Top 20 Favorite Android Applications

Never have I been more pleased with a cell phone than I am with my Droid X. I don’t know if it’s the sophistication of the hardware, the capabilities of the Android operating system or the enormous amount of apps that are available in the market place. But whatever “IT” is, I am enthralled.

I’ve spent more time in the past two weeks browsing forums, reading reviews, and trying out specific apps to make the phone work the way I want it to work. I’ve found many lists for what certain writers consider to be the “best” or “essential” or their “favorite” droid apps. I was pleased to see that many people agree with the choices I’ve made independently of these lists, but then again, there are some apps that I love that nobody else seems to know much about. And I know, I’m only beginning to scratch the surface. So let me share with you what I subjectively consider to be favorite android applications. All of them are either completely free or have free versions available that can be upgraded to “Pro” versions.

1. Astro File Manager by Metago: Rated by many websites as the best file manager available for Android, Astro allows you to manage files on your SD Card. You can execute functions such as copy, delete, move or rename; send files as attachments or manage running applications. Modules are available to Bluetooth OBEX FTP and SMB (Windows) networking features.
2. Compass by Catch.com: Displays a compass, location and geo-tagged notes.
3. Congress by Sunlight Foundation: Everything you ever wanted to know about Congress. Find your representatives using your location, get their contact information, see how they vote, follow bills through the process and read the newest laws.
4. Dial Zero by Next Mobile Web: Tired of wading through endless interactive voice prompts when trying to reach a real person in customer service? Not anymore!. Dial Zero provides direct customer service numbers to over 600 companies.
5. DroidLight: A flashlight app from Motorola that allows you to turn the camera’s LED flash on and off like a flashlight. The Droid X’s twin LEDs are very bright. The flashlight app helps you to easily find the keyhole in the dark.
6. Google Goggles by Google Inc.: This is an amazing app that you need to use to believe! Take a picture of an object with your cell phone, Goggles attempts to recognize the object and return relevant search results.
7. Google Shopper by Google Inc.: Shopper uses the camera to recognize cover art, barcodes and can perform voice and text searches to find local and online prices, reviews, specs and more.
8. Google Sky Map by Google Inc.: Turns your Android based phone into a mobile planetarium. Hold the phone up to the sky and it uses your location to display the constellations you are seeing.
9. Google Translate by Google Inc.: Instantly translate text between 50 languages. Can use speech to text for recording and text to speech for playback.
10. Handcent SMS by handcent_admin: Full featured SMS/MMS replacement app for Android phones. Overcomes the weaknesses of the built-in app. Includes group sending options.
11. Key Ring by Mobestream Media: Tired of all the little membership reward cards cluttering your key ring? Scan them into this app and make room in your pocket. Display the barcode on your phone at checkout and have the clerk scan the phone instead. I’m still on the fence about this one. I’ve used this at two different stores and the scanner was unable to read the barcode on the phone. presumably due to the reflective nature of the phone.
12. Kindle Book Reader: Free app from Amazon.com that is preloaded on the Droid X. I was pleasantly surprised to see there are over 3,000 free books available for the Kindle Reade, most of them classics and all either in the public domain or offered free by their authors.
13. KJV BibleReader by Olive Tree: Nary a day goes by where I don’t do at least some devotional reading. The Olive Tree KJV BibleReader is a free download and includes the King James Version. Makes searching for specific passages easy. Tap “Library” to browse the store and download many free books and study guides.
14. Lookout Mobile Security by Lookout, Inc.: Provides antivirus, system backup and phone finder features for free. The phone finder is really cool. If the phone is lost of stolen, you can locate it on the map. If you’ve misplaced the phone around the house as I often do, you can send a blaring siren signal to the phone. Siren works even if the phone is silenced.
15. Mileage by Evan Charlton: A very simple app, Mileage lets you track your vehicle’s fuel consumption history and calculates lots of useful stats.
16. Note Everything by SoftXPerience: This is the most comprehensive note taking application I’ve found for Android. Create Textnotes, Paintnotes, Voicenotes, Photonotes, Checklists, Durable Checklists (ToDo lists), Gallerynotes, Notes from barcodes, Reminders or Notes from Google docs. Stick notes to the status bar and automatically back them up on the SD Card.  Great support and frequent updates.
17. Ringdroid by Ringdroid Team: Creates ringtones from your own music tracks or record a new one directly from the phone.
18. Scanner Radio by Gordon Edwards: As a former professional paramedic, I still enjoy listening to emergency calls from time to time. Scanner Radio allows us to listen to live emergency audio from over 2,300 police and fire scanners, railroad communications and weather radio broadcasts from around the world.
19. Shop Savvy by Big in Japan, Inc.: If there’s only one shopping application for you to get, this is the one. Shop Savvy uses your location to comparison shop products in your area or online. Supports QR Codes.
20. TuneWiki Social Media Player by TuneWiki: Shows subtitled lyrics as you listen to music, watch music videos, or stream songs through SHOUTcast radio. Integrates with Facebook and Twitter.