Author: Angel Webster

Welcome back to AndroidGuys’ new series, Share With the Class!  To kick things off, we asked you what your favorite productivity apps were.  Some of you mentioned titles like Gmote, SwiFTP Server, Astrid, and ListBuddy.  It was interesting to hear how people use many different apps in many different days.  This time around we wanted to know what free apps you would be willing to pay for.

Here’s what some of you had to say:

Scan to download Dialer One

I have more than 500 contacts.  Scrolling through them is much easier with Dialer One. T9 functionality makes it simple while driving.  The author updates the app several times a week, based on user requests.  You can start the app by long press on search button.  It supports many languages in the phone book; all my contacts are in Cyrillic.  Developed by the same author who made aContacts, also a popular dialer for Android. – Arseniy Finberg

Wireless tether (for root users) is dead simple to use. A lot easier to use than any of the Blackberry or Nokia solutions. It should have come pre-installed on the phone in the first place.  Its something that I use every single day on my phone. It eliminates the need for me to have a separate SIM card in my netbook and thus a second plan/account. This app focuses on doing one thing and does it very well.  – Brandon Roberts

I’d definitely be willing to throw a few dollars to the developer of Linda File Manager.  It’s a free ad-supported file manager that is fast, solid, and not system intensive.  Fills a huge void, without the large footprint of other file managers.  It’s got ads, which can always be annoying, but it’s performance more than makes up for that.  I’d gladly pay for an ad-free version. – Justin Jelinek

I like listening to podcasts. The thing is I hate to sit and wait (mainly forget) to update them before I leave in the morning. Now with Google Listen it doesn’t matter if I forget because all my favorite podcasts are accessible on my Android phone. All I have to do is hit “my listen items” and the cure to bad radio is anywhere I go. – Adam Marquart

The free app I would pay for is last.fm. It’s a nice front end to the online radio of the same name. You get a nice widget to play your recommended radio from. You also get a full app to change stations, add new artists and listen to music. The app also adds any artists played on your device to your library. – James Pearce

I think the best thing that smart phones are capable of doing is catching radio streams.  The best I found for Android is A Online Radio.  Even though the station selections are a bit limited compared to the big guys (AOL, Yahoo) I have lucked out and found about six of my local stations that I listen to.  Being able to tune in radio stations where you get bad FM reception has prevented many a boring workday.

Scan to download A Online Radio

This is the reason why I think I would easily pay about the $5.99 range for a multi-channel stream app or 99¢ for individual stations.  Along with some of your local stations A Online Radio also supports Shoutcast and Icecast streams, so if you are handy enough you can create you own station to stream your mp3 collection.  – Brian H. Harris

I have two apps that are free that I would definitely pay for. The first is Twicca. I’ve tried just about every Twitter client there is for Android and I just keep coming back to this one. The interface is simple, the app is fast, and I love that a huge list of options for each tweet are just a tap away. My second app is Astro File Manager. I don’t know what I would do without a file manager for any device with a file system. That’s definitely worth paying for. – Jason Crabtree

Your Turn!

So now it’s time to hear what free apps you are using that you might consider paying for.  Is it one of the above?  Why do you like it so much?  Come on, share with the class!

The first smart phone that I truly fell in love with was a Blackberry.  I loved it so much that I never thought I would see the day that I would switch to another phone.  To me, the Blackberry form factor was very female friendly.  There were two big things that appealed to me as a girl; It came in a variety of different colors and I could also buy hard shell cases to change with my moods.  The other was that it offered a full keyboard, with raised letters and great spacing.  Women with acrylic nails know what I am talking about.  Texting and writing emails were very quick and effortless. 

Near the end of my relationship with my BlackBerry, I  started gettting some operating issues, and began to consider a new phone.  Android had been out for a year and I was aware of the cool, new apps I wouldn’t be able to download if I stayed with BlackBerry.  I would have switched to Android earlier, but there weren’t any “girlie” phones out there and I had some specific needs as well. The G1 was completely out of the question because the chin made it difficult for me to type.  The soft keyboard of the G1 and myTouch 3G didn’t help because the screen is a capacitive display.  My previous experience with a Windows Mobile phone (T-Mobile Wing) was nice because I could use my fingernails in place of stylus on the resistive screen.  Along comes the Motorola CLIQ.  This would be the most appealing phone that I could find with Android on it.

