App Reviews - 4/19 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Mar

[New App Review] Slider Widget Puts Powerful Volume And Brightness Controls On Your Homescreen

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in App Reviews, Applications, News, Videos

Volume control on Android can be kind of a pain to manage, as there's multiple volume settings that need to be managed, but it's not always obvious what settings you're adjusting when. Slider Widget simplifies this process by placing all five independent volume controls, as wells a brightness control setting, on your homescreen in one convenient widget.

The widget not only displays what level the various settings are at, but gives the user a handy slider for adjusting each one without taking up a ton of space on the homescreen. The stock power widget (and the manufacturer variations thereof) generally only allow you to adjust the brightness to a couple of preset levels, and volume buttons only affect whatever volume level you're currently using.

Mar

[Hands-On] Tablet CPU Usage Monitor Updated With Support For Quad-Core Devices, And It's Absolutely Fantastic

Posted by Cameron Summerson in App Reviews, News

I have a confession to make: I'm a system stat whore. Not just on my PCs, either - I want to know what's up on all my devices, all the time. I've been using OS Monitor on my tablets for quite a while now, and while the information it provides is useful, it doesn't encompass all of the info that I wanted to see at a glance. Furthermore, it doesn't offer support for quad-core devices like the Transformer Prime.

Enter Tablet CPU Usage Monitor, which recently received an update that brings multi-core support (including support for quad-core processors). After spending a few minutes with this app, I can say that it's exactly what I've wanted for many months.

Mar

Fascinating: OnLive Unveils OnLive Desktop - A Free, Instantly Available Windows 7 Cloud Instance For Tablets, Complete With MS Office, Media Streaming, And More [Hands-On]

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in App Reviews, Applications, News, Tablets, Videos

OnLive, the company that has already revolutionized gaming is now gunning for making the same kind of splash in OS virtualization. And not just any OS virtualization, but Windows 7 in the cloud, for free - a set of words I never thought I'd write in the same sentence.

Something worth pointing out right off the bat is OnLive's "groundbreaking video compression technology" that is used to stream the Desktop cloud to your tablet. If there's one company that has figured out how to perfect streaming of full-screen media, it's definitely OnLive.

I was a bit skeptical at first, but after trying out every aspect of the app through a relatively slow, Spanish Vodafone HSPA+ hotspot here in Barcelona, I have to say I'm thoroughly impressed.

Feb

[Review] Despite Lacking A Few Features, Powow By HandMark Delivers A Sleek Messaging Experience To Android

Posted by Brandon Lancaster in App Reviews, Applications

Powow: Text Messaging is an alternative messaging app made by Handmark, the company that produced One Louder Apps. Now, I know that you're thinking about all of the other messaging apps on the Market and want to know what makes this one special. The fact of the matter is that only a small percentage of the endless waves of similar apps are worth using, and despite missing a couple key features, Powow is one of few I would consider fully committing to.

Features

As I mentioned before, this app does miss a few key features, but we'll get to that later.

Feb

[New App] Redditastic Is A Fantastic Way To Add Reddit To Your 3.0+ Homescreen

Posted by Brandon Lancaster in App Reviews, Applications

Okay, so Redditastic isn't technically an app, but it is a pretty sweet widget that lets you throw your favorite subreddits on one of your homescreens. Unfortunately it's only currently available for devices running Honeycomb or ICS, and it probably won't see any previous builds of Android simply because scrollable widgets aren't supported by them unless you use a custom launcher. That being said, if you do own a supported device, this Reddit widget is definitely one to check out.

Overview

What's cool about Redditastic is that it lets you create individual widgets for each of your favorite subreddits. You can also choose to have the feed populate with hot, new, top, and controversial threads.

Feb

[Review] Google Chrome Beta For Android: It's Fast, Convenient, And Powerful - With One Big Oversight

Posted by Cameron Summerson in App Reviews

Chrome for Android. Those are three words that many Android fans have been patiently waiting to hear for quite a while (aside from speculation and rumor, that is), and it's finally here. I've spent the biggest part of the day playing with the new browser, and it's already the default browser on both my Transformer Prime and Galaxy Nexus. Yeah, it's that good.

Before we take a closer look, though, I want you to keep in mind that it's wearing the beta tag, so it is a bit buggy. There are quirks, missing features, and simple oversights. What we're really looking at here is potential.

Jan

[Review] Amuse Lets You Browse Tons Of Websites Like Memebase And Ragecomics On Your Mobile Device Through A User-Friendly Interface

Posted by Brandon Lancaster in App Reviews, Applications

Amuse has been out for some time now, and there certainly are apps like it, but we decided this one was worth mentioning simply because it works great and has an insanely high rating on the Android Market. The function of this app is very simple, it basically provides you with a mobile feed consisting of the most popular 'entertainment' sites like Rage Comics, Demotivators, 9gag, and many more. Populate the app's home screen with your favorite sites from the list, and see a feed of content directly from the site in an easy-to-consume mobile layout.

UI And UX

Right from the start, I noticed that this app was very well made.

Jan

[Preview] Steam On Android Is A Great Companion App, But It Still Needs Plenty Of Work

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in App Reviews, Games

Yesterday Steam launched its brand new app for Android. Unfortunately, the app is still in closed beta and many users are waiting with bated breath for their invites to show up. If you're among the unwashed masses waiting for your golden ticket, we’ve got you covered. Don’t worry, though. You're not missing out on too much.

The Basics

Let's get the obvious out of the way first: you won't be playing any games with this app. While users might hope for an OnLive-type setup that allows players to stream games over a network, Steam is still a ways off from that type of infrastructure.

Jan

[Review] Adobe Collage Creates Quick, Dynamic Mood Boards With Considerable Aesthetic Flair

Posted by Liam Spradlin in App Reviews, Applications

Up next in my series of reviews centering on Adobe's Touch Apps is Collage, a nifty addition to the Touch App family that allows users to make quick, yet sophisticated mood boards on the go. For those not familiar with the term, a "mood board" is essentially a concentrated collection of images, notes, and other media that convey the overall concept, or mood, of a project, from photo shoots to graphical designs, to interior decorating projects.

At A Glance

Adobe Collage is a relatively simple app, with relatively sophisticated functionality. What I mean by that is that the app is very easy to use (particularly if you're familiar with the other Touch Apps), but provides practical, quick functionality that helps accomplish your mood boarding goals efficiently and effectively.

Jan

[Quick Look] RingDimmer Automatically Adjusts Ringtone Volume Based On Ambient Sound, Saves Users From Embarrassing Disruptions

Posted by Liam Spradlin in App Reviews, Applications, News

Do you find yourself constantly adjusting the volume of your phone's ringtone, or wishing that the annoying buzz of your phone's vibration could be toned down a little? Looking to solve all of your ringtone/vibration woes (while making sure you don't miss a call), Michael Pardo has introduced RingDimmer to the Android Market. The app adjusts vibration intensity and ringer volume based on ambient noise, ensuring that you never miss a call, and never have to be disrupted by an inappropriately loud ring tone.

The first thing users will notice about RingDimmer is its simple interface. When I say simple, I mean the entire app consists of one screen and two checkboxes.