Hey guys,

I should be getting my Droid Incredible next week, and I'm pretty stoked about it. I've been using this Samsung Omnia phone for quite a while now and I pretty much despise it.

Knowing how tech savy a lot of you are, I figured this would be a good place to get some opinions on "must have" software for Android 2.1+ smart phones. Yeah I've spent the past 3 weeks pouring over sites and reading recommendations, but I have found a lot of the people here to be extremely bright technologically speaking and figure what the hell....one of you might suggest a program that I've never heard.

Right now the only ones that seem solid to me are

1. Astro File Manager
2. Doubletwist
3. Either Meebo or eBuddy for IMing. (Would love opinions if anyone has used either of these)
4. Documents to Go

That's about it so far. Any advice on other great programs for Android? Any of these choices a horrible one that you could recommend a better replacement?

Thanks guys!

Jason (Elemynt)

From what you suggested it depends on what double twist you are referring too. There is an app on the market now that I wasn't too impressed with and a syncing program for both mac and windows. I know from experience the Mac version isn't that great you end up with 4 or 5 of the same song on your phone.

Astro file manager is a good one to keep things organized.

Documents to go has helped a lot in situations when i didn't have my laptop on me.

I wouldn't know much about iming since i just text anyone i need to get ahold of quickly.

Other applications I've found that have helped are

Advanced task killer free version - this let's you close out any open programs and free up memory ... It's not a problem usually but with open development some of the apps will crash and this makes it easy to close them out.

Barcode scanner - this is nice to compare prices on something you are looking to buy and allows other apps ( shopper, cnet scan and shop) to scan barcodes as well.

Bump - really nice way of exchanging contact info quickly but doesn't work all the time.

Calorie counter - I just started using this to better keep track of what I eat. So far it's been really nice, it has barcode scanner that brings up nutritional info on pretty much any food and allows you to assign that item to a meal or snack.

Congress - Just an informational app with the members of congress and what bills are going through congress right now.

Dropbox - This is a great one .. It allows access to a dropbox folder right on your phone, absolutely amazing combined with documents to go. If anyone doesn't know what dropbox is it's a program that gives you a free 2gb of storage online (also if anyone wants an invite for an extra 250mb send me a pm). Once again something really handy to have if you have stuff on multiple computers.

Epicurious - Nice app to find something to make when you are already at the store.

Evernote - Note taking app that syncs cross platform. I take notes on my iPad and can bring them up on my phone if I need them for anything.

Lookout - Mobile security software thats free right now (or at least was when i signed up). Allows you to back up pictures and other data when you plug your phone into your computer. Once you register online you can locate a lost device if it's still on and the thing comes with an antivirus feature that isn't all that useful and can be disabled.

Pandora - Obvious selection

Shazam - identify any music you hear that's playing, kinda useful.

Trapster - Crowd sourced gps warning system to avoid cops. This can be great or terrible depending on how many people near you are participating, but it only gets better the more people actively use it.

Uninstaller - Not anything special but it does make uninstalling apps easier.

Google Sky Map is pretty cool

PDANet is a must have. Allows you to tether your phone without having to pay for it. The free version doesn't allow you to go to any https sites though.

The Weather Channel App is pretty useful too.

I've found weather bug to be a lot nicer than the weather channel app. I like that the temp is right in the notification bar so I can check it really quick before heading out.

Good information and suggestions. Hadn't heard of the PDANet one yet...definately will look into that one.

I'm hearing a lot of people talking about Shazam...that one looks really good too. Actually seems to work fairly reliably from what people say.

Thanks guys

I have significant issues with the base email app. Anyone have experience with an alternative for exchange integration?

What sort of issues are you using? I'm having 0 problems with Exchange on my Droid with 2.1.

my calendar will not sync anymore.

delete then re add the emails or gmail you want to sync.

its exchange, but ya I will try that now

Yeah every so often I get sync issues (maybe 60 days worth)

Discovered it's mostly due to having 500+ messages in my Inbox. Once I move messages to archive folders on my Mac, my syncing issues go away. I tend to move messages that are older than a week out of my Inbox. I rarely use my exchange calendar, but who knows what problems ActiveSync will have.

