Android apps take two

It's been a while since I posted my list of Android apps.

Since then, I've moved to an HTC Desire, and a similar-but-different set of apps, arrayed differently across my increased number of screens, and folders. The recent upgrade to Froyo has been valuable in that I can now move apps to storage on my SD card, as the phone's internal memory has been getting short...

So, here's the epic list, which might help you if you're wondering what apps to install or buy, but is mostly for my own reference... I've ignored the built-in apps, in the main, and I have probably missed a couple of widget-only apps (I know I have a blue thing which lets me toggle silent/vibrate/ringer - no idea what it is called though! 

First off: alphabetical list, or go straight to the same apps listed by category.

• Say No to 0870.  Because no one likes paying premium rates for calls if they don't have to. 
• Abduction! and Abduction World Attack -  two superb games
• Action Potato. I like this game less - just too hard for me!  But it's a bit of fun.
• Advanced Postbox Hunter. Not a game, but a way of helping the UK develop a database of where postboxes are. When I spot one, I enter it into the database using this app. 
• AK Notepad. Lets me write little notes. 
• Aldiko Premium. This is my main e-book reader; lots of free content, and a good system for adjusting screen brightness whilst reading. You can buy books through Stanza (I think), with a bit of effort.
• Audioboo - make short audio recordings to share online
• barcode scanner. Reads lots of kinds of barcodes. Easy. 
• Beamreader, for those PDF moments
• Bump. Essential business card swapping technology! You can even exchange info with those weird beasties, iPhones
• Calculator, Calendar, Call History, Camcorder, Camera - all the C's are built into Android, not downloaded apps.

• Clock, Desk Clock, FM Radio:  Android or HTC apps.
• Colossal Cave Adventure - retro text gaming!
• Compass - because sometimes I have a map that isn't in my phone, and there's no sun
• ConvertPad, for changing things between different units
• Cycle Hire Widget. This is a new app for me, which theoretically points to the nearest bike hire rack in London. Not yet tested!
• Documents to Go: lets me read Office docs. Useful when you need it. 
• Draw! A basic drawing app, useful if you want to make marks on a screen
• Facebook. Hugely improved since the recent update, it's all the FaceBook you need. 
• fIRC chat - not something I use much, but useful in case I ever need to leap into work discussions remotely
• Fix My Street - building on the classic website from the lovely people at MySociety, I can now take a picture and grab the location of any offending pothole, and instantly tell the council about it. (Note: also works for non-potholes needing fixing!)
• Footprints. A weird HTC thing which looked fun but never really worked for me. Takes pictures and stamps them with time and location. 
• Friction Mobile. A monochrome game, very simple, which I am very bad at. 
• Friend Stream. Another HTC special, looks very useful, but I like my streams from twitter, facebook, email etc separated out, because they all have different purposes for me. 
• Gmote - turning my phone into a remote control. Nice.

• Google Goggles. Letting me identify things with a camera! Shiny. 
• Google Mail, HTC People, Internet, Latitude - all built in things, for email, contacts, the internet, and some weird place-based social network I don't use
• Google Sky - pretty! Tells you what stars you are looking at.
• Google Translate. In case you need to turn things from one language to another
• GPS Speedo. For finding out how fast you are going. Sadly, only works where GPS works. 
• Here I Am ('2 Pro'). Lets you easily share where you are with others, via email and so on. 
• Juice Defender. The paid for version which is brilliant for reducing power consumption. Just needs a little configuration. 
• K-9 Mail. For all my non-gmail email. 
• Kindle. Another ebook reader. Lots of purchasable books through Amazon, once you've figured out how to do this. Puts words on the screen. It's OK.
• Layar - a wacky augmented reality system which lets you add layers of information over what you are looking at, or a map. If you can find the layer you need, it's brilliant.
• Listen - google's "podcatcher". What, you say? Podcatcher. A thing which lets you follow podcasts via their feeds.  Would be useful if I ever got around to listening to things on my phone.
• London City Tube info. Does what it says.