I didn’t visit a store to try the CLIQ out before buying it because I didn’t want to over-analyze the phone and find features I didn’t like.  I liked the idea of the keyboard without a chin and the camera was quite a step up from the one in my BlackBerry.  After a few months, I can safely say that I am definitely not in love with this phone.  Don’t get me wrong, I love Android.  In fact, the apps are what have kept me from going back to BlackBerry.

I feel like I am using a man’s phone.  Call me picky, but I don’t like that it only comes in “Winter White” and “Titanium”.   The phone is somewhat bulky and rather heavy.  As thick as this phone is, I would expect more raised buttons or something easier for me to type quickly on.  I know it sounds like I hate this phone or that I wouldn’t recommend it to others, but that’s not the case.  It’s just not for me and my needs.

I’ve looked around at other carriers and don’t see anything else that really appeals to me.  I find the DROID to be downright ugly and lacking personality.  I know all that it can do inside, but on the outside it is very box-like and cold.  All of the Android phones I have seen so far have capacitive touch screens or don’t have a full keyboard. 

I remember seeing an upcoming HTC phone called the Salsa.  To me, that’s the perfect design.  At least from what I can tell in the pictures.  It would be a step down in camera quality, but I’d give that up for the 4-row QWERTY keyboard, directional pad, and full touch screen.  It looks just like a BlackBerry to me and I love that.

For now, I will continue to put up with my Motorola CLIQ and wait for something like the Salsa to come along. In the meanwhile, I see a bunch of Android phones on the horizon that appeal to males and/or the uninformed.  By that, I mean that I didn’t even know there were two types of displays – resistive and capacitive.  I learned the hard way that not all screens can be tapped with a fingernail.  I can imagine someone going to a carrier tomorrow to buy the “latest and greatest” and end up with something that doesn’t fit them like it should.  Over time, though, this problem should go away as more carriers and handset makers put out new products with unique features and designs.

I guess in the end, I just wish I had more choices as a female at this point.  Android has been out nearly a year and a half and I feel like my demographics doesn’t matter.  I’d love to sit in on some of these focus groups or test products for companies like HTC and Motorola. I think they could learn a thing or two about what us girls want in a phone.

Talk Back to Me!

Are there any other AndroidGals out there who feel like these companies aren’t speaking to them?  What is it that you want or need in a phone?  Are you happy with your Android phone or are you like me and just putting up with it?

Welcome to the new series of AndroidGuys posts called Share With the Class!  We’ve created this new category in an effort to help you readers learn of new applications and share your favorites as well.  With over 30,000 applications to choose from, many gems get lost in the shuffle.  And since each of you has an opinion, we want to hear it.

Each time out, we’ll be picking a topic or specific genre/sub-genre and turning it over to you.  To help you out, we’ve assembled a team of contributors willing to share their own faves. For this first post, we’re looking for your preferred productivity apps.

Download Gmote 2.0

One of my favourite apps at the moment is Gmote – a remote control app for Windows, Mac or Linux  computers. My main use for this is on my media centre pc. It works way better than various “real” remote controls and mice keyboard combos. A trackpad option turns your device screen into a mouse trackpad which is nice and sensitive! – James Pearce

Download SwiFTP

SwiFTP Server is a nice little server that I found for my HTC Hero . You are able to log into your phone via a URL that is based on your username when you sign up for a free account.   I moved a 4MB MP3 in 31 seconds over my Sprint service and via WiFi in 10 seconds.  If used with an FTP client such as FileZilla, you are able to delete all unwanted files, voicemails, and downloads through the clients folder views without paging to each one on the phone to delete.  So whether it’s moving MP3 or PDF / Word documents for work I am able to move these onto my phone without even reaching for the phone itself. – Brian H. Harris

