Applications - 222/250 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Dec

Modus Operandi: Like Tasker, But With Less Options And 100% More Free

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

As far as apps go, few are more useful and versatile than Tasker. Despite the comparatively high price (for an app, anyway) of $6.30, there's probably a reason why its average rating is an impressive 4.7/5 stars. Still, that price is high enough to turn some users away, despite the serious lack of alternatives. Fortunately, that gap was filled a few days ago, when an app called Modus Operandi hit the Market.

Its nature is very similar to Tasker, but as the app is still fairly new (on version 0.3, as of writing), it offers less features. Then again, it's also significantly simpler as a result.

Dec

App Of The Week: Grooveshark For Android (Insert Tooth-Related Or Aquatic Pun Here)

Posted by Brad Ganley in App Reviews, Applications, Apps/Games, Reviews

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

Well, here we are again. Another week, another slew of apps to choose from. For a while there, we were doing an "App of the Week" series and then, for an even longer while, we weren't. I'd like for us to get back on the right path here, so I'm going to fix this.

App of the Week, Season 2: Eclectic Boogaloo

I've been a long time fan of Grooveshark. It is a service that, in my mind, cannot be beaten. There are tons of music streaming apps in the vein of Pandora, like Last.fm, and Slacker Radio, but they don't let you chose your songs or make a playlist.

Dec

Need A Dropbox-Based Note App, But Like To Keep It Simple? Check Out Epistle

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Applications, News

Last Updated: March 15th, 2011

One of the minor things I find annoying about Android is that there's no stock note app. I never understood how all the dumbphones and featurephones I had in the past 5 years had a note "app," but when I upgraded to my first Android device, I was dumbfounded to find that Android lacked anything similar.

I have no problems with apps such as Remember The Milk as they do the task quite well. Still, a recurring cost of $25/yr strikes me as a bit absurd for something so simple - not to mention, I'm a fan of supporting the little guy.

Dec

Android Market Update To Bring New Home Page, Lessen Refund Time [+Poll]

Posted by Nate Kimmey in Applications, Games, News

It seems that Gingerbread is bringing the Market revamp we've all been hoping for - but that doesn't mean devices running older versions of Android can't join in on the fun, too. Google has announced via the Android Developers blog that the Android Market client will be receiving an update over the next two weeks that brings several important changes, and any device running Android 1.6 and up will receive it (sorry, Cupcake users, you're out of luck).

The most notable change will be in the UI - the Home and Categories pages now each feature a carousel that scrolls through promoted apps.

Dec

GO SMS - New Messaging App Hits Market, Brings Attractive UI And Extra Features

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Applications, News

It's no secret that Android's stock messaging app is lackluster, both in terms of appearance and functionality. Major players like Handcent and ChompSMS have stepped up to the plate and do a fine job of addressing both of these shortcomings, but they're not without their own issues. Enter GO SMS, a new alternative that's already attracting a surprising amount of attention.

Despite having been on the Market for no more than a week, GO has already made it to the 10,000-50,000 download range, and with 384 ratings and a 4.09 star average, it seems to be doing quite well. The developers are keeping a close eye on user reviews, and have even created a thread on the XDA-Developers forums to get more input. Thus far, the comments seem to be considerably positive, with most users commenting on how much snappier the app is than Handcent.

Dec

Gmail App Gets Big Update: Quick Folder Switching, Priority Inbox, And A Lot More

Posted by David Ruddock in Applications, News

Update: This Gmail client update is only for devices with Android 2.2 or higher.

Gmail for Android received a substantial update from Google this afternoon - and the AndroidPolice team has agreed: some of the improvements are long overdue, while some of them are just plain cool.

The change blurb that you'll find on the Market page lists some of the biggies, but a major one (for us, at least) has been excluded: quick folder switching. In the top left corner of whichever folder you were in, there was a simple label indicating the name of the folder. This is now a button, similar to the account button at the top right.

Dec

Android Chrome To Phone App Update Brings Link History

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, News

The Chrome To Phone Android app, exclusive to Android 2.2 and up, was updated today to version 2.2 with 1 new feature: link history. The app, which lets you quickly and easily send data to your phone from your computer's browser (see our tutorials here: ChromeToPhone, FoxToPhone), now has a single useful screen with links broken down to Today, Last 7 days, Last month, and Older. Here it is:

Unfortunately (or luckily), clipboard history does not show up in this list, so all your passwords and grandma's cookie recipes you might send around are safe.

Grab the updated app in the Market by clicking this link from your mobile or scanning it with Barcode Scanner:

Source: Chrome To Phone

Image credit: DownloadAtoZ

Dec

[Quick Hands-On] Comcast Xfinity App Now Live In The Android Market

Posted by Stephen Tenerowicz in Applications, News

Just as promised, Comcast has finally brought their Xfinity application to the Android Market (and it's about time). We haven't spent more than a few minutes with it, but that's enough to provide at least preliminary impressions.

At first glance, the app is very attractive and appears to be pretty functional, including its own Comcast mail client, voicemail inbox, TV listings, and a DVR Manager (which takes up to 24 hours to set up). In addition to this, it contains a listing of all On Demand shows, but no On Demand playback is available at the moment. While fully featured, the TV listings portion of the app is very laggy and slow.

Dec

MoDaCo's Paul O'Brien Releases Gingerbread Launcher For Android 2.2, Now Available In Market

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Applications, Development, Gingerbread 2.3, News

Our (OK, mainly Brian's) man Paul O'Brien of MoDaCo has been hard at work porting the Gingerbread launcher to Froyo (Android 2.2). What's different? Well, frankly... not a lot.

The major differences are that there's a bit more green and that the app drawer fades in/out. In my minute or two with it, that's about all I noticed, and really, that's all you can ask for at this point. That said, if you're using vanilla Froyo now, there's really no downside to using the Gingerbread launcher.

Nothing revolutionary, but given the amount of fervor over Gingerbread, the launcher and the keyboard may be just enough to whet your appetite and hold you over until some official releases start rolling out.

Dec

Launcher Pro v0.8.2 Brings Virtual Homescreen Looping, Recent Apps Dock Popup

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, News

Launcher Pro, one of the greatest Android homescreen replacements (Sense who?), received an update today with 2 excellent new features: virtual homescreen looping and a Recent Apps dock popup.

The virtual looping feature enables scrolling past the leftmost or rightmost homescreens with a quick bounce-to-the-opposite-end effect. While Fede implemented it this way instead of an endless scroll for technical reasons, I think it's visually a lot better and clearer, as you will still know when you've reached the end and won't feel lost in your own homescreen forest.

Joining SMS, missed calls, and bookmarks, the 2nd feature is a new swipe gesture dock popup called Recent Apps.