If you have an Android phone, check out AppBrain.com. It’s free. AppBrain is a front-end for the Android Market, the place where you download Android apps. If an app is in the Market, it’s also on AppBrain. Why use AppBrain instead of the Market? AppBrain allows you to pick the apps you want on your phone through a computer. It keeps a list of your phone’s apps synced with the website through a small Android app on the phone. And, you can share your app lists with others. My periodically updated list is available on AppBrain and available to the public. If you want, you can keep your list private.
So far, I have 53 apps on my phone, all free ones. Soon I’ll decide which paid apps I want on the phone. These are the apps I have on my HTC Incredible with a brief description of each. To download any of the apps, visit my list on AppBrain. The 53rd is a bonus app, not available in the Market. Read to the bottom if you want to know what it is. The other 52 are in no particular order…
AppBrain Market Sync — Keeps your phone and web account matched.
Movies — this is Flixster which has been renamed Movies. It gives local showtimes and trailers.
Pocket Empires Online — I downloaded this because it’s very popular. It’s a Sid Meieresque MMO game.
SNesoid Lite (SNES Emulator) — Self-explanatory.
MixZing Media Player — A very good media player recommended to me on Google Buzz. Great for MP3s.
3 a/k/a “Cubed” — Another media player with a 3D navigation system. If you want this app, search for the word Cubed and scroll way down until you find it. Searching for “3″ isn’t feasible because it returns too many hits.
Meridian Media Player Pioneer — This is a very good movie player. This also was recommended to me on Buzz.
Gesture Search — This rocks. I put the icon on my primary home screen. You swipe letters on the entire screen and it pulls up matching contacts and apps. It’s a Google product.
Layar Reality Browser — An augmented reality browser for Android. It overlays information on a real life scene your camera is pointed at.. you can view tweets in your area, etc. This is a great one for showing off the phone to others.
AudioManager Widget — This puts volume sliders on your home screen.
What is my remote IP? — Does what it says.
Woot Checker — Monitors woot.com. There are a number of apps like this one and I’m not sure I picked the best one.
Seesmic for Twitter — Very good Twitter app, supports multiple accounts.
FourSquare — Located-based social networking app.
NexusMod Live Wallpaper — The Nexus One wallpaper with the colorful bursts.
Shopper — Google Product search by barcode.
BarCode Scanner — Scans barcodes and QR Codes.
Wifi Analyzer — Lots of data. Good for picking the strongest signal.
Hypnotic Spiral — Not particularly useful.
Earth Live Wallpaper — If you are going to run a live wallpaper, this is one of the best. You can spin the globe.
Metal Detector — This thing really works.
Handcent SMS — The BEST SMS interface available. This is great and can be configured to emulate the iPhone and a few other platforms.
Reader Widget Free — If you use Google Reader, this widget is a good one.
Gmail Unread Count — Widget that shows Gmail unread count in the corner and you can open Gmail by tapping it.
Robo Defense Free — Popular game.
Twitter (Official App) — This is a great app but, unlike Seesmic, it doesn’t support multiple accounts.
GamBoid Lite (Game Boy Advanced Emulator) — Self-explanatory.
Pandora Radio — Works well but, note to self, need to download Slacker.
ASTRO File Manager — Must have. For manipulating files on your SD Card or in the internal memory.
PDANet Free Edition — USB tether and Bluetooth DUN.
Battery Widget — Shows remaining battery life in %s.
Super KO Boxing! 2 — This game is great. It’s like PunchOut! for Android.
Shazam — Listens to music and tells you what it is.
Finance — Google Finance.
Advanced Task Killer — There’s debate over whether one should use this app. I use it to kill processes from time to time. It was recommended to me by people I trust.
Toss It — Throw a paper ball into a trashcan. Addictive.
Bonsai Blast — Good game.
Mp3 Music — Type the name of an artist or song into this app and it looks through public search engines to find a download link. You can download the Mp3s directly to your phone.
Cuboid – 3D Rubik Cube — There are tons of apps like this one. This might not be the best but it does work well.
Flikie Wallpapers HD — Browser wallpapers.
UrbanSpoon — Restaurant reviews in a fun format.
Nesoid Lite (NES Emulator) — Self-explanatory.
Google Translate — Self-explanatory.
Talk to Me — Another translation app.
iStockManager Bold — For TD Ameritrade customers and those without accounts who want market data.
Remote for iTunes (beta) — This works really well. It’s just like the iPhone/iPod app.
Facebook for Android — This app needs work. No chat, no favorites, etc.
Google Buzz Widget — Well done, Google.
Google Goggles — Google Visual Search. This app amazes me. Shoot a picture of something and it tells you what it is. I shot a picture of a Comcast remote control and it identified it as a Comcast remote control. Not that I didn’t know what it was, but it did a Google search for the remote control too. This does have some practical implications with other objects.
Google Voice — Must have, if you’re a Google Voice person. You can set it up to ask you each time you place a call whether you want to place a normal call or a Google Voice call.
Google Sky Map — Great eye candy… and useful if you’re into astronomy.
Google Maps — Comes preinstalled with Navigation. Navigation is very good but not perfect.
SkyFire Browser — This browser is amazing. Some people report that they can get Hulu to play in this browser. I had trouble with flash content but maybe I did something wrong.
53rd app is Swype, the keyboard replacement. I can now enter text at warp speed. It’s been pulled from the Android market but you can download Swype from the web and install it with Astro.
Leave a comment if you know about a must-have app.
You might also enjoy:
Michigan Flavor, a fantastic, interactive statewide directory of bars and restaurants has an Android App. If you search MiFlavor in the marketplace, you should be able to find it. My favorite part of the app is that you can search for breakfast, lunch, dinner and happy hour specials by city so I can see what all of the restaurants in my area have on special that day. It makes choosing a lunch destination a lot less of a gamble. I love it!
Thanks for sharing such a nice and interesting post.It would really help for the beginners.You have done a tremendous and fantastic job.Keep on sharing such type of ideas and experiences.
All the best!
I searched and couldn't find the Michigan Flavor app. I'd like to check it out. Could you post a link to it's AppBrain page?
WoW!First thing that All the applications in a single phone and Second is All are absolutelyfree to download.This is really amazing Jon.Appreciate it.A nice idea and experience makes your brain cool.Keep on sharing your nice posts.Thanks !
WoW!First thing that All the applications in a single phone and Second is All are absolutelyfree to download.This is really amazing Jon.Appreciate it.A nice idea and experience makes your brain cool.Keep on sharing your nice posts.Thanks !