Saturday, September 4, 2010

Apps I love on my Nexus One

There are a huge host of apps I love on my Nexus One. I will just provide one-liners about the apps....
The ordering is alphabetical, because that is the easiest way for me to get through my apps....

I am running on CyanogenMod 6 (a modified kernel), which does change some of the base apps. Since I don't normally play around with a regular Nexus One, it isn't clear which things have changed with Froyo and which apps have been updated by CM.


  • adbWireless 1.3 - Geeky tool to allow adb to connect to your mobile wirelessly. By geeks, for geeks, about geeky things.....
  • Adobe Reader - to read PDFs
  • Antennas -geeky tool to tell you where the cell phone towers are
  • Bubble - cute app to tell you when something is level....
  • Calling Card - allows you to call international numbers through a calling card without needing to dial a whole jumble of digits. Love this app!
  • International Dialer - I used to love Calling Card, but then the author decided to remove the free version from the market, so I wrote my own. Allows you to call international numbers through a calling card. Can also remember which card you used for which numbers... Download it from https://market.android.com/details?id=com.malpani.dialer&feature=search_result and let me know what you think.
  • Chrome to Phone - allows you to send links/numbers/maps from your browser to your mobile
  • ConnectBot - let's you log onto your own phone and treat it like a computer. Also let's you ssh onto other machines!
  • Contacts Clean-up - reformats all phone numbers to follow a single format. I like +1.800.555.1212
  • doubleTwist - to get your music onto your phone....
  • Facebook
  • Gesture Search - Allows you to search for people/apps by writing the name rather than invoking the keyboard. Seriously - once you try this, you will have a hard time getting to people any other way (maybe voice search)
  • Google Translate - Cool way to show how cool your phone is. You can speak a phrase in one language and have the phone spout it out in another! Helps if you have a good connection!
  • GPS Status - Geeky tool that tells me where various GPS satellites are, my position, velocity, height, etc.
  • handyCalc - A dream calculator - would have loved it when I was doing engineering. Can draw graphs, solve equations - what more could you ask for?
  • Linda File Manager - Easy way to looks at the files on disk
  • Listen - Allows me to do Radio on Demand. I can download programs I like and listen to them at any time I like - e.g. I keep up with Marketplace like that.
  • Logger - Geeky tool to look at program logs. Used it to recently figure out why my daughter's phone was blocking calls from my wife's phone....
  • Mileage - Helps me keep track of the mileage I am getting from my Prius
  • My Tracks - Allows me to keep track of my pace, distance, elevation gain etc. during a run
  • PhoneFlix - Enables me to manage my Netflix account on my mobile
  • Places - To figure out the closest restaurants, gas stations, etc nearby. Is from Google
  • RealCalc - A full fledged calculation (would have expected the built-in calculation to have a scientific mode, but it just doesn't)
  • ShootMe - Let's you take screen shots of your mobile
  • Shopper  - Nice interface for price comparisons
  • Timeriffic - Allows me set up time at which I want my phone to go quiet and when I want it to automatically turn back on. For example, I have set my mobile to neither ring for vibrate from 11pm-7am. Done. No more 3am calls from people who don't like to sleep!
There are a few games that I like to. I will just mention a small number - I am sure any dedicated reader will easily come up with a bigger and better list
  • Lights Out
  • Sudoku Free
  • Traffic Jam
  • Trap

Applications I used to like, but that aren't so important anymore

  • Advanced App Killer (not that important anymore, but I still like it)
  • Star Contact - Great way to find contacts on your mobile - I used it all the time till Gesture Search came around.
  • Toggle Settings (was great to change settings quickly, but with the Power Settings Widget, it isn't important anymore. Also, it appears like the free version isn't in the market anymore)
Update on 7/26/11 - Replaced Calling Card with International Dialer