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10 Must Have Android Apps

by oktalBlizzard

Last updated: 01/15/2012
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The most useful apps for Android OS

If you want to know what the most useful Android apps are, you have come to the right place. Here I will show you the top 10 android apps that every user should have or at least check out. Mind you that most of these apps are 100% free full versions.

New to Android? It is one of the most popular operating systems for smartphones. One of the greatest things about it is that you can download a huge variety of applications for it, extending your Android phone's functionality.
In order to download any application for Android, you can go to the main application menu, and open up the Android Market application (you must be connected to internet for this to work). If you already know the name of the app, simply type it into the search bar, and after finding what you were looking for, install it. Simple, easy, fun. If you want to know more about Android and the smartphones using it, this is a great introduction.

Enjoy the Top 10 Must Have Android Apps list, and don't forget to leave a comment.

(You can click on most of the pictures to go to a corresponding app page in the Android market to find more info).

Contents at a Glance

Before we start...
#10 Aldiko
#9 3G Watchdog
#8 Shush!
#7 TeamViewer
#6 Dolphin Browser HD
Time for a little quiz before we continu...
#5 ASTRO (File Manager)
#4 GPS Status
Before we continue, check out the solar...
#3 Photoshop Express
#2 mVideoPlayer
#1 Skype

Before we start...

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#10 Aldiko

This is probably the best free Android epub app for organizing and reading eBooks. Aldiko has an online store where you can purchase eBooks from a huge variety in many languages. You can also upload your eBook files from the computer to the phone (either the memory card or internal storage) and import it into Aldiko. It supports the most popular formats, namely ePub, PDF and the Adobe eBook DMR.

One of my favorite things about Aldiko is the possibility to completely customize everything, ranging from the text color and font, to line spacing, brightness, and the background color.

So, if you want to get one of the best ebook reader apps for android for free, get Aldiko now.

#9 3G Watchdog

This is a really great Android application if you have a limited internet connection. Lets say, if you got 5 GB of bandwidth limit for a month (crossing the limit costs you money every megabyte in many cases), you can set the app up so that when you use 90% of the allowance, it would notify you.
You can also see how much data you have used up in an optional widget or the notification page (or the app itself). Very useful.

Another great thing about this is that it separates the WiFi data from the 3G data (which is limited), so you can make it only count the data from your service provider. Simply fantastic.

#8 Shush!

Have you ever missed calls just because you forgot to turn the silent mode off after the meeting? Well, Shush! will make sure it never happens again. Shush! is a very useful application, especially if you need to often put your smartphone on silent. When you press and hold the screen lock button on your Android phone, an option box appears with an option to turn on the silent mode. If Shush! is installed, activating the silent mode will bring up the Shush! app, which will allow you to choose the duration for the silent mode to be active. After the set time runs out, the Shush! app will automatically restore your phone into the normal ringing mode. This is great because you will never forget to turn the silent mode off, as Shush! will do it for you.

#7 TeamViewer

TeamViewer allows you to remotely control your computer using your Android smartphone. As long as you have the TeamViewer app installed on your computer, and Android phone, you will be able to see the PC screen and control everything. As you will move the mouse cursor, it will also move on the PC (Windows or Mac) screen in real life time too.

This is really cool and useful if you are in town for example, and you need to quickly look up some file at your home computer. All you have to do is take your Android phone with TeamViewer set up, enable internet, and connect to your home computer. You will be able to open software, edit files, open folders, and so on. This is one of my personal favorites.

Try it out. Really neat stuff.

#6 Dolphin Browser HD

If you are still using the default Android web browser, you should try Dolphin Browser as soon as possible. It is known as the best mobile browser in history so far. First of all, it has a similar feel to a desktop web browser, and also has tabs that are easily accessible. It supports all the major internet technologies like Flash, JavaScript and so on. Another great feature of Dolphin Browser HD, is the ability to save gestures, and link them to websites. For example, you could go to Google by taping the gesture icon and drawing a G on the screen. Very nice once you get used to it.
There are many other interesting features like addons, so check it out, it is definitely one of the best Android apps!

Time for a little quiz before we continue with the best Android apps

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#5 ASTRO (File Manager)

ASTRO is the best free file manager for Android. I have tried them all, and nothing beats ASTRO. It allows me to move, copy, delete, cut, paste and even edit files. It can also be used to install Android apk applications. ASTRO has a simple user interface, so unlike many other file managers, even the least tech savvy users will be able to enjoy it.

You can also use it to backup your apps and data, to manage photos and music, extract or compress files, download files from Bluetooth devices, access FTP servers and search files besides other uses.

This is certainly one of the most useful Android apps available.

#4 GPS Status

GPS Status will tell you all the GPS and other sensor details available. It has a really cool layout that has satellite number, accuracy, latitude and longitude, spreed, direction, a graphical compass, and even a spirit level tool that you can use to see if something is completely horizontal or not (also tells you the tilt and rotation degrees of your android device).

In short, it is one one of the most amazing Android GPS apps out there. Oh, and did I mention that it is absolutely free?

Before we continue, check out the solar chargers for your smartphone!

(Can charge almost any phone or simmilar device)

#3 Photoshop Express

If you like taking photos, you might find Photoshop Express to be a very useful app for your Android phone. It does not have the million features of its bigger computer version, but it still allows you to do basic photo editing tasks like cropping, rotating, straightening, color adjustment, hue, brightness, contrast, tint, and some other visual effects.

It has a very simple to use user interface, so photo editing will be fast and easy. In my opinion, it is the best photo editing android app.

#2 mVideoPlayer

If you like watching videos on your Android phone (why else would you need a 4.5 inch screen on a phone?), then mVideoPlayer is the best video player for Android that you can get. I have tried many players, but I am yet to find something that would support so many video formats and would have such an easy and simple user interface as mVideoPlayer.

It plays everything from avi to mp4, h262, mov and mkv.

Note that there is a free and a paid version. They are basically the same, but mVideoPlayer may or may not throw in an advert once in a while. So, just try the free version first. Then buy the paid one, or just keep using the free version if you don't mind the adverts.
I recommend this one highly.

#1 Skype

Skype is one of the most popular voice over internet programs out there. It allows you to make free voice and video calls to anybody who also has Skype. It runs on Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone, and Android, hence anyone can get it.

Skype for Android is very similar to the computer version of Skype, in fact the Video Calls feature has been added too. If you like using Skype on your computer, get this. Just remember to sign out after you use it, so that it does not waste your internet.

Personally, this is the best free Android app I have, as I use Skype a lot for both voice and video calls.

You can get this on your Android Market, or simply from Skype official website (they have Mac, Windows, Android, Symbian, and iPhone versions).

Thanks for visiting!

Tell me what you think about these apps by leaving a comment at the bottom of this page.
Also check out the memory cards I recommend below, in case you are running out of space on your smartphone!

Andoid memory cards form Amazon.com

Expand your Andoid smartphone storage space with a MicroSD memory card!

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