Guide: Best Android Apps for the Motorola Droid

Here's my list of favorites.  Feel free to comment, and bookmark this page, I will update regularly, I'm always testing.  Thanks!

You can easily get these by either (1) visiting this page in your Droid browser and clicking on the QR Barcodes below, or (2) visiting this page on your computer, and using Barcode Scanner to scan the QR codes with your Droid.  Nice.

Last Updated: 12/07/09

Updates:

• Added Star Contact
• Update 1: Since Android does NOT support bluetooth voice dialing, I am turning in my Droid tomorrow for a Samsung Omnia II (youtube)
• Update 2: OMG, Windows Mobile is to terrible!  The Omnia II waw godawful, I returned it today.  Back on the DROID until the Passion comes out!
  

A. Games

1. Jewellust Lite - fun, may be worth buying the full game.

  

2. Jewels - a simple version that my 5 year old likes - the configurable sparkle hint is nice

    

3. Gem Miner - a really fun side scroller adventure game.

    

4. Trap - this game at first seemed sucky, until you realize that you must stroke in the middle of the cell you want to bisect. This game is actually quite addictive and fun.

   

5. Wixel Lite - An awesome word game.  The $1.50 for the full version is well worth it - leader boards etc.

  

BTW, here's some games I am trying out:

• market://search?q=pname:com.spacephysics.lite
• market://search?q=pname:biz.mtoy.phitdroid
• market://search?q=pname:au.com.phil.fuel
• market://search?q=pname:haydenTheAndroid.lolLibs.Politics
• market://search?q=pname:com.mstream.meteorlitewvga
• market://search?q=pname:org.balls
• market://search?q=pname:com.ODSLabs.ForeverFall
• market://search?q=pname:com.dcsoft.games.xgalaga
• market://search?q=pname:org.swarmware.android.orbs.knockoff
• market://search?q=pname:com.moblyng.android.dungeonquest
• market://search?q=pname:com.chickenbrickstudios.projectinf
• market://search?q=pname:com.chickenbrickstudios.cestos_full
• market://search?q=pname:com.dcsoft.games.xgalaga2lt
• market://search?q=pname:net.peterd.zombierun

B. Media Apps

Can I just say that I am STILL looking for a decent music player.

1. BeyondPod Podcast Player - by far the BEST podcast player I have found.  Great usability, and has configurable categories and OPML import.  Beyond is not free - if you like the trial version (first QR code below), you can purchase at the second QR code for $2.99.

 

2. Listen - great free podcast player from Google Labs, but does not have categories.

  

3. TuneWiki - better than the default Droid player, but not perfect.  Allows you to use headset to control audio. Allows you to listen to music while watching subtitled lyrics, translated to 40+ languages. Features include Music Maps, Top 50 Charts, Shoutcast, Last.fm, and music videos.

 

4. Shazam - nice wow factor, but not THAT useful - let's you sample whatever music you are hearing (like in a restaurant) and it will tell you the name of the song and artist, etc.

  

C. Phone and Contacts

1. Auto Ring - this awesome app allows you to specify which calls should ring even if you are in silent mode.

  

2. Star Contact - a really good Address/Phone book replacement.

  

3. Voice Caller ID - reads out incoming calls.  Nice.

  

D. Photo and Camera

1. Just Pictures - allows you to browse any public Picasa, Flickr, or SmugMug account.  Also downloads the pics to your camera.

 

2. LOLCats - supports recent lolcats, loldogs, failblog, etc.

  

E. Reference - GPS Based

1. Flixter Movies - hooks up with your Facebook Flixter review, and is probably one of the best designed apps I've seen.  Almost perfect!  Forget fandango!

  

2. Go Home - set up a short cut to map destinations and you can launch them in one click.  I use this for getting to my home from wherever I am.

  

3. Google Maps - of course, includes turn by turn directions for us Droid users.

   

4. Google Sky Map - point it at the sky and it uses your GPS location to show you what you are looking at.  Amazing app.

   

5. Movies - Flixter's nice app for showtimes and locations.

  

F. Reference - Non-GPS

1. Phonalyzer - just gives neat stats on your phone use, who you call the most, etc.

   

2. Quickpedia - my favorite Wikipedia app

  

3. Speedtest - check your bandwith speeds.  Nice.

  

4. We the People - have the full text of the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Amendments at hand. 

    

G. Religious

1. Bible - arguably the best handheld bible out there - all versions supported, even non-English.  This is the YouVersion software, awesome.

  

2. CadreBible LE - great study tool, has so many great Bible study references, including Greek and Hebrew.

  

3. Submission - the Koran, Hadith, names of Allah, and more.  I'm not a Muslim, but this helps me understand (so I can evangelize ;).

    

H. Shopping

1. Amazon - Includes a nice barcode scanner

    

2. Barcode Scanner - A simple, scaled down scanner, mostly used for scanning the QR barcodes below!

      

3. CraigsNotifica - notifies you immedely when a post matching your criteria is posted

    

4. PKT Auctions eBay - browse and shop ebay from this app

  

5. ShopSavvy - Scan a barcode, get reviews, prices from the web, save to your wishlist - awesome!

    

6. Wootsi Lite - shows all 5 woot sites, has wootoff notification. 

 

I. Social

1. Facebook - I recommend setting up a browser shortcut to touch.facebook.com.  You can also try m.facebook.com or the various facebook apps like facebook lite.

  

2. Twitter: Seesmic - there are other great twitter apps (Swift, TwitterRide, Twit2Go, TwidRoid), but this one is my fave  Lacks font resizer, but doesn't need it.

  

J. System Utilities

1. Advanced Task Killer - it's amazing how many apps just start themselves.  I like this better than the popular Task Killer.

 

2. Gphone Manager - Uninstaller, TaskKiller, and App manager all in one.  Really nice.

  

3. Quick Settings - great quick access to the stuff you need the most

    

K. Widgets

1. Battery Widget - nice 1x1 battery widget with extra functionality on click (manage wireless on/off)

  

2. Digiclock - allows you to customize what happens when you click the clock.

  

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