market - 26/43 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

May

Killswitch: Automatically Put Your Device To Sleep When You Put It In A Case Or Turn It Upside Down

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Applications, Apps/Games, News

One neat feature of BlackBerrys is that when you put the phone in its case, the screen automatically shuts off. The effect is only part novelty; after all, by shutting the screen off sooner, you're saving battery (although in all honesty, it's doubtful you're saving that much battery). Developer Fahrbot Mobile has devised a solution for Android that "uses a combination of sensors to control the sleep state and screen lock of any device... at the moment, it uses the proximity sensor, light sensor and accelerometer."

Sleeplessninjas has provided a video overview of the app (disclaimer: it's 6 minutes long):

Hit up the widget below to check out the free version, or jump right into the paid.

May

Mobile Research Firm Predicts Android Market Will Surpass Apple App Store In Number Of Apps In August 2011

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Apps/Games, News

Analyst Egle Mikalajunaite of research2guidance has modeled the growth of the Android Market and Apple App Store, and based on his predictions, the former will overtake the latter in August of this year. While we're generally pretty weary of these sort of predictions, the short-term nature certainly makes this much more plausible.

The graph largely speaks for itself, but there's a bit more to be said in terms of specific numbers. First, according to their numbers, the Market has been adding more apps per month since October of 2010. Second, it's since continued to pick up the pace (notice that you can see it ramp up quite dramatically beginning in August of 2010).

May

20 Best New Android Games And Live Wallpapers From The Last 2 Weeks (4/21/11 - 5/4/11)

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, Best Apps/Games/LWPs Of The Week, Games, News

Welcome to the weekly roundup of the best new Android applications, games, and live wallpapers that went live in the Market or were spotted by us in the previous week or so.

Last week, I went for a nice vacation in the Caribbean and because of that, there was no Best Apps issue at all. Instead, I've rolled 2 weeks' worth of stuff into this week aaaaaaand because it's turned out so long, I am splitting it up into multiple posts (apps are coming soon after this, most likely tomorrow).

Additionally, most people preferred the old roundup format instead of the abridged new one I tried in the last roundup, so I'm bringing it back.

May

Bookworms, Take Note - Goodreads Android App Now Available In The Android Market

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, News

If you're into reading, you've probably heard of Goodreads, a site that allows users to keep track of their reading collections, get social book recommendations, read reviews, collect quotes, and even form a book club. Us, Android folks, love to manage things on the go, and the new Goodreads app, announced on May 2nd, is here to satisfy all of your recommendation cravings and organizational OCDs.

The app lets you sign into your Goodreads account and manage your past, current, and future reading lists, search the book catalog, read friend and community reviews, and find book recommendations. There is really not much else to it, so if you want to take the Goodreads experience with you while on the go, head over to the Market and download the free app to your device.

May

[Quick Game Hands-On] Clever Contraptions

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Games, News

Last weekend, a developer (and redditor) posted on Andreddit to promote his new game, Clever Contraptions. He said he was "inspired by the classic game 'the incredible machine' [sic]" - a promise that triggered my nostalgia and prompted me to download it immediately. In the days since, I've managed to spend a bit of time with the game, and I have to admit I've come away pleased, despite a few minor niggles.

The official app description:

Clever Contraptions is an entertaining puzzle game with incredible, life-like physics simulation. The purpose is to perform such seemingly simple tasks as putting a ball in a basket by building intricate, creative chain reactions.

Apr

[Carrier Crackdown] Tethering Apps Are Being Blocked In The Android Market [Updated]

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Carriers, Development

Last Updated: October 28th, 2011

It's a sad, sad day when we can't use the data that we pay for in a manner that we choose - but that day has arrived. It seems that somebody (perhaps carriers?) is blocking the ability to install Wireless Tether in the Android Market. This is what you get if you try to install it:

You can see that while it's still in the Market, it's not available for installation on any carrier-connected device. Most of the well known tethering apps have made the carrier blacklist, such as Wireless Tether and PDAnet, but there are some lesser known ones that are still available.

Apr

[Hands-On] Google Docs Photo Upload OCR: It Kind Of Sucks At This Point

Posted by David Ruddock in App Reviews, Applications, Apps/Games, Reviews, Tips & Tutorials

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

We were all very excited to hear about the Google Docs for Android announcement this morning, and even more so when we learned it came with a special surprise feature: the ability to upload photos of physical documents from your Android phone and have them transcribed by Google Docs into editable text.

So, the first thing I was curious about, naturally, is just how well this new feature works in the real world. As you may have guessed from the title, not very. Let me show you the photos I tasked Google Docs for Android with transcribing.

Document 1: Printed handout:

Document 1 results:

OF CONSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS ON DEFAMATÍON
PUBLIC OFFICIALS GENERAL PURPOSE PUBLIC FIGURES
LIMITED PUBLIC FIGURES WHERE MATTER OF PUBLIC CONCERN
LIMITED PUBLIC FIGURE WHERE NOT MATTER OF PUBLIC CONCERN
PRIVATE PERSONS WHERE MATTER OF PUBLIC CONCERN
PRIVATE PERSONS WHERE NOT MATTER OF PUBLIC CONCERN
ACTUAL MALICE.

Apr

Facebook For Android Updated To V1.5.4; Now Allows You To... Use Facebook Without Force Closes

Posted by Brad Ganley in Applications, Apps/Games

You may remember a couple of days ago when Facebook for Android received an update and, for many users (myself included, on all 3 of my Android devices), became a blue-tinted cavalcade of force-closes. Well, it seems that the Facebook team took notice and pushed an update out that (hopefully) remedies the situation for everyone. It now seems to be working flawlessly (well...from the stability standpoint) on both my EVO and Nook Color. Go to the market and grab it now. Your friends miss you.

Facebook for Android

QR code for https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.facebook.katana

Apr

Nielsen: Android Runs On 37% Of All US Smartphones And 50% Of All New Smartphones Sold

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, News

NielsenWire has released yet another one of their bar and pie chart-filled smartphone surveys for the US this morning, and it's just more good news for Android. Here's a quick breakdown of some of the key stats Nielsen compiled:

Android now represents 37% of all US smartphones
50% of smartphones sold in the month of March were Android phones
31% of consumers said their next purchase will be an Android phone, compared to 26% one year ago. Android now leads iOS here as well (iOS accounts for 30%, down from 33%)
20% of consumers don't know which OS their next smartphone will run

Another interesting tidbit the survey revealed is that Blackberry has finally dropped to third place in all three of the comparisons Nielsen publishes (future purchases, March purchases, total market share).

Apr

Notification Toggle Adds Power Control Widgets To The Notification Pulldown

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, News

One thing I have gotten used to as a CyanogenMod user is the notification power widget. It's so convenient that I have rejected the use of alternative ROMs over the last several months because it's something that they lacked. For those of you that want this feature, but would prefer not to root your phone, you're in luck: XDA-Developers member 'j4velin' has created an app that does just that.

Notification Toggle, as the name implies, allows you to put various toggle switches in your notification pulldown for quick access. It supports Wifi, bluetooth, silent mode, screen rotation, airplane mode, flashlight, and screen brightness, which should cover just about anything that you may need to quickly turn on or off.