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Josh Chaikin Inner circle Kansas City 1430 Posts |
Today I made the switch from an iPhone to an Android Galaxy S3 and am looking for some good apps for it...fun games, useful tools...whatever you've got!
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stoneunhinged Inner circle 3067 Posts |
Are you happy with it so far? I just can't seem to make up my mind.
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Josh Chaikin Inner circle Kansas City 1430 Posts |
So far, I've had it for a little over 24 hours at this point. The battery life leaves a lot to be desired. After four years with the iPhone, it takes some getting used to - I do like having Flash, means I can watch Amazon Prime videos.
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MobilityBundle Regular user Las Vegas/Boston 120 Posts |
A few recommendations, in particular order:
1. I use a program called Llama. It lets one do basic scripting with their phone, based on any kind of input conditions. For example, if you want your phone to do something at a certain time of day (like turn the ringer off after a certain time), you can easily set that up. The thing that Llama has that similar apps don't is a clever way to be (vaguely) location-aware. Instead of using GPS or other battery-drainers, the program learns locations based on what cell towers are visible. It doesn't give you an extreme amount of precision, but it's usually good enough to distinguish between home, work, or other widely-separated locations. Assuming, of course, you don't work at home. 2. Similarly, you can think about whether NFC tags would do anything for you. It's a similar idea to the one above, but a little less scripted. You can program NFC tags that you can tap with your phone, and cause your phone to do... stuff. For example, put an NFC tag in your car. When you get in, you tap your phone and toggle "car mode," which might involve toggling bluetooth and/or GPS, loading a playlist, etc. See, e.g., here for details and more ideas. 3. Tethering apps. FoxFi is a free program that lets you turn your phone into a wireless hotspot, without paying ridiculous carrier fees. There are other such programs, but most of them involve rooting your phone. Not that that's a bad thing, but not sure if it's up your alley. EasyTether is a similar program that works only over USB cable. If you're hyper-paranoid about security, or hyper-conscious about battery management, sometimes EasyTether is the way to go. 4. File system apps. Getting a little geeky here, but one of the things I hated about iOS was how their file system was implemented. (In some sense, there wasn't one.) But on Android, if you have, say, a 32 GB phone, then it's just like having a 32 GB hard drive. It's nice to grab an app that lets you look through it. I use ES File Explorer. It's free and does a perfectly good job. 5. Getting uber-geeky now. If you want to root your phone, you can install a full linux distribution! I guess it's more of a "gee whiz" thing at the moment, but cool if you like that sort of thing. I used the Complete Linux Installer. (As an aside, I don't think we're far off from a true "one device to rule them all" paradigm -- that is, your phone will be used for all the functions a normal desktop or laptop is now. It's just a matter of plugging in peripherals, like a monitor at home. If you want to get a glimpse of that future, you can use a linux distro off your phone for a while.) 6. Google Wallet, if enough merchants in your area support it. It's an NFC-based payment system. 7. Dropbox / Dropsync. Okay, this is admittedly kind of a niche thing. But it's huge for me, so thought I'd mention it. Dropbox is a free service that automatically syncs files across multiple computers. There's an android app (and and iOS app, for sure). The problem with the phone apps is that you have to go pull the file you're interested in grabbing from remote storage. That's where Dropsync comes in... it syncs your entire Dropbox folder with your phone on a scheduled basis. 8. Not Android-only, but there's a program called CamScanner which is excellent. It's what it sounds like: lets you scan documents using your camera. The quality is surprisingly good. I use this mostly for important receipts (tax deductions or reimbursements for work), but it has kind of changed my life. (I'm not good at hanging on to bits of paper.) |
MobilityBundle Regular user Las Vegas/Boston 120 Posts |
Oh, and about battery life:
9. Not quite an app, but I almost always go for an extended battery on smartphones. I haven't looked into extended batteries for the GSIII, but I'd recommend you do. I believe the stock battery is 2100 mAh. Just looking around quickly, I saw a 4200 mAh battery on the market, which would double your battery life. Some things to note: (a) Extended batteries are almost always bulkier. If having an uber-slim phone is a priority for you, be careful. (b) NFC is often implemented on the battery itself, and extended batteries sometimes don't have it. Kind of a silver lining, actually -- if NFC isn't a priority for you, then you can save a few bucks on an extended battery. But if it is, watch out. In any case, if you see two similar batteries but one is significantly cheaper, you might drive yourself crazy wondering if the cheaper one is sub-par, or if the expensive one is just a rip off. Look to see if the difference is that one has NFC and one doesn't. |
ed rhodes Inner circle Rhode Island 2885 Posts |
Wow. I was just wondering if the Disney World app was available for the Android.
