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Favorite App so far.... Developers please see link to Announcements above.

I'm pretty new to the Android phones, but I've been playing with my phone a heap and have found some apps that I really like:

Cool Reader: 'Must have' software for me is a good e-book reader and Cool Reader seems to have a really good collection of formats that it supports. It reads my .mobi books as well as epub and a bunch of others. It also has a heap of good configuration options (backlight level, text colour, background colour, etc) and you can use the volume buttons to flick the pages (or tapping on the left or right)

Google Sky Map: I absolutely love this app, so damned cool. You can find any star/planet/constellation in the night sky.

KeePass + Dropbox: Now I can keep my passwords on my PC & phone and have them synced.

Random Mahjong Pro: The free version was a bit laggy, but the Pro version is quick - I think that loading the annoying ads was slowing the free version. This is a really fun Mahjong solitaire game, but a bit addictive and will chew through some battery power (fine at home or anywhere else where I can charge).

Swiss Army Knife: A collection of handy tools (spirit level, flashlight, ruler, timer, stopwatch, compass). The ruler can be calibrated against a real ruler so that it is accurate to the nearest mm.

VLC Remote: Real handy remote control for your VLC player on your PC. I have a PC in the living room connected to the TV, the TV remote can change the sound but can't skip through the opening credits or jump to the next music vid or queue up more stuff - but VLC Remote can!

Winamp: Music player. Can set-up play lists, quickly jump to an artist or album - works really well. I've played with PowerAmp which is nice, but really don't 'get' the need for a graphic equalizer - if a song should have more bass or treble then it does, unless the MP3 is complete rubbish!

WiFi Analyzer: Handy app for computer techs like me. Can see the different wireless signals and relative strength as well as which channel they are on.

Folder Organizer: Makes it a lot easier to find that app that you like, the normal apps thing that you use to look through all your apps works, but you can have a LOT of apps to look through.
 
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My favorite app is "no" app :D ie: something that doesn't take up any space on my phone! For this I use a lot of browser links, one I just found to replace my speedtest app is scanmyspeed.com

Scan%20my%20speed.jpg


Other links I use so as to NOT add an app are: Facebook, Amazon, Best Buy, Craigslist, Ebay, this forum, MyYahoo, Netflix, G-Reader, Yelp. My of these have a mobile page that looks similar to their mobile app, but in many cases is more usable (and takes no space after you clear cache).
 
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GrooVe IP - I saw a mention of sipdroid earlier. I've never used that, but from what I've read this is w-a-y easier to use. You need a gmail account, then use that to get google voice. Download this app and you can now make and receive calls over wifi and 3g/4g. Why would you want to do that? For one thing, you don't use any cell minutes. Also, if you're in an area with poor cell coverage, but you have wifi coverage. I had that problem in the woods before I got my Microcell. How about in stores? I can never get a signal in those metal-roof monstrosities, but a lot of store are starting to offer wifi. And here's the best reason - Do you ever travel out of the country? When I do, I shut off my phone so I don't get hit with ridiculous charges. So no communication, and NO INTERNET! Now, I just put my phone into Airplane Mode so I don't have a data connection, then go into the settings and turn on wifi. In my hotel, in a coffee shop, anywhere there's wifi, I can now make and receive calls, as well as surf the net. For free. You can call a US or Canada number from anywhere in the world for free. Get a google voice number for a friend in a foreign country and you can talk to them for free, too. I read that soldiers in places like Afghanistan are using it to call home. The app is $3.99, but it's currently on sale on Amazon for $1.99.
I guess this is only for US residents only since it requires GV :mad::mad::mad:
 
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Still an android newbie but added two more apps to the list that I posted above a few days ago, that I use now as I learn to customize my non-rooted Optimus S:

Widgetsoid 2.x (Pay version) - Fully configurable power widget
CircleLauncher (Pay version) - Start your preferred apps by customizing and pressing a circle on your screen

Both are simple to use and allow me to learn how to customize my phone with my limited experience! I tried the more intensive launchers first (Go Launcher and ADW) and believe it or not, I could not figure them out so I uninstalled them.