I've never had a problem with large mailboxes, with a variety of phones (no Android, though). I don't sync everything to my phone, but I've had hundreds of emails before with no issue. It's not likely an ActiveSync issue.

My Boss has had a few issues with certain recurring events not syncing. It's not been really reproducable, so we aren't sure exactly where the issue lies.

I do know there are mentions that Froyo is addressing an Exchange Calendar issue. So if you are expecting an OTA update, then that might take care of it. Or I suppose you can have fun with root.


I actually just got on Twitter...(yeah I know I'm WAY behind the times)...and have to say Tweetcaster seems to do a really good job. I went ahead and got the premium version, so paid like 4 bucks for it, but to me it's worth it.

If you refuse to spend any money, Seesmic seems to be very popular for that sort of stuff.

Deleting the account, rebooting the phone and remaking it worked perfectly. Thanks

Hahah, what?

Basically what Trapster does is add a layer to the standard google maps, when someone sees a cop on the road they mark it on their map and anyone else that drives by gets an alert on their map. It also has alerts for speed cameras as well as an alert for roads that cops are patrolling on. I just used it on a trip to Vegas and it let me know about a cop hiding around an underpass on I-10.

Then again it's not foolproof, here in Tucson there aren't a lot of people that bother reporting what they see so the alerts aren't as accurate.

Handycalc, where's my droid, and ringtones extended are useful apps to pick up.

Thanks for the responses. My Incredible comes next week sometime, so will take some of the advice to good use.

BTW I asked a Verizon sales person about this new Droid X that I read about- basically it is a 1 1/2" larger screen, has a higher external memory stick, and has a HDMI port that you can plug into your TV. Wow- a phone with a HDMI port. That is unreal this technology lol...

Sprints HTC Evo has a HDMI port.

Just wait till the Froyo 2.2 Android comes up, biggest thing is the support for Flash 10.1 !

Too bad the Evo's battery lasts maybe an hour or two with heavy use.

Yeah they keep cramming all these neat things but don't progress technology of the battery.

I dunno -- my droid is just as good of a phone as the Evo, but I get at least a day out of the battery.

I think the 4g chip is what's doing it.

Yeah we tell customers to turn off 4G / WIFI / and Bluetooth if not using it.

My Evo Lasts over a day but if i turn any of them on it will suck the life from it.

Got my Incredible last Friday! Did not open it up (was waiting for screen protectors and case to come from amazon.com before I set everything up). Then went to a Verizon store last night and played with the Droid X...

Incredible is being sent back to Verizon tomorrow. Am going to be getting Droid X instead. Of course this one is also on backorder, and will not be able to get it until the first week of August. What really sold me on Droid X was the bigger screen meant that the keyboard was bigger and "spacier" so that when I actually touch the T it does not go to Y or R, etc. For someone as tall as me with large hands, this is very welcome...

Another major difference for the Incredible and the X are manufacturers. HTC makes the Incredible and Motorola makes the X. The only Motorola Android device I've had any experience with is the Cliq (bleh) but IMO HTC makes some pretty kickass hardware. My daughter has the Incredible and she's very happy with it.

One more thing to keep in mind is that the Droid X has a chip inside that will disable the phone if you attempt to load any external roms. You can root the phone but if you try to use a custom rom, you won't be able to.

I'm currently using the Samsung Vibrant and like the phone so far. The Verzion version (Samsung Fascinate) is supposed to be available fairly soon as well.

Kuervoh:

They're already getting around the so-called "efuse" -- no roms are out yet, but no one has actually 'bricked' an X yet.

The G1 actually runs Froyo pretty decently, at least the Cyanogen version.

2200mAh battery and you can screw around with it all day.