There are millions of smartphones out there with the processing power to get real work done, but they spend most of their time idle. That's what you want for battery life, of course, but Folding@Home offers a way to contribute some of those unused cycles for the greater good while your phone is on the charger. [insert Snapdragon 810 overheating joke here]

Folding@Home has existed on computers for years, but Sony brought it to Android a while back. The new 2.0 version makes the following changes.

  • New, easy-to-use interface - with on/off switch on main screen and notification area.
  • Contribute anytime, with wireless charging support.
  • Google ID signin to accumulate contributions across your devices, and win achievements.
  • Research information accessible via Research Type

So you can toggle the app on in the settings and get a quick display of your status. There's an icon for each condition—on WiFi, connected to power, and battery fully charged. When all that happens, the app runs. While it's running, it does calculations to determine the conformation (or shape) of proteins that medical researchers are investigating in hopes of treating disease. The app should run on the vast majority of devices.