• (Another) London Cycle Hire - this one has a map of the bike parks.
• Now the built-in M's: Mail - built in email thing which I don't use; K-9 meets my needs better. Maps is Maps; Market is App Store; Messages is SMS and MMS. Music is some mp3 player I've never tried. I have no idea what News is, but I don't use that either.
• Meebo is an instant messaging thing which connects to all your different IM systems
• miniBus is a Cambridge-based bus app which uses real time bus information. It's getting bitrot sadly, still working, but the bus people must have changed their APIs, and now instead of bus stop names, I get numbers. Still, I can guess which I need and still figure out when the bus will turn up. 
• My Maps Editor - for when I want to correct the world of google!
• My Tracks - records where you have been for walks, or whatever. You can export them into google Earth and so on.
• Navigation - turn by turn, how to get to where you're going
• NewsRob - RSS reader which synchronises with Google Reader
• Ocado! Order your groceries from your phone. Easy to add items to your shopping basket. Actually a great experience for a fairly complex app, and kudos to Ocado for making it better than the web
• OpenTable, for finding restaurants near you
• Opera Mini - an alternative browser for when "Internet" won't do (I only use it occasionally)

• Panoramio - a sort of augmented reality view of local shops and so on
• PDANet - enables you to connect your laptop to the internet via 3G, using a cable or bluetooth. Cable mode still more useful than the (now with Froyo) built in wifi hotspot, as you can properly charge your phone at the same time.
• PDF Viewer - does what it says
• peep - HTC's twitter client which I don't use at all
• Places
• Places directory - google's index of local facilities.
• qik - make short videos you can share online
• qype - yet another local directory app. (if I have enough of them, one will find me the shop or watering hole I need!)
• Remember the Milk. The app version of my to-do list service, which also has a handy widget
• robotfindskitten. Yet more retro gaming. Very Zen.
• runkeeper - an app which lets you map and time and measure your speed as you run (ha!) or cycle or whatever. I've used it a couple of times to figure out how fast my commute cycle is (not fast)
• scrambled net - a lovely, simple puzzle game where you connect servers to terminals with cables. Updates have made the graphics very pretty - the cables pulse with networky goodness.

• Shazam - identify the audio you are listening to
• ShopSavvy - find the best online prices for whatever you've just scanned the barcode of
• Taptu - fast mobile search, developed here in Cambridge
• ToggleWifi - turns Wifi on and off at one click of the widget.
• TunesRemote. Control things across the room with your phone!
• tweeps around - a Layar addition, showing tweets in your local area. I don't use this much, but it's a fun way to see what other people are twittering about
• Twidroyd PRO. My twitter client - works very nicely and worth paying for the PRO version
• Vignette - if you have seen oddly blurry or tinted photos online lately, they may well have come from the iPhone app Hipstamatic. Vignette is the Android equivalent, but in my opinion makes nicer, slightly retro images. The UI isn't as flashy as Hipstamatic, but then it's quicker to change settings and take a picture in Vignette!
• Voice recorder - record things and mail them to yourself.

• Voice Search - worth installing, because as well as letting you search by voice, with Froyo you also get to Command your phone by voice!
• Wapedia - a mobile port of wikipedia, very fast, very effective.
• wifi analyser - so you can see what channels are in use locally. One for geeks

Now, in vague categories, and not including the built-in apps:

Often-used

• ToggleWifi - turns Wifi on and off at one click of the widget.
• Facebook. Hugely improved since the recent update, it's all the FaceBook you need. 
• Remember the Milk. The app version of my to-do list service, which also has a handy widget
• Twidroyd PRO. My twitter client - works very nicely and worth paying for the PRO version
  
• Vignette - if you have seen oddly blurry or tinted photos online lately, they may well have come from the iPhone app Hipstamatic. Vignette is the Android equivalent, but in my opinion makes nicer, slightly retro images. The UI isn't as flashy as Hipstamatic, but then it's quicker to change settings and take a picture in Vignette!
• miniBus is a Cambridge-based bus app which uses real time bus information. It's getting bitrot sadly, still working, but the bus people must have changed their APIs, and now instead of bus stop names, I get numbers. Still, I can guess which I need and still figure out when the bus will turn up. 
• Ocado! Order your groceries from your phone. Easy to add items to your shopping basket. Actually a great experience for a fairly complex app, and kudos to Ocado for making it better than the web 
• Juice Defender. The paid for version which is brilliant for reducing power consumption. Just needs a little configuration. 
• K-9 Mail. For all my non-gmail email.
• NewsRob - RSS reader which synchronises with Google Reader
• PDANet - enables you to connect your laptop to the internet via 3G, using a cable or bluetooth. Cable mode still more useful than the (now with Froyo) built in wifi hotspot, as you can properly charge your phone at the same time.

