Android Apps Alert 11: Music, news, and word games, too

Looking for the best Android apps? Good luck finding them on your own. But if you do stumble across apps people will love, let the world know. Androinica.com encourages users to tweet great apps with the #androidapps tag on Twitter, and we plan to incorporate that into our weekly notifications of new, updated, or recommended apps. Get to downloading and keep telling us about those exciting #androidapps.

Happy Holidays from Androinica. In light of Christmas, apps were in short supply this week and my time to cover them was even shorter. Here are a few videos showing apps that I think you’ll enjoy. Unlike previous episodes of Android Apps Alert, these videos are split in order to make them easier to upload and share, cutting down on the time it takes for me to edit them.

NPR News

Public radio is now in your hands with NPR news, an official app from one of America’s most known media outlets. Use this application to listen to radio stations and shows from NPR, or tap into the written stories available from the news arm. Fans can browse through NPR’s popular programs or find stories by topics ranging from general news to politics, arts, and business.

WordUp

English was always my best subject in school, so of course I’m going to recommend WordUp. Word nerds will enjoy this game that places letters on a board that players must connect to form words. Players can take turns competing against friends or race against a clock and test their vocabulary in a single-player game. There’s a free lite version, but I highly recommend purchasing the $1.99 upgrade because it’s well worth it.

Shoot It!

The holidays remind us to reconnect with family and friends, but apps like Shoot It! can connect you year-round. Shoot It! takes photos from a camera or SD card and adds a short message to your contacts. Once submitted, the company will send a physical postcard to the recipients address. (Prices start at $0.99 each postcard but can increase depending on region)

iheartradio

Clear Channel promised that it would deliver an Android version of iheartradio before Christmas. They waited until Christmas Eve, but its technically here and well received. With this application, users can listen to Clear Channel stations from various markets. Listen to your local radio, a favorite station in another city, or listen to a station centered around one artist.

Museek

We all know that the default music payer for Android is kind of disappointing, so maybe you’ll get a kick out of Museek. This media app organizes your music library visually, allowing you to browse through album covers and find similar songs. Smart shuffle can recognize if you’re skipping a lot of dance songs in favor of rock, so Museek will recognize this and play similar songs.

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Android Apps Alert 10: The Replacements are coming

Looking for the best Android apps? Good luck finding them on your own. But if you do stumble across apps people will love, let the world know. Androinica.com encourages users to tweet great apps with the #androidapps tag on Twitter, and we plan to incorporate that into our weekly notifications of new, updated, or recommended apps. Get to downloading and keep telling us about those exciting #androidapps.

In the 10th edition of Android Apps Alert, we’re in double digits and full of “replacement apps.” Most of the new apps featured in this episode are gunning to replace something you already use, want to change the way you use Android, or are updates of something we’ve seen previously. Below are text explanations and QR codes for this week’s apps.

Evernote [0:25 - 3:50]

Memorizing just got easier thanks to Evernote, a note-taking app that features four ways to recall your ideas. Evernote takes snapshots, uploads files, text notes, and audio notes, and then syncs them to a member’s Evernote.com account. The app also supports tags for additional organization and reading notes created previously on the phone or computer.

RTM Tasks [3:51 - 5:34]

I was disappointed to discover that Astrid was unable to sync with Remember the Milk recently, so I went out looked for a replacement. RTM Tasks was the best of the free remaining options. RTM Tasks is a to-the-point app to read, edit, and add tasks to RTM. It lacks some of the notifications and filtering features seen in Astrid, but it’s a simple solution for someone who just wants the basics of RTM.

Note: Astrid has since resolved its sync issues with Remember the Milk.

Facebook [5:35 - 6:59]

The official Facebook for Android app debuted lacking some basic features even third-party apps offered. Facebook still lacks some of those features, like in-app photo browsing, and still doesn’t include an inbox, but it has improved slightly. The official Facebook app has most of the features available in the Droid version, so feel free to update and see better organization, a home tab, and the fastest solution for using Facebook on Android.