Hope the above apps helps anyone who is in the same boat as I am! Simple but effective and fun! :D
 
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Still an android newbie but added two more apps to the list that I posted above a few days ago, that I use now as I learn to customize my non-rooted Optimus S:

Widgetsoid 2.x (Pay version) - Fully configurable power widget
CircleLauncher (Pay version) - Start your preferred apps by customizing and pressing a circle on your screen

Both are simple to use and allow me to learn how to customize my phone with my limited experience! I tried the more intensive launchers first (Go Launcher and ADW) and believe it or not, I could not figure them out so I uninstalled them.

Hope the above apps helps anyone who is in the same boat as I am! Simple but effective and fun! :D
Don't let all of the settings scared you. Just go into setting and play around with each feature. I use ADW and it allows you to add more or less home screens, you can change the number of rows or columns on your screen to add more icons and widgets. You can change the dock icons and much more. I recommend that you learn how to use one of these 3rd party launcher. It's the best way for you to customize your phone without root.
 
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Don't let all of the settings scared you. Just go into setting and play around with each feature. I use ADW and it allows you to add more or less home screens, you can change the number of rows or columns on your screen to add more icons and widgets. You can change the dock icons and much more. I recommend that you learn how to use one of these 3rd party launcher. It's the best way for you to customize your phone without root.


Thank you for your advice and I certainly will try either ADW or Go Launcher again. I just feel these are the baby steps I needed to take to try to understand how to customize my screens. And since I had so much fun doing this with the limited capability of these apps, once I try those launchers again, I am sure I am going to enjoy them a whole lot more! :)
 
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i like the new swype the faster response and the new word highlighting to change the word but oh my i hate auto correct so much that i turned it off they need to male that better
I agree. I tested it properly yesterday against Swiftkey X and it's just not as good.

If they could merge Swiftkey's autocorrect with Swype, it would be the perfect keyboard.
 
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Thank you for your advice and I certainly will try either ADW or Go Launcher again. I just feel these are the baby steps I needed to take to try to understand how to customize my screens. And since I had so much fun doing this with the limited capability of these apps, once I try those launchers again, I am sure I am going to enjoy them a whole lot more! :)

If you want to try third party launchers, give Launcher Pro a try too. That is the one I use and I love it. Plus if you get the paid version you get some great widgets, some of the best on Android IMO.
 
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If you want to try third party launchers, give Launcher Pro a try too. That is the one I use and I love it. Plus if you get the paid version you get some great widgets, some of the best on Android IMO.

Thanks! My next question is when you download one of the launchers, I noticed there were extra things to download from the marketplace that goes with the launchers. It seems like they are customized skins? That is also where I had the problem initially, since I could not figure out how to get a background going on those programs to make anything look nice. Any help would be great!
 
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Thanks! My next question is when you download one of the launchers, I noticed there were extra things to download from the marketplace that goes with the launchers. It seems like they are customized skins? That is also where I had the problem initially, since I could not figure out how to get a background going on those programs to make anything look nice. Any help would be great!
Just use one of the 3rd party launcher and ignore the other related apps. You really don't need it.

This forum will give you some great ideas on how you can customize your phone: Android Themes - Android Forums

If you have any questions wrt wallpapers, ask eyebeam (his thread)

Bible on ideas on how to customize your phone. This is where members post their homescreens and some are simply amazing: http://androidforums.com/android-themes/4425-post-your-android-desktop.html (go to like page 100). It requires some time, but great thread.
 
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Just use one of the 3rd party launcher and ignore the other related apps. You really don't need it.

This forum will give you some great ideas on how you can customize your phone: Android Themes - Android Forums

If you have any questions wrt wallpapers, ask eyebeam (his thread)

Bible on ideas on how to customize your phone. This is where members post their homescreens and some are simply amazing: http://androidforums.com/android-themes/4425-post-your-android-desktop.html (go to like page 100). It requires some time, but great thread.

Thanks once again...I looked at the "post your homescreens" thread a few weeks ago...of course they look so complicated to create. I do like the wallpaper I have on my phone now, can I keep that and create something over it with those launchers?
 
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Thanks once again...I looked at the "post your homescreens" thread a few weeks ago...of course they look so complicated to create. I do like the wallpaper I have on my phone now, can I keep that and create something over it with those launchers?
Yes, you can :) You can do whatever you want to. That's the beauty of Android.

That thread should give you ideas for icons and widgets :) some of those guys are just way too creative but you can take and pick what you like about their home screens ;)
 
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