This list of Apps was compiled during the month of August 2014. The marketplace for apps is always changing and with updates the App I looked at may already be different. I compiled this list by looking at the lists of several magazines and websites, the Apps listed are in no particular order (i.e. they are not ranked). The * means that both people communicating must have the App for it to be effective.
Google Hangouts – Easy to
use, gives you free person-to-person calls, 12 people can video chat at once, allows for instant messaging
Viber – You can send text
messages or make phone calls using your tablet, phone, or computer, free!
TextSecure – encrypted text
messages makes sure things stay private*
RedPhone – encrypted phone
calls mean that you’re not being recorded and the metadata is secure*
Wickr – self destructing
text messages that are overwritten in a way that it cannot be retrieved*
Facebook – the giant of
social media apps
Tumblr – a multi-media
social network that is more blog-centric
Circle of 6 – An emergency
alert app that sends out a pre-recorded message and GPS of where you are to up to 6
people
Plume – a very customizable
Twitter platform that allows you to block users, certain words or phrases
Avast! Mobile – Remotely
wipe your device’s memory, remote-lock, safe web browsing, battery
manager, and anti-virus software
Lookout Security ($3 a
month) – anti-virus, anti-theft, and protects against hacking
LastPass (free or $12 a year)
– keeps track of all your passwords, creates secure passwords, does a
security analysis on the passwords you use, secure web browser, secure
notes, secure form filler.
Certain features only available on pay version.
Mr. Number Block – block
calls and texts from a specific number or even a whole area code
Orbot – connects you with
Tor which is a completely anonymous web browsing connection
HotSpot Shield VPN –
protects your data when you are connecting via Wi-Fi by using an encrypted
Connection
Noom Weight Loss Coach (free
or $9.99 a month) – calorie tracker, weight loss suggestions, pay includes individualized help and online support community
Web MD –quick lookup of
symptoms, medical terms, or a nearby pharmacy or hospital
Zombies, Run! ($3.99) –
episodes have you being chased by Zombies, you are acting out a story that
infuses music on your device,
points for hitting your goals gets you things to
help you survive the zombie
apocalypse
Sleepbot – tracks your
movements while you sleep and nocturnal noises, wakes you during the
lightest
part of your
sleep within a preset period
MyFitnessPal – tracks
calories, activity, connect with friends, shows nutrition, and charts progress
Yelp – reviews of all kinds
of locations and all kinds of basic info about the businesses
PepperPlate – save your
recipes, gives you multiple cooking timers, organize meals, create shopping
lists,
and save data so you can access offline
AllTheCooks Recipes –
150,000 recipes, select favorites, create shopping lists, and make a meal
calendar
Untappd – read beer reviews,
write your own beer reviews, share pictures, check-in to locations, create wish lists,
connect with friends, and earn badges. Consider it social media for beer!
Google Goggles – reads QR
codes, barcodes, and even foreign language signs and converts it into data you can use.
FieldTrip – local history,
factoids, music hotspots, reviews, and alerts you to nearby deals
Google Maps – walk, bike, or
drive maps with directions. Gives you approximate travel time with traffic alerts. Now you can get a car from Uber using the app
Uber – like calling for a
taxi but you have choices from cabs, town cars, limos, private vehicles, etc.
It will tell you how much it
will cost right now and handle the entire transaction in app.
Google Translate – it can
translate spoken or typed words and it can also speak for you. You need a data
connection but this is considered the best translation software.
Duolingo – makes learning
languages a games (only has five languages) which brings me to suggest
Mango Language like Rosetta
Stone has 26 languages and teaches you a lot about the
language you
want to learn
ShopAdvisor – tells you
price history of an item, least expensive place to buy, you can set-up price alerts
Pinterest – a social media
platform that is similar to create a simulated corkboards pinned with pictures.You can
create “boards” for whatever you’re interested in: clothes, art, recipes,
decorating,
books, quotes,
and much more.
Foursquare – a location
based social media app where you can get rewards / discounts / deals for the
places
you usually go
Comics – you can buy
individual (or multiple) digital issues. Guided reading mode for new readers.
