App Reviews - 11/19 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

May

[Review] ReadItLater Strips Dirty Articles, Stores Them on Your Phone

Posted by Matt Demers in App Reviews, Applications, Reviews

Last Updated: August 2nd, 2011

It's not exactly news that mobile devices are quickly becoming one of the most popular ways to consume data. From Twitter feeds to RSS, it's becoming increasingly common to see people reading on their devices, whether it be a tablet, e-reader or phone.

The Search for Simplicity

However, a problem I ran into was that not all web sites are optimized for reading on a mobile device. While some sites have the decency to have a mobile theme, others load in full view and have trouble wrapping text to a zoomed-in screen. Dealing with page formatting while reading long articles wasn't something I felt like doing, so I began looking for alternatives.

May

Mega-Music App Comparison: Google Music v Amazon Cloud Player v Subsonic v PowerAMP v Winamp

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, App Reviews, Applications, Reviews, Tips & Tutorials

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

Listening to tunes on your Android device is serious business - no doubt about it.

It's so serious that many of us are pretty well set in our ways for what we consider the "choice" Android music-listening application, and we aren't willing to budge on it.

PowerAMP users, for example, swear by the application's seemingly endless list of customizations and options. On the other hand, Subsonic devotees like myself are advocates of what is probably the most configurable music streaming experience in existence. But the big boys have come to play, and with Google Music Beta entering the foray, along with Amazon's still-somewhat-new Cloud Player, the war for musical dominance on Android getting louder by the minute.

May

[Review] Wunderlist Makes Tasking Look Gooood

Posted by Matt Demers in App Reviews, Applications, Reviews

Last Updated: August 2nd, 2011

I have a couple requirements for any application that wants to help me with organization: it has to have a functional desktop client to sync to. This is nothing against Android's system, but I find that if I have to do any extended typing on it, my enthusiasm for the app fails (coincidentally, along with my time management skills). This is what's kept me from using Astrid with the enthusiasm everyone seems to be talking about; all my time isn't spent on my phone, so why should I leave my tasks there?

However, Wunderlist not only provides a functional multi-platform client, it makes it look good.

May

[Review] Folder Organizer Brings Deep Customization to Organizing Apps

Posted by Matt Demers in App Reviews, Applications, Reviews

Last Updated: August 2nd, 2011

I've never been a big proponent of using folders on my home screen; I'm the kind of guy that can fit all the apps he uses frequently on a 5x5 grid. With the possible exception for a "Games" folder, I find them pretty useless. I mean, the app drawer itself is one big folder, and if there's anything I really need to access, it goes on my front page.

However, I've been playing around with a tool that's making the maintenance and use of folders a bit more practical. The aptly-named Folder Organizer adds a number of features to folders and transforms them from "drag to the icon" affairs to something a bit more automated.

May

[Root Tools] Root Call Blocker Makes You Selectively Antisocial

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

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

I've had this problem with my cell phone for the past couple of years. Somehow, despite my best efforts, telemarketers have gotten ahold of my cell phone number. In addition to that, I'm STILL getting calls from debt collectors for the person I assume had my phone number before I got it, which was around 4 years ago. This is really annoying. Like, really, really annoying. I've got my own debt collectors calling, I don't need this "Sherry's" collectors calling me as well. Lucky for me, though, warranties are just a cute, ignorable line of text from the manufacturer and I promptly root all devices within 15 feet of me.

May

[Review] Privacy Blocker Fools Android Apps By Spoofing Your Private Data

Posted by Matt Demers in App Reviews, Applications, Reviews

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

Like a lot of users, I'm guilty of mashing the "install" button when I'm in the Marketplace and ignoring those lovely warnings that tell me what permissions apps want to use. This isn't really the best practice to keep, especially in the wake of all this location-tracking madness that's been plaguing both Android and iOS.

While I'm not exactly sheepish about what my location data says about me, not caring about the rights that you have as a user (and the rights that you're letting apps take advantage of) just shows a lack of responsibility. While I'm not saying what Google and Apple did was right, I think it's part of our duty as enlightened tech fans to make sure our best interests are being looked after.

Apr

Top Android Apps Every Rooted User Should Know About, Part 3: Apps 17-25

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in App Reviews, Applications, Apps/Games, Best Apps For Rooted Users Series, Development, Reviews, Tips & Tutorials

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

This is the third iteration in our 'Top Android Apps Every Rooted User Should Know About' series. Click here for part one or here for part two.

It's that time again - we've spent the last few months scouring the Android Market, and now we're ready to report back with nine more great root apps. There are a lot of good ones in this edition - read on for some of the best reasons to root your Android handset!

This article deals with a couple of advanced topics. If you’re unfamiliar with some of the terms, hit up our primers here:

MarketEnabler

One of the most frequent excuses for piracy has to be "The app isn't available in my country" or "Google doesn't allow paid apps where I live." No longer!

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

[Review] Taskos Is A Simple Way To Suck Less At Doing Things

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

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

As a person, I'm generally less reliable than a software update schedule from Samsung. That's why I must rely on my phone to tell me to do things. My current weapon of choice for this responsibility-shifting device dependency is Taskos because it's simple and, if I'm going through the trouble of not remembering things for myself, I sure don't want to waste time while (not?) doing it. Yeah...

Taskos is, in my humble opinion, the best to-do list app yet. While it isn't perfect quite yet, it's got a whole lot going for it. I'm adding "Take a closer look at Taskos" to my list right now.

Apr

Baconreader Alpha: A Stylish New Reddit App For The r/Android Army

Posted by Zak Stinson in App Reviews, Applications, Reviews

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

I love Reddit. Like, alot. I also love Android. So naturally, I get pretty excited about new Reddit apps for Android. There are quite a few of them out there to choose from, ranging from full-on Reddit readers like Reddit is Fun, to purpose specific apps, like RedditTV or Reddit Pics. The holy grail of Reddit apps is a browsing app that has all of the functionalities of the web Reddit experience, while being easy to use and good looking.

Reddit is Fun has been enjoying the position of top reader app for quite some time, but earlier this year there were rumblings of competition.