App Reviews - 10/19 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Jul

[Review] Sports Tracker Keeps Track Of Your Mileage And Gives You The Support Network To Keep You Going

Posted by Matt Demers in App Reviews, Applications, Reviews

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

Phones are quickly adding "personal trainer" to the list of roles they can perform for their users. The potential for note-taking, record keeping and stat tracking is immense, as there's a good chance you won't forget your device when you go out for a run or hit the gym.

Sports Tracker works by letting the app use your phone's GPS signal to determine distance and speed travelled while doing activities like cycling, running, swimming or rowing. The app also takes input like heart rate, allowing you to journal your progress across a number of days, further supported by the optional Bluetooth heart rate belt that's on sale from their website.

Jun

New Game: Ball-Hop Bowling Replicates Skee-Ball To a T, Wasted Money Included

Posted by Matt Demers in App Reviews, Games, Reviews

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

Everyone who's been to a midway knows the format of skee-ball; for a couple bucks you ramp some wooden balls into scoring targets in order to get tickets to exchange for prizes. A new game for Android, Ball-Hop Bowling, recreates the whole experience, rip-off and all.

Maybe "rip-off" is a bit unfair: Ball-Hop Bowling is free, and gives you the "true" skee-ball experience without having to pay. However, if you're looking for any type of progression in this game beyond the default table/ball, be prepared to shell out some cash, or at least hours of your time.

Like real skee-ball, Ball-Hop Bowling is a quick experience; your nine balls seem like a lot, but they can be blown through extremely quick.

Jun

[Review] Dinner Spinner Brings The Feast To Android: Let The Food Porn Commence!

Posted by Matt Demers in App Reviews, Applications, Reviews

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

Great iOS ports seem to be flowing over the Android border quite steadily these days: I reviewed Cut The Rope last week, so why not tackle AllRecipes.com's Dinner Spinner?

Dinner Spinner is a port of the popular iOS app by the same name. In it, you spin a number of menus and select certain criteria for recipes you would like to try. The app then queries the database for recipes that match your search, and bring the ingredients list and directions up for you, right on your phone.

The allure (and major feature) of this app is that you can shake your phone and it will spin the menus, hopefully sparking some creativity and new recipe ideas.

Jun

[Review] Sonos Controller For Android And Sonos S5 Wireless Speaker System: So-So Performance In A Svelte Package

Posted by Brian O'Toole in App Reviews, Applications, Devices By Manufacturer, Other Reviews, Reviews

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

Introduction

Sonos is a company well-known in the tech industry for their line of wireless speaker systems, designed to let you sling music around your house without the hassle of complex setup processes or routing wires through ceilings and walls. To mark the launch of their Sonos Controller for Android application, Sonos generously loaned me a full multi-room system consisting of two Sonos S5 speaker units and a wireless ZoneBridge router. Given the buzz surrounding Sonos's products, it seemed best to review the system as a whole, viewing the application and hardware as a complete set. Read on to see how it all stacked up.

May

mSpot Gets Update, Combines Your Music With Internet Radio

Posted by Cameron Summerson in App Reviews, Applications, News, Reviews

Last Updated: August 1st, 2012

Up until now, there have been two types of music services to choose from (aside from local media, of course) - streaming radio like Pandora or Slacker, or personal content streaming with services like Google Music or Amazon Cloud Player. mSpot is looking to change the game, however, by combining the two.

The updated mSpot Music app really is a great idea - it combines your personal music collection with streaming music discovery radio. This is the type of service that I have wanted for quite some time now, because while I love to listen to my own music collection, I'm always looking for new artists to check out.

May

[New App] Omaha Steak Time For Android: Tender, Juicy, And Delicious (It Really is Awesome)

Posted by David Ruddock in App Reviews, Applications, Reviews

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

Do you like steak? No? Then get out of this post right now - because it's Steak Time.

Omaha Steaks has had their popular app "Steak Time" on iOS for a while now, and it was only a matter of time before an Android version emerged. That day has come, and now Android users can grill with the best of 'em.

I know what you're thinking, "this is probably some gimmicky app that just wants me to buy overpriced Omaha Steaks." But you're wrong - it's so much more. First and foremost, Steak Time does what its name implies: it times steaks.

May

[(P)Review] TouchRetouch Fixes Your Photos, Removes Your Need For Photography Skills

Posted by Brad Ganley in App Reviews, Applications, Reviews

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

How many of you out there have taken a picture only realize later that, as you were snapping the photo, somebody totally photobombed you, there is an ugly light pole in the distance, or a hobo was giving you the finger in the background? All of you, you say? Well, boy howdy, have I got an app for you! No longer will you need to employ this supposed "skill" that people claim to have in photography, nor will you need to "pay attention" when taking photos. I can barely pay my cell phone bill, let alone attention to things I'm doing!

May

[Review] CrossTxT Bridges The Gap Between Phone And Computer For Easy Texting - Regardless Of Browser

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in App Reviews, Applications, Apps/Games, News, Reviews

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

A few months ago we reviewed an interesting app called Texty. This app connects an Android phone to a computer through Chrome, and allows the user to send text messages straight from said browser. This is useful when you are working on your computer and you do not wish to move your hands away from your comfortable ergonomic keyboard and start pecking away at a small 3-4" screen. CrossTxT performs a similar function, but in my opinion, is far superior to Texty.

Set-Up: Android

Firstly, CrossTxT is currently in beta and you will have to sign-up for a free invite.

May

[New In The Market] Text Clock Pro Indulges Our Literacy With a Dynamic, Readable Timepiece

Posted by Matt Demers in App Reviews, Applications, News, Reviews

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

Clock widgets, clock livewallpapers - when will we have enough of them? Never, I say! Every once in a while, a new clock variant comes out that pushes the limits of originality, and I think this is what we have here today with Text Clock Pro.

If you've been in an English fanatic's kitchen, there's a chance you might've seen a bunch of word magnets on their fridge which you can assemble into sentences. More often than not, you would take a word out of their carefully-prepared quote, or just arrange them in whichever order that sounded the dirtiest.

Text Clock Pro is the Android equivalent of that.

May

[Deathmatch] Google Music Beta Vs. Amazon Cloud Player

Posted by Cameron Summerson in App Reviews, Applications, News, Other Reviews, Reviews

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

When Amazon Cloud Player hit the scene, my exact words were "Google Music who?" and now that Google Music Beta invites are starting to rollout to the masses, I can aptly answer that question.

I've used Amazon Cloud Player as the primary music player on my Android phone since its inception at the end of March, so I've become quite familiar with how it works. The service has its pros and cons (like any service, I suppose), but overall I am a big fan. Now that I have had a day or so to play with Google Music, though, I thought it would be appropriate to put these two in the ring together to see who would rise as the victor.