps, even ones not listed on the Android Market, and notifies you when they're available. It allows you to open, uninstall and manage your apps, and even tracks your uninstalled apps. Free.

5) Locale Locale lets you manage your phone's settings based on predefined criteria. For instance, you can set situations like "at school" or "in court" and set the phone to change its volume setting to vibrate when in those situations.

You can set automated controls based on battery, location, contact, orientation and time. The phone settings you can alter based on these situations include: Bluetooth, brightness, ring tone, screen timeout, volume, wallpaper or Wi-Fi. Paid: $9.99.

6) CPU Benchmark Use this app to test the speed of your Android phone's processor. This is a great tool for testing the results of overclocking your phone. Free.

7) Mileage Ledger This app makes it easier than ever to track your mileage for business reporting. It uses GPS to automatically track and log your mileage. You can then e-mail your report directly from the app. Paid: $8.95 annually.

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8) FeedR News Reader This RSS reader lets you stay on top of news, sports weather, blogs and even podcasts and other content as well.

It supports RSS, Atom and Pod. There are no ads, and it makes searching for RSS feeds a snap. You can even backup/restore your feed list to your SD card. Paid: $0.99.

10) Congress Android App Are you a political junkie? This open source app from Sunlight Labs lets you keep track of the latest bills before Congress. It also lets you keep track of your national legislators' actions, including positions, bills sponsored, even their Twitter updates and YouTube videos. Free.

11) Seesmic This Twitter client integrates streams from Twitter, Facebook and even Salesforce.com Chatter into a single client, allowing you to stay on top of all your messages from various sources.

Unlike many clients, it supports multiple accounts, giving you the ability when composing a message to send it out via one of your accounts or all of them at once. You can also customize a large number of features. Free.

12) MightyMeeting Manage a library of PowerPoint presentations directly from your Android phone with this app. You can use the app to share the presentations via e-mail, blog, Twitter and Facebook, and you can also start or join Web meetings using it. Free.

13) JuiceDefender Is the battery on your Android phone consistently running on empty? JuiceDefender can help you extend it!

The app intelligently manages your mobile connectivity and other battery-sensitive components to ensure your phone runs as efficiently as possible.

For example, the default mode switches your phone from battery-intensive 3G mode to the less-draining 2G mode when you're not actually using the phone, and it turns of the Wi-Fi radio if the charge goes below a certain level.

The Advanced Mode allows you to tune the app's triggers based on your individual needs. Free.

14) MangoSpring Mobile MangoSpring Mobile is a personal, team and company collaboration tool that allows you to share and update documents on the go. Free.

15) Evernote This app allows you to log, index and search all manner of information, from notes to audio to photos.

For instance, you can take a photo of a white board and Evernote will recognize the text in the photo, index it and then allow you to find it later by entering a search term from the information on the white board.

It even synchs with the Web. Free.

16) Time Recording Time Recording is an app that lets you manage your time sheet, including options like tasks, target time, hourly rate, paid overtime and multiple data/time formats. It also supports CSV export. Free.

17) CallTrack This app logs your phone activity to your Google Calendar, allowing you to track who you've called or received calls from and when. Free.

18) ActionComplete ActionComplete is a robust task manager. It is built around projects you create, which are made up of individual actions that serve as milestones in the project.

The app is based on the Getting Things Done (GTD) methodology created by David Allen in his book: Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity. Free.


19) SMS Backup + This app automatically backs up SMS, MMS and call log entries to a separate label in your Gmail account. Free.

20) AP Mobile Stay on top of breaking print and video news with this app. You can even filter for local news using your ZIP code. Free.

21) Fusion Voicemail Plus Centralize all your voicemail boxes, including mobile, home and office, on your Android phone with this app. It can receive and display FAXes too. Free.

22) Parcels This handy app lets you track all your packages in one place. Carriers supported include: Apple, Fedex, UPS, UPS Mail Innovations, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com, Amazon.de, DHL Express National (Germany), DHL (Germany), DPD Standard (Germany), GLS (Germany), Hermes, TNT, TNT International (Netherlands), TNT National (Netherlands), OnTrac Shipping, LaserShip, Posten (Norway), Post (Austria), Post (Switzerland), Posten (Sweden), USPS, DHL (USA), DHL Express (GB), Home Delivery Network (GB), Japan Post Int. Mail, CNE Express, Royal Mail, Spee-Dee Delivery (USA), Parcelforce. Free.

23) Wifi Analyzer This handy app turns your Android phone into a Wifi analyzer. It shows nearby networks, their signal strength and the channels they're on. It's great for finding a strong signal or even an uncluttered channel on which to set up your own network. Free.

24) NewsRob This is an excellent, plain but functional Google Reader client with built-in syncing for off-line reading. Free and paid. The free version features ads. NewsRob Pro goes for $7; it removes the ads and adds exclusive features for power users.

25) Read It Later A simple, reliable tool that adds Instapaper to your sharing menu, so you can quickly tag articles as you browse. Free.

