Droid Does: My Favorite Apps
6 Jun
I have a Motorola Droid. I’ve been in love since November when I first picked it up. Here is a quick overview of my favorite apps.
Web Apps
Facebook (http://touch.facebook.com)
I hate the native Facebook app on Droid because it is missing so many features that the iPhone app has. Therefore, I placed a link to the Facebook web app on my home screen.
Google Calendar (http://www.google.com/calendar)
I also strongly dislike the native calendar app, so I went with the Google Calendar web app on my home screen.
Google Reader (http://www.google.com/reader)
I’m a huge Google Reader fan. Sadly, there isn’t a native app for Reader yet. Add this one to your home screen too.
Native Apps
Twitter for Android
I tweet, and my client of choice is the official Twitter app. I don’t like the way it does photo uploads, so if I’m TwitPic’ing something, I’ll use Swift (my 2nd favorite). I also wish Twitter would let you scroll back to older tweets and load them, but it won’t (Swift does this).
MotoTorch LED
If you have a Droid, it has an external flash that is just an LED. This app lets you use it as a flashlight. Be sure to add the widget after you install that app for easy access to turn the light on and off.
WeatherBug
WeatherBug is a fantastic app for tracking the weather. It sticks the current temp in the status bar and alerts you of upcoming severe weather.
Movies
It’s just called Movies, and does just that. Look up movie times, recent DVD releases, and read reviews.
Dropbox
If you aren’t using this app, go to Dropbox.com and download it! Think of it as a virtual flash drive. You get 2GB storage free that you can access from anywhere. On PC, it syncs folders automatically across all the PCs you have installed it on. On Android, it doesn’t sync automatically, but it makes the files available on demand. Very nice to have another way to access my Dropbox files.
Advanced Task Killer
Think of ATK as the Ctrl+Alt+Delete for Android. It lists the apps that are currently running in the background and lets you kill them. Great for saving battery life.
Foursquare
You might not Foursquare, but if you do, get the official app. It’s beautiful.
AK Notepad
Need to take notes on your Android device? I love AK Notepad for it. Simple and straightforward, it does the job.
GPS Test
GPS not working quite right? Want to check your current speed or elevation? Grab this app. Just a neat little app to have.
Last.fm
If you scrobble your music plays to Last.fm, you want this app on your phone so you can scrobble your mobile plays too!
Listen
This app from Google Labs is a podcast subscription app. Subscribe to audio podcasts and download and listen to them on the go. Has a nice search feature for discovering new podcasts too.
Shazam
Shazam listens to music that is playing and tells you what it is. Great for listening to the radio or hanging out at the mall.
runstar
Runstar is a neat little app for tracking your runs.
Google Sky Map
Want to impress your friends? Get this map and identify any shiny dot in the night sky. I couldn’t believe how well it worked. Load it up, point your phone into the night sky, and watch your phone display the sky you are looking at — annotated! Such a neat app!
Goggles
Google Goggles uses your webcam to identify… well, anything. Point it at famous photos, books, food labels, logos, whatever and watch Google look it up.
That’s what I love on my Droid. What apps do you love?


