Android App recomendation?

[Skidog]

Mytracks is pretty neat, but I don't know how well it's going to work if it's inside snowpants, as it probably won't be able to get satellites, has anyone tried it for skiing yet?

Works fine unless you're in like dense forest...havent had an issue at Alta/Bird since i started using it last season...

[Wolfmansbro]

my tracks works well when its in my backpack biking but I can't get more then 6 hours without the battery going dead
- backcountry navigator is great. I've used it as my only GPS/Map device while hiking around Leadville this summer

-I liked using Launcher Pro but recently got rid of it because I thought it was lagging on me

-waiting for Utah Avalanche Center to come out with an app like they have for the iphone.

any good apps out there that report snow fall totals?

[LightRanger]

Handcent SMS is way better than the native text client.

Public Radio Live for any NPR people.

RingTone for, well, ring tones.

Scanner Radio

Tricorder app is cool.

[XtrPickels]

I've used it skiing in a pocket and the top compartment of my pack.
No issues with reception.

[gh444]

imapmyrun but I wish there was something better for running and riding.

[crackboy]

for ringtone also try ringdroid

[stalefish3169]

Rhapsody! 10 million + songs in your pocket for 10 bucks a month. I can't believe I used to pay $16.99 for 1 CD a only a few years ago.

[InspectorGadget]

Vlingo - voice to text & voice dialing. So far it works great.

[iceman]

I use the visual voice mail that Verizon pimps, it works fine buy it costs $3.00/mo.. It's a ripoff but once you have VVM you can't go back. Swype came on my phone (Droid 2) but I rarely use it because of the sliding keyboard. Sometimes the on-screen keyboard pops up anyway and I'll use Swype to save time. It works pretty well but a shit ton of words have very similar patterns to each other so it slows you down because you have to pick one.

Otherwise the stuff I use a lot is ESPN ScoreCenter (works fine), Voice Search ( "note to self" is an awesome thing), Sports Radio Droid Pro (evefry single sports radio station in thte country, right there, and you can easily buils a "favorites" list.), Radio Paradise (great online radio station) and "Angry Birds". I don't think I'll ever get to the end of Angry Birds, they keep adding levels.

[iceman]

Vlingo - voice to text & voice dialing. So far it works great.

I've heard that's cool - the way you can set up the reply is pretty fin.

(I know I owe you some stuff IG, it's just been silly how busy it's been lately)

[cascadianwarrior]

any good apps out there that report snow fall totals?

The only one I've found so far is Ski and Snow Report

[grapedrink]

vlingo is awesome, it actually works.

iceman, maybe try slideit? thats what i'm using, maybe its got better preditiction than swype? i couldn't dream of going back to pecking on a keyboard.

another good app i forgot to mention is launcherpro. its basically sense ui but better, with better widgets, and more options. you can change your dock so it has 5 functions, you can even make your dock scrollable to have up to 15 functions. you can swipe up on your browser icon to bring up bookmarks, swipe up on your phone to bring up missed calls. if you have sense it makes it better, if you don't have sense i imagine it's a must have. my battery also last noticably longer using launcherpro than sense (but you have to set it up so sense doesn't even load on boot up).

beautiful widgets is also a really nice weather/clock widget.

[DJSapp]

Google voice search is amazing. I drive too much and need directions a lot. Just speaking an address into the phone gets me driving directions. Awesome.

Also awesome is when it screws up and thinks you said something completely different.

Driodlight by motorola uses your camera light instead of the screen. And it's free.

[Benny Profane]

Where do the game app icons go? I downloaded angry birds and can't find it.

[vinzclortho]

Where do the game app icons go? I downloaded angry birds and can't find it.

for the droid incredible, on your home page, hit the up arrow next to the phone button. all your apps are displayed there alphabetically. at least that's where it should be. for the droid incredible anyways.

I guess there is Angry Birds Halloween edition but as I discovered it's only for iphone. which is weak cuz I finished Angry Birds and am now trying to get all the golden eggs but I NEED more Angry Birds!!!

edit: maybe you tried to download the Halloween edition? It's only wallpaper as I figured out after I downloaded it.

Hungry Shark is also kinda fun.

[Benny Profane]

Never mind, I found them. This thing is so cool. I.ve become one of those people staring at my devise.wish I had skinny fingers.

[iceman]

Motorola Droid 2 is good for the fatfinger crowd, ask me how I know. Make sure you put radioparadise.com on there! And learn the voice search functions, it's pretty much the best thing ever. Vlingo's supposed to be even better, but I can't imagine how.

[DownhillRider]

How do you get mytracks to work? Tried it out the other day; it said it couldn't find satellites, and to check my security settings. I have the "Use GPS Satellites" checked in the settings. I didn't have reception, but that shouldn't matter as it's all satellites, right? Actual GPS found satellites no problem, and I had the phone searching with good sky visibility for at least ten minutes before playing with it.

[Chainsaw_Willie]

So, after reading this thread and checking out phones my friends and people I work with have, I'm ready to take the plunge. Pretty sure I can get an X-mas hookup on a reasonably priced phone from the fam but there is a bewildering array of phones out there and I'm not quite sure where to start looking.

I think my biggest question right now concerns which carriers support which phones. In other words - if you get a certain phone, will only certain carriers offer service on that phone or can any phone be used with any carrier's service?