Download Astrid

Astrid Task/Todo List is a handy app that allows you to set up to do lists, track time spent on projects, sync with your calendar/Remember the Milk, and so much more.  After using Astrid for months, I still don’t feel like I’ve scratched the surface for everything this app can do.  I use Astrid to set reminders for doctor’s appointments, work assignments, shopping lists, and other general tasks I need to complete.  With one click in the app you can send the task to your Google calendar, and from the main app menu you can sync with your Remember the Milk account. – Justin Jelinek

Some features of Astrid that set it apart from other todo applications are it’s ability to sync with the RememberTheMilk on-line task management service, it’s ability to add tags to tasks, and integration with Locale, the popular geo-location application.  Astrid’s UI is extremely simple to use and straightforward. When entering a new task or todo item, the application allows you to simple or very detailed information depending on your preference. You can set reminders based on both the approaching goal and absolute deadlines. If you fail to complete the task beyond the absolute deadline, you can ask Astrid to pester you obnoxiously until you have completed the task. A couple of nice extras I’ve come to appreciate are the ability to set “Quiet Hours” during which Astrid will leave you alone, and the ability to colorize your task lists by their set priority. Astrid has been invaluable to me both as a formal professional and particularly now as a student. With time management certainly being one of my weak suits, Astrid provides with me with many features and much flexibility. Best of all, IT’S FREE. – Christian Navarro

Download NewsRoom

One of the best apps that I have found is NewsRoom. It’s basically an RSS feed reader with a great UI.  Before I was turned on to this app, I was going to each website I follow to see if anything new was posted. Now I just hit this app and all my feeds are there with the number of new posts since last checked. This saves me a bunch of time and I get all the info in one place.  There’s a free trial app in the market, but I loved it so much I bought it.  – Eric Petersen

I have tried and occasionally use sexier and better known productivity titles like EverNote, Inserty, and ShopSavvy, however the app I find myself using the most is ListBuddy – a shopping list application with things broken down by aisle and category.  All I have to do is text my phone with the items and they automatically show up in a list sorted by type!  I can also let others (wife) text me their shopping lists.  An online tool allows for uploading of my lists so that I don’t have to use texting.

Download ListBuddy

You can specify the store for the items, the amount of items to get as well as the aisle that the item is located. The end result is a list broken down by store, aisle, and product type that can help organize your list and allow you to check them off of the list.  – Tom Lothian

Your Turn!

So now it’s time to hear what apps you are using for productivity.  Is it one of the above?  Why do you like it so much?  Come on, share with the class!

As many of you already know, there are tons of music applications for Android.  For me though, Pandora is the stole my heart early on. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Pandora, it’s a streaming music service that learns what its users preferences are.  Like a song?  Give it a thumbs up and you’ll hear it again soon.  Don’t care for that last track?  Thumbs down ensures you never have to hear it again.  In the middle, the skip button, simply lets you bypass the song this time.

I have always had a love for all genres of music.  There was a time when I would make “Angel’s Music Mix 98” on a CD.  You know did too.  Before the birth of CD’s it was tape recorded songs on blank cassette tapes.  How awesome was it to make your own mix of artists and genres in one place?  There were downsides to doing these yourself though – it’s very time consuming and CD’s get scratched and lost.  Skip ahead a few years and along comes Pandora!

My first true moment of using Pandora was a few months back when I painted my kitchen “Bicycle Yellow”.  With my husband in bed, I was up until about 6:30 in the morning.  Pandora helped me pass the time by playing all my favorite artists and tracks.  When my mood changed from fun to tired or frustrated, I could change the “station” to a different genre or artist.  As I neared the end, I began to feel accomplished and successful so I switched back to my Colbie Caillat station to “rock out”.

Today, I use Pandora in my car with an auxiliary adapter, when I run at the gym, and even when I’m just lying in bed trying to slow my mind down.  It’s safe to say that Pandora is a short list of favorite apps on my Motorola  Cliq. The more I use it, the better my stations get.  It molds itself to my favorites and opens my ears up to new music and artists every time I run it.

I’m pretty new to Android myself so I’d like to hear what music apps you guys are using.  Are there other steaming music applications I should check out?  Leave a comment below and I will be happy to look into it!

The AndroidGals series of posts are written by, but not necessarily for, female Android users.  We’ll be bringing you reviews, perspective, and opinion from the girlie point of view.