Online tools

• Taptu - fast mobile search, developed here in Cambridge
  
• Say No to 0870.  Because no one likes paying premium rates for calls if they don't have to. 
• Advanced Postbox Hunter. Not a game, but a way of helping the UK develop a database of where postboxes are. When I spot one, I enter it into the database using this app. 
• Bump. Essential business card swapping technology! You can even exchange info with those weird beasties, iPhones
• Wapedia - a mobile port of wikipedia, very fast, very effective.
• fIRC chat - not something I use much, but useful in case I ever need to leap into work discussions remotely
• Fix My Street - building on the classic website from the lovely people at MySociety, I can now take a picture and grab the location of any offending pothole, and instantly tell the council about it. (Note: also works for non-potholes needing fixing!)

Offline tools

• AK Notepad. Lets me write little notes.
  
• barcode scanner. Reads lots of kinds of barcodes. Easy.
• Clock, Desk Clock, FM Radio:  Android or HTC apps.
• Compass - because sometimes I have a map that isn't in my phone, and there's no sun
• ConvertPad, for changing things between different units
• Gmote - turning my phone into a remote control. Nice. 
• Voice Search - worth installing, because as well as letting you search by voice, with Froyo you also get to Command your phone by voice!
• wifi analyser - so you can see what channels are in use locally. One for geeks
• Voice recorder - record things and mail them to yourself.
• Shazam - identify the audio you are listening to
• Documents to Go: lets me read Office docs. Useful when you need it. 
• Beamreader, for those PDF moments
• Google Sky - pretty! Tells you what stars you are looking at.
• Google Goggles. Letting me identify things with a camera! Shiny. 
  
• Google Translate. In case you need to turn things from one language to another
• GPS Speedo. For finding out how fast you are going. Sadly, only works where GPS works.
• ShopSavvy - find the best online prices for whatever you've just scanned the barcode of
  
• TunesRemote. Control things across the room with your phone!

Web2 stuff

• qik - make short videos you can share online
• Audioboo - make short audio recordings to share online
• runkeeper - an app which lets you map and time and measure your speed as you run (ha!) or cycle or whatever. I've used it a couple of times to figure out how fast my commute cycle is (not fast)

Location stuff

• London City Tube info. Does what it says.
• (Another) London Cycle Hire - this one has a map of the bike parks.
• Cycle Hire Widget. This is a new app for me, which theoretically points to the nearest bike hire rack in London. Not yet tested!
• OpenTable, for finding restaurants near you
• Panoramio - a sort of augmented reality view of local shops and so on
•  My Tracks - records where you have been for walks, or whatever. You can export them into google Earth and so on.
  
• Navigation - turn by turn, how to get to where you're going
• My Maps Editor - for when I want to correct the world of google!
• Places
• Places directory - google's index of local facilities.
• Here I Am ('2 Pro'). Lets you easily share where you are with others, via email and so on. 
• Layar - a wacky augmented reality system which lets you add layers of information over what you are looking at, or a map. If you can find the layer you need, it's brilliant.
• qype - yet another local directory app. (if I have enough of them, one will find me the shop or watering hole I need!)
• tweeps around - a Layar addition, showing tweets in your local area. I don't use this much, but it's a fun way to see what other people are twittering about

Leisure

• Aldiko Premium. This is my main e-book reader; lots of free content, and a good system for adjusting screen brightness whilst reading. You can buy books through Stanza (I think), with a bit of effort.
• Draw! A basic drawing app, useful if you want to make marks on a screen
• Kindle. Another ebook reader. Lots of purchasable books through Amazon, once you've figured out how to do this. Puts words on the screen. It's OK.
• Listen - google's "podcatcher". What, you say? Podcatcher. A thing which lets you follow podcasts via their feeds.  Would be useful if I ever got around to listening to things on my phone.

Games

• Abduction! and Abduction World Attack -  two superb games
• Action Potato. I like this game less - just too hard for me!  But it's a bit of fun.
• Colossal Cave Adventure - retro text gaming!
• Friction Mobile. A monochrome game, very simple, which I am very bad at.
• scrambled net - a lovely, simple puzzle game where you connect servers to terminals with cables. Updates have made the graphics very pretty - the cables pulse with networky goodness.
• robotfindskitten. Yet more retro gaming. Very Zen. 

Things I don't really use:

• Footprints. A weird HTC thing which looked fun but never really worked for me. Takes pictures and stamps them with time and location. 
• Friend Stream. Another HTC special, looks very useful, but I like my streams from twitter, facebook, email etc separated out, because they all have different purposes for me.
• PDF Viewer - does what it says
  
• peep - HTC's twitter client which I don't use at all
• Meebo is an instant messaging thing which connects to all your different IM systems; I have it for emergencies. Google talk is often sufficient, the people I need to chat with urgently are almost always on google
• Opera Mini - an alternative browser for when "Internet" won't do (I only use it occasionally)