Flipboard – shows all of
your media and social media feeds as a magazine articles you can flip through
Umano – popular news stories
from a variety of news sources read to you by professional voice actors
ESPN ScoreCenter – covers
sports from all over the world and connects you to all other ESPN content
Calibre ($2.99) – if you
have lots of eBooks this app allows for a lot of shelves, you can search your
books,
you can transfer from other devices or computers via Wi-Fi or USB. View tags and metadata from your collection. It does a lot for the eBook
enthusiast
OverDrive Media Console –
download and read / listen to library eBooks and Audio books
Stitcher - connects you to
almost every Podcast out there. You can create playlists and it will make
suggestions
based on your selections.
viaProtect – tells you where
data from your apps is going and whether it is encrypted or not
Nova Launcher (Free) / Nova Launcher Prime ($4) – customize
your home screen, icons, gives
you tons of options and it’s extremely slick. The free version is good – just less
options.
SwiftKey Keyboard – suggests
the next word you might use and supports Swyple-like input
Tasker ($2.99) – for more
advanced users, it allows you to create custom tasks like an LED light flashing when a text comes in, you can create custom scripts
Netgear Wi-Fi Analytics –
tells you signal strength and amount of interference
Snap Pea – allows you to
access files from your computer via USB or Wi-Fi. Allows you to send texts from your
computer via your phone
ASTRO File Manager – view
all the files on your device, upload easily to cloud services, backup your apps, and manage apps
Usemon – monitor your
device’s performance and see network traffic, let’s you know might be bogging your device’s
speed down
Dropbox – the best in cloud
storage apps
Firefox – web browser that
has great privacy protection
Opera mini – a minimalist
web browser that is fast
Dolphin – considered one of
the best mobile web browsers, integrates other apps like LastPass well
Weather Underground – slick
design, useful weather info, and helpful widgets. Considered the best
weather app for Android.
Wikipedia – its biggest
feature is you can save pages for offline viewing very easily
Mint – considered the best
budgeting app out there. It can be a bit daunting to set-up, but once done
it’s extremely
useful
Check – it is an electronic
bill pay app for almost any company, what’s nice is you can pay individuals using their phone
number or e-mail address
OfficeSuite Pro ($9.99) –
Microsoft Office tools and it has a PDF reader
QuickOffice – create and
edit Google docs and Microsoft Office docs, it’s limited in what it can do but
is
considered the best mobile editor for PowerPoint
SugarSync – automatically
backs up photos and videos to a cloud account (5 GB free)
eFax ($16.95) – allows you
to send and receive faxes without a machine or dedicated phone line
Adobe Reader ($9.99 monthly
fee for certain features) – lets you fill out PDF forms, mark up
documents,
and make changes. The subscription allows you to convert any document to PDF.
Pushbullet – send notes,
links, files, addresses, and lists to your computer or other devices
Google Drive – useful cloud
storage
Evernote – a powerful
organizational tool that allows you to sort or search pictures, music, and
written notes. One of
the cool features is that it makes text in pictures searchable.
Any.do – a list maker and
manager, you can share lists with others. Also doubles as a task manager
encouraging you
to review your plans for the day.
EasilyDo – unifies your
calendars from other social media and calendar services. It will suggest gifts
or messages to
send people for different events.
DeaDBeeF Player – it can
handle pretty much any audio file type and has a 10 band equalizer
Spotify – free streaming
radio station, paying for a subscription you get access to an enormous music
library, playlists,
discover and browsing features, commercial-free, and an offline mode.
Slacker Radio – you can
listen to what it thinks you will like, try-out human curated stations, or
select a hyper
specific playlist
Songkick Concerts – scans
your music collection and lets you know when your favorite artists will be playing near you. Also allows for the purchase of concert tickets in
app.
Instagram – photo editing
and picture sharing social media network
Pixlr Express – create photo
collages and use tons of effects / adjustments on your photos
SnapSeed – photo editor and
filter app, allows for more control than Instagram (but very similar)
Vine – 6 second videos, see
how creative people can be with so short a time period
YouTube – all kinds of
videos, it can be a great tool to learn how to do something or learn, and it
can
give you
hours of entertainment
Flickr – gives you a
terabyte of photo storage, you can automatically store all your pictures in one
place and it has a nice
interface
Flava – keep a private
journal you can lock with a PIN. It allows you to record sound, pictures, and
video. You can tag or use
icons for your entries. Search by icon, keyword, mood, tag, or weather.
SketchBook Mobile Express –
use your finger as a pen, pencil, or brush to create a masterpiece. Artists
will enjoy the advanced features that will allow them to play with layers.
Adobe Photoshop Express 2.0
– filters, fine adjustments, great interface, and easily connects to other
services for sharing or storage
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