App Reviews - 3/19 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Sep

[Review] gReader Is Hands Down The Incomparable King Of RSS Readers On Android

Posted by Cameron Summerson in App Reviews, Applications

As a tech writer, I read a lot of RSS feeds. Hundreds, maybe more. All day, every day. It's one of the first things I check every morning, and the last before bed. And dozens of times throughout the day. When I first started as a writer, Google Reader was my go-to RSS reader, both on my PCs and mobile. It didn't take long to realize GR's shortcomings on both platforms, however. So, after a little convincing from Artem, I switched to FeedDemon on my computers. It's a fantastic application and has increased my ability to find good, relevant content by at least 10 fold.

Aug

[Review] Pinterest For Android: A Perfectly Designed Android App (That's Not Just For Women)

Posted by Cameron Summerson in App Reviews, Applications, News

I have some news for you, guys: Pinterest isn't just for women. Contrary to what some people may believe, it's actually a service for, well, everyone. In fact, I've been using it to research desk and home office ideas for the last few weeks, and it has been a fantastic aid in my quest to find the perfect setup.

Here's how it all started: I routinely check some of my favorite office design sites - like Minimal Desks and Simple Desks (the latter of which isn't updated as often) - for new ideas on how to rearrange my home office in a more simplistic and minimal, yet practical way.

Aug

[New App Review] Current Caller ID Brings Solid Caller ID With A Social Twist, If You're Into That Sort Of Thing

Posted by David Ruddock in App Reviews, Applications, News

Android's selection of good incoming Caller ID apps is a bit meager. While a search of the Play Store yields many options, most of them are deficient in one important way or another (or, not free), or flat-out sketchy. One of the more popular ones was actually WhitePages Caller ID - which Current Caller ID replaces, as it's made by the same company.

What makes WhitePage's app special (and better than others), in part, is that it utilizes the company's rather extensive curated directory of phone numbers - over 300 million currently.

Current Caller ID also brings in a social element, pulling data from your Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn accounts to provide even more information about the people calling you.

Aug

Chameleon Launcher Beta [P]Review: An Evolving Concept In A Changing Tablet World

Posted by Cameron Summerson in App Reviews, News, Tablets

We've been talking about Chameleon Launcher for a few months now, and despite getting off to a bit of a rocky start, the beta is now officially available for some testers and Kickstarter backers. I've spent the last several days playing with the launcher on a couple different tablets, and, despite the fact that it's still in beta, have been generally impressed.

For the unaware, Chameleon is a new type of launcher designed specifically for Android 3.0+ tablets. It takes a different approach than "traditional" launchers by turning the homescreens into size-adjustable, seamless hubs of information. For the time being, it only offers a handful of different "widgets," including GMail, weather, Twitter, Instagram, and news (RSS).

Jul

Dexetra Updates "Memory" App Friday With Slick New UI And Applets

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

Introduction

Over a year ago, I reviewed an interesting life journal app called Friday. The app aimed to record every single interaction a user had with their smartphone, including calls, texts, mails, photos, social activities, and songs played. My conclusion was that while Friday was a polished app, it was doubtful whether it would actually be useful. The developer Dexetra then spent a year running alpha and beta tests, and their latest version of Friday is a lot more polished, with an improved focus.

Updates to Friday

In terms of overall function, Friday has not changed very much. It collects a variety of information about what you are doing and then displays it, with answers and analytics.

May

Flipboard APK Pulled From The Galaxy S III, Available For Download - We Go Hands-On

Posted by John Thompson in App Reviews, News

One of the things that we didn't have chance to cover at Samsung's Galaxy S III event last week was the presence of Flipboard on all of the demonstration units on show. Naturally, this has led to speculation that the release of Flipboard for the rest of the Android community may be coming soon - Flipboard's website says that it "will be available on select Android mobile phones" in the coming months - but you won't have to wait and find out, as the .apk file has already been taken from the Galaxy S III and shared for other Android users to install.

Apr

[Review] Floating Widget Brings Widgets To The Foreground, But Comes With Trade-offs

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in App Reviews, Reviews

There has been a trend lately of apps being released that act more like traditional floating windows. LilyPad HD, OverSkeen, and AirTerm have all garnered a lot of interest, but they are single use apps. Floating Widget does just what its name suggests: it makes widgets float on top of your apps. The implementation is a little odd at first, but once you learn the rules, Floating Widget is useful in a number of situations.

Getting Started

The actual Floating Widget app isn't the most intuitive, and the instructions it offers at start-up are hard to follow until you actually dive in.

Mar

[Review] CloudMagic Offers Lightning Fast Searches Of Gmail, Docs, Twitter, And More

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in App Reviews, Applications, Apps/Games, Reviews

Search has always been a big part of Android, and for many things, Google's built-in solution works fine. If you're looking for a better way to search through your data in the cloud, look no further than CloudMagic. The app does take a bit of setup, but once you're in, CloudMagic assists you in digging through your data in a very compelling way.

Setting Up CloudMagic

CloudMagic does not just exist on your phone. This is a service that you are granting access to your data, and it requires you to create an account to manage all those connections. After you get logged into CloudMagic itself, you have to add your services.