Must-Have Apps for My Droid-X

I’ve had the Droid-X since July; long enough to settle into a groove as far as applications go. These are my go-to apps; the ones I would recommend without hesitation.

Note that these apps are not all free; after spending $200 for a phone and $60/month for the phone, spending $5 for an app doesn’t bother me. My logic, doesn’t have to be yours. The links are not links into the Marketplace though most should lead you there eventually. No order or ranking implied, and the prices are merely what I found on the net.

Launcher Pro
Free, fast, configurable, a good deal nicer than the default bi-directional home screen/launcher. I have it configured with seven screens, with the “home” one being the leftmost. Feels very iPhone-y when matched with a black background. Plays to how two years with the iPhone rewired my brain. Link

Wikidroid
Fast, free, intuitive interface to the Wikipedia. Since I use Wikipedia all the time for basic reference lookup, it’s a must. Link

Amazon & Amazon Kindle
I’m a big Amazon fan, and a reluctant Kindle fan. These are free (well, they both exist to facilitate the spending of your money, but still). Besides ordering, Amazon’s app provides a fast interface to Amazon’s reviews. Useful as all get out. Link and Link.

Evernote
Free, though I do pay the Premium fee because I use it so much. My primary on-phone note-taking platform. Cloud-based, syncs well, use it all the time. Link.

RealCalc
Free. I can’t use a regular calculator; I need an RPN calculator in the vein of my beloved HP-15C. (You can still buy an 12C for real!)
Link.

News (by smrtApps)
I don’t remember if this is free, but it is my favorite news aggregator. Link.

Handcent SMS
Free? I think? Either way, it is a step up from the standard SMS app. If you text a lot, you need it. Link.

K-9 Mail
Free. My day job email is IMAP, and I need to get to it fast, no fuss, with lots of support for folders. Link.

Hootsuite
$3. Worth it. Best Android Twitter client. Fast, actually does remember your position in the timeline. Pretty! Link.

Dolphin HD Browser
Ad-supported, or $5. Worth it either way if you like tabs with your browser. Plus, loads of plugins, fast, pretty, gestures if you like them, etc. My default browser. Link.

bTunes
$1.50. Awesome iPhone-like music player. Lock screen support. Headset control support. Works really, really well. Link.

TuneIn/Radiotime
One is free/ad-supported, one is $2. This is the best of the current crop of radio players, though Cherry RPlayer is as good a player with a lesser interface. Link and Link.

ESPN Radio
$5 I believe. Works damn well, pretty much identical to the iPhone version. If you are a sports radio junkie, it’s the ticket. Link.

Google Listen
Free. Podcasts are us. Interface is a little odd, but unlike BeyondPod hasn’t crashed for no reason. Link.

Pandora/Slacker
Free. I’ll lump these together, because they do similar things and I love them both. Pandora for the music, Slacker for the Adult comedy channel. There is something about standing in line at the grocery story hearing George Carlin’s Seven Words that just makes you laugh. Link and Link.

SoundHound
$5. Works as well as Shazaam, and you only pay once. Magic for the initiated! Link.

imov Messenger Corporate
$5? Whatever, it is the only actually working Jabber client that supports conference room chats. Period. Which I have to have. If you don’t need it, forget it, but if you do it is the only game in town. Yahoo and AOL both have IM apps for their respective networks, as does Google for Google Talk and they are all fine if you need them as well. Link.

DroidLight
Free, from Motorola! Useful, useful, useful. Link.

Tricorder (the one from moonbllink, NOT the execrable Tricorder-TR580)
This is super cool. In addition to the famed tricorder sound from Star Trek, it has a bevy of useful measurements including decibels, tilt, gps, compass, wireless and cell signal, etc. Link.

These are the ones I use regularly, and would immediately tell someone to install on a new phone, with the possible exception of the Jabber client, which is not for everyone.

Additionally, I have alarm clock apps, sport score apps, etc., but for most of these there are lots of good choices.

Droid-X Tip #1: Buy the OEM extended battery, and buy a hard case. Put the battery in, don’t put the phone back on, instead put the hard case on directly over the battery. Fits perfectly, stays slender. The extra 1mm of thickness of the battery perfectly matches the original battery’s thickness plus the back. Sweet.

Enjoy. And no, I still don’t miss my iPhone. Two months, and no dropped calls!

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Tags: Android, Apple, droidx, Likes

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