I've looked at the websites linked here but it seems they assume a certain level of knowledge about various phones and I'm a complete newb when it comes to this stuff. Any suggestions for sites that compare the various phones on a feature/cost/usability level?

[Lev]

It's definitely carrier dependent on phone options. You should go off of who you're current carrier is, unless you're a) unhappy with the service or b) really set on a certain phone.

I've been using the Incredible since May on Verizon. I've been very pleased with the service as well as the phone performance.

If you can wait a couple months, it looks like there's going to be another generation plunge onto the market. Dual core processors are going to be in high demand. If you're ready to go now, I think HTC, Motorola, and Samsung all have some nice offerings.

Hope that helps a little

[Chainsaw_Willie]

Thanks Lev. I was bored this afternoon so headed out to Costco and the Radio Shack at the mall to try to educate myself a little about these things.

Answered my questions about how the phone/carrier thing works. Now the only question is which phone do I want vs. which carrier do I want and how much do I want to spend.

Anyone with any good links that compare the phones, esp. features & usability vs. performance?

[grapedrink]

has anyone mentioned dropbox? creates a folder on your computer and anything you put in that folder is shared between whatever other devices you installed dropbox on, or on any device by logging in on the dropbox website. so its great, wanna send something to your phone? drag it into your dropbox folder. open dropbox on your phone and there it is.

only problem is you can't rename your dropbox folder (the default is "My Dropbox") but this fixes that: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/552/pyDropbo...boxPath.exe?dl

[RShea]

So, after reading this thread and checking out phones my friends and people I work with have, I'm ready to take the plunge. Pretty sure I can get an X-mas hookup on a reasonably priced phone from the fam but there is a bewildering array of phones out there and I'm not quite sure where to start looking.

I think my biggest question right now concerns which carriers support which phones. In other words - if you get a certain phone, will only certain carriers offer service on that phone or can any phone be used with any carrier's service?

I've looked at the websites linked here but it seems they assume a certain level of knowledge about various phones and I'm a complete newb when it comes to this stuff. Any suggestions for sites that compare the various phones on a feature/cost/usability level?

The phones are going to be either CDMA type or GSM- the 2 are like gasoline and diesel fuel- they do not work interchangeably. CDMA is used by Verizon and Sprint. GSM is used by AT&T and T-Mobile. You may also need to unlock a T-Mobile phone model to be able to use an AT&T sim in a GSM phone and vice-versa. Some CMDA may have different frequencies and there could be issues with trying and getting a Sprint phone working on Verizon and vice-versa.

However most of these phones are very expensive if you just want a phone and no contract with a specific carrier. So you will see the offers of 1 or 2 year contract and a much cheaper price for the phone (with 2 years being the highest rebates or discount, one year is going to be middle of the road). So you will likely get a Droid phone that is $50 to $200 with a contract of 2 years. But if you just want to buy a phone and not sign a contract then expect to pay $300 and up.

If you are going to get a used phone then you have to get one for the type of carrier you want to activate the phone on. Pick your carrier first then shop for the phone. Also look at the cancellation fees- they can be $375 for early termination of a contract on these Smartphones

[RShea]

Thanks Lev. I was bored this afternoon so headed out to Costco and the Radio Shack at the mall to try to educate myself a little about these things.

Answered my questions about how the phone/carrier thing works. Now the only question is which phone do I want vs. which carrier do I want and how much do I want to spend.

Anyone with any good links that compare the phones, esp. features & usability vs. performance?

I like Verizon- best coverage map and if you go to their web site, you can sort Smartphones with the Android operating system only. They also allow you to select things like touch screen only or if they have a slide out keyboard. Then you can select up to 3 phones (as many times as you want) and compare them. Look at camera resolution, weight, screen size, processor, etc. Whatever is important to your use. Ultimately though you probably have to put your hands on a few of your final choices and use them for a few minutes, or get one and play the 10 days return and exchange game that some carriers (including Verizon) offer. You will still be locked into the carrier choice as the contract is signed and can't usually be cancelled in the 10 day period.

There also could be a few on line only deals that would not be available at the stores.

If you want reviews and opinions- google, go to CNet and read their write-ups and finally head over to Howard Forums- which is cell phone overload for information. Search for your phone under the carrier specific sections, and read actual user comments and owner opinions.

[Yonder_River]

So, after reading this thread and checking out phones my friends and people I work with have, I'm ready to take the plunge. Pretty sure I can get an X-mas hookup on a reasonably priced phone from the fam but there is a bewildering array of phones out there and I'm not quite sure where to start looking.

I think my biggest question right now concerns which carriers support which phones. In other words - if you get a certain phone, will only certain carriers offer service on that phone or can any phone be used with any carrier's service?

I've looked at the websites linked here but it seems they assume a certain level of knowledge about various phones and I'm a complete newb when it comes to this stuff. Any suggestions for sites that compare the various phones on a feature/cost/usability level?

I just got the LG Optimus S. It's brand new and free for a limited time if you sign a contract with Sprint. It's not the fastest processor on the block, but it runs on the new Android 2.2 OS and is free versus $200+ for others.

So far no complaints. It's a pretty amazing phone overall, I highly recommend it. Almost all of the net reviews are also 4-5 star. Sprint coverage is decent in the Seattle area as well.