26) Astrid Task Todo List Get yourself organized with this todo list app. It features tagging, timers, reminders, smart task sorting and even tracks partial progress. You can sync your todo list with Remember the Milk, which can sync with Gmail. Free.

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27) Exchange Rates Exchange Rates is a currency converter that shows current exchange rates. Best of all: no ads. Free.

28) Mint Manage your money and keep track of your budget while on the move using Mint. It gives you up-to-date information on your accounts and lets you edit transaction info right on your phone. And it's password protected to make sure your information stays safe. Free.

29) aCar This app allows you to track the maintenance, fuel mileage and expenses of your vehicles. It provides notifications when it's time to change the engine oil, air filter, oil filter, etc. Free.

30) FactBook Stay on top of information on every country in the world with FactBook. This app draws from the CIA World Fact Book and United Nations data to provide information on every country's geography, population, government, transportation and military. Free.

31) DroidAnalytics This app puts all your Google Analytics data at your fingertips. You can quickly see Pageviews, Visits, Unique Visitors, Average Time on Site and Bounce Rate, with filters for Top Keywords, Top Referrers, Top Countries, Top Traffic sources, Top Search Engines, Top Referring Sites and Top Browsers. Paid: $1.47.

32) Lookout Want to protect your phone? Lookout does just about everything. It provides security against mobile viruses, malware and hackers, backs up your data and even locates your lost or stolen device on a map from the Web. And if you can't find it, you can use Lookout to make your phone "scream" or simply wipe out all the data on it.

33) Gasbuddy – Find Cheap Gas This app provides comprehensive, real-time gas prices in your area (US and Canada) with maps. Users who pitch in by reporting gas prices in their area can win free gas.

34) Android System Info This app is a detailed dashboard and task manager for your Android phone, providing information on exactly what's going on in its hardware and software. The dashboard shows details like battery life, internal memory, SD card storage, RAM usage, uptime, network type and IP address. The tasks menu provides detail on all the processes running on your phone. There are a multitude of other details and features too.

35) US Traffic US Traffic provides traffic reports about your neighborhood and works anywhere in the US. It supplies detailed traffic incident information.

36) Scanner Radio Use this app to listen to more than 2,300 publicly hosted fire, emergency, public safety, and weather scanner feeds. You can find feeds from the 50 currently most popular, or search by area, type or source. Or you can simply search for scanners near you.

37) COL Reminder This app allows you to set up important reminders for everything from an important conference call to feeding the parking meter. It's available in 15 languages. Free.

38) Trip Journal Document your travel experiences with this app. It automatically tracks your itinerary in real time, keeping stats on distance, time and geography traveled. It integrates with Google Earth and allows friends and family to keep tabs on your journey. Paid: $1.99

39) runtastic Pro Keep track of your runs with this app. You can track distance, time, speed and pace for running, walking, biking and skating. It also allows you to display your favorite routes on a map and share your activities on Facebook and Twitter. Paid: $2.99.

40) WeatherBug Mobile WeatherBug provides live, local, location-based weather information from its network of weather stations. It offers alerts, radar, satellite maps and videos. Free.

41) Craigslist Notification Stay on top of Craigslist with this app. It allows you to create notifications for keywords and categories you choose and filter the results, just like on the Web-based application. The app periodically checks the site for new posts and downloads them to your phone for off-line browsing. Free.

42) ESPN ScoreCenter Get comprehensive ESPN sports coverage on your Android phone with this app. It provides near-real-time scores and schedules.

43) Dial Zero Need to get in touch with customer service and don't want to wait on hold? Dial Zero maintains an index of more than 600 companies and how to cut through their automated answering services to get a live human being in no time.
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44) Cab4me Find or call a cab quickly, even if you're not in Manhattan. This app keeps a database of local taxi companies and taxi stands and helps you place a call to a car service when you need one.

45) ShopSavvy Scan a product's barcode and you can get reviews and price alerts using this app. You can also use it to create wishlists. Free.

46) EStrongs File Explorer File Explorer is a local and network file manager that provides a file explorer for both the local phone and your remote computer. You can view files on your phone and in your computer's shared folder and transfer files between them. You can even play audio and video, browse images and view text. Free.

47) LogMeIn Ignition This app lets you securely access your computers—Windows or Mac—and all the files on them remotely from your phone. Never leave anything behind again. Paid: $29.99.

48) EStrongs File Explorer File Explorer is a local and network file manager that provides a file explorer for both the local phone and your remote computer. You can view files on your phone and in your computer's shared folder and transfer files between them. You can even play audio and video, browse images and view text. Free.

49) Wikidroid Use Wikipedia often? Wikidroid formats Wikipedia articles for your device with a sleek interface. It even includes voice search and bookmarks.

50) Memory Booster – RAM Optimizer Keep your Android phone running at its fastest with this app. Memory Booster optimizes our phone's memory by recovering memory leaks, flushing temporary libraries and defragmenting your phone's memory. Free.

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