"...and if you're too afraid of goin' astray, you won't go anywhere." - Granny Weatherwax
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Josh Chaikin Inner circle Kansas City 1430 Posts |
Thanks for the thorough response, Mobility, I will definitely look into those apps. I already ordered an extended life battery, because the life on this battery is just obscenely poor, I just hope it'll still fit in my OtterBox with the added thickness.
Ed, the Disney Mobile Magic app is available on Android. |
Josh Chaikin Inner circle Kansas City 1430 Posts |
As far as "geek" tools are concerned, I'll add Fing to the list. It scans the network you're currently connected to and lists all other connected devices, their IPs, MAC addresses, and allows you to get a lot of other detailed information.
Highly useful if you administer a WLAN. |
stoneunhinged Inner circle 3067 Posts |
All the geek talk makes me think that I should go for the iPhone.
I'm a nerd, but I'm not a geek. The difference amazes me sometimes. |
MobilityBundle Regular user Las Vegas/Boston 120 Posts |
Stone, don't get the wrong impression. An iPhone conversation could get just as geeky. (Of course, it'd have to start "jailbreak your iPhone, install Cydia, and then...")
Android phones are generally as user-friendly as iPhones, at least in my opinion. In fact, a big manufacturer (I forget who -- Motorola?) recently launched an entry-level phone loaded with a custom, entry-level version of Android. I haven't seen it, but it's a great idea. |
critter Inner circle Spokane, WA 2653 Posts |
If I had the money to pick any phone I wanted I'd get a Blackberry Bold.
"The fool is one who doesn't know what you have just found out."
~Will Rogers |
Josh Chaikin Inner circle Kansas City 1430 Posts |
Quote:
On 2012-10-06 18:02, critter wrote: Err...why? That's what's used where I work (though if a user qualifies for a BlackBerry, then can opt for an iPhone). Those things are just...ungh. Though I can provision one, remove non-essential applications, synch and apply our security policy on a new one in 5 minutes. |
critter Inner circle Spokane, WA 2653 Posts |
Because they're fast, efficient, and secure.
"The fool is one who doesn't know what you have just found out."
~Will Rogers |
landmark Inner circle within a triangle 5194 Posts |
The one indispensable app on my Android is Swiftkeys. It makes typing emails and text messages a joy instead of a burden. It predicts not only what word you are currently writing, but the next few words as well.
I also recommend SoundHound. Hold the phone up to a radio or music player playing a song, even hum a song, and the app returns with the name of the song and the artists and record labels it appears on. Amazing! EzPDF Reader for reading PDFs, and Quickoffice for reading Microsoft Word documents on the phone are also apps I find useful. Tip Me is a fun little app that makes splitting a restaurant check painless. If you're looking for a Siri-like assistant app that gives you voice control over texting, emails, googling, etc., Speaktoit Assistant is probably better than Siri, but uses up battery power very quickly.
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All proceeds to Open Heart Magic charity. |
Josh Chaikin Inner circle Kansas City 1430 Posts |
SwiftKey is already integrated into the Galaxy S3 and it does have S-Voice, the Siri-like assistant, it's more of a novelty.
I did have SoundHound on my iPhone, so that's one I'll need to purchase. Again. Grr. It's like the VHS to DVD move. I have had a few people recommend QuickOffice, so I may have to check that one out. |
MobilityBundle Regular user Las Vegas/Boston 120 Posts |
I'll second QuickOffice. Not that you want to be writing documents or working on spreadsheets on your phone. But it will open Office documents and display them without any funky issues. You can even do stuff like track changes and add comments without breaking anything.
Another meta-recommendation is to read the site androidpolice.com. Although the cover a lot of nitty-gritty stuff that isn't interesting (like, "Hey! Carrier X is getting Phone Y!"), they have a pretty good rundown of new/noteworthy apps every week. |
TomKMagic Special user I tripped over 620 Posts |
My absolutely favorite App is Display Brightness
It allows you to adjust the brightness with a slider which you can place pretty much anywhere on the screen. It also works when you use other apps. It definitely helps with saving the battery, plus gives instant control over the brightness without having to go into any menus. |
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