Dialify [7:00 - 9:28]

Anyone who reads this site knows that I love shortcuts, so it should surprise no one that I included Dialify in this episode. Dialify is an app the places contacts in the notification bar, providing direct access to your favorite people no matter what app you’re running. Rather than go to the homescreen or take 10 steps to use the Dialer, just swipe down and select someone to call or text.

Slacker Radio (US only) [0:10 – 2:10]

Personal radio streaming app imeem seems to be dead, so consider replacing it with Slacker Radio. Much like imeem and Pandora, Slacker creates custom stations based on user preferences on favorite artists or songs. To improve the accuracy of selections, users can change a station’s settings to play more/less hits, discover new artists, and love/ban certain songs. Though my experience has told me that Pandora is better at predicting the types of artists I want to hear, Slacker is arguably a more complete service because it has artists not available elsewhere, includes pre-made stations, and is more customizable.

Note: Users will have to order a Plus account in order to gain unlimited skips and remove ads

Ninja vs Ghosts (FREE Lite, €1.99 Pro) [2:11 - 4:26]

Ninja vs Ghosts has a simple premise: a ninja on a skateboard slides across the screen and throws weapons at ghosts. The game gets deeper because shooting a large ghost creates more ghosts and touching one leads to death. But if you can slide across the screen and send these creatures back to another realm, you’ll join the ranks of the game’s top competitors.

Fandango (BETA) [4:27 – 7:02]

Are you a movie lover who always wants to know what’s playing and where it’s playing? Fandango commonly provides those answers online, and they’re now doing the same on Android. Fandango allows users to browse the listings at their local movie theatre. Moviegoers can see what’s new in theatres, find show times, and purchase tickets directly from their phone. The app is still in beta and doesn’t have a few features seen elsewhere (like critic scores or reviews), but it does have the most basic information organized and available at a moment’s notice.

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Android Apps Alert Week 9: See and hear the world in a new way

Looking for the best Android apps? Good luck finding them on your own. But if you do stumble across apps people will love, let the world know. Androinica.com encourages users to tweet great apps with the #androidapps tag on Twitter, and we plan to incorporate that into our weekly notifications of new, updated, or recommended apps. Get to downloading and keep telling us about those exciting #androidapps.

In the ninth edition of Android Apps Alert, we’re missing video but getting some cool additions. A frustrating error prevented me from editing a video in time this week, but I can still share a few apps tell us what we’re seeing, convert what we saw, and entertain us enough to look at or listen to them. Below is a text explanations and QR codes for this week’s apps.

SnapIt ($1.99 USD)

I’m often in Barnes & Noble reading magazines or previewing books that I’ll buy, which often leads to snapping photos of passages.  SnapIt allows me to take a picture and instantly convert the words in that image into editable text. I can then send the message as an SMS or Email message, or even have it translated online. Read a step-by-step and see the video demo I did earlier this week.

FRG ($3 Deluxe, FREE Lite)

Is it crazy if you sometimes just want to walk around shooting things? Probably, but that won’t stop me from doing it in FRG Lite. This shoot ‘em up game requires players to control a robot in a field of enemies. From an overhead view, guide the robot through several levels of gameplay to unlock new weapons and upgrades for your robot along the way. FRG is an ADC2 Finalist and a throwback to classic arcade games. A $3 Deluxe edition is also available, but I haven’t purchased it yet, so I can’t say what’s the difference between the two (I’d wager that it’s more levels).

Tubaloo

Tubaloo is an app that enables VoIP calling through an Android phone. With it, users can make free calls to other Tubaloo users, international calls for a small price, and route an incoming international call as a local one. I’ve used the beta version a few times, and call quality is strong in Tubaloo. Sounds nice, right? Well, it sounds better when you realize that calls placed through Tubaloo over Wi-Fi or 3G will not affect your monthly minutes plan.

Stitcher Radio

Podcast and radio streaming apps are obviously plentiful on Android, but not many combine both features like Stitcher Radio. News, sports, culture, and talk-radio are available in this app, which streams audio files from a wide tent of sources. ABC News, Air America, BBC, Bloomberg, ESPN, Fox News, TWIT – the list goes on. Stitcher comes with one of the largest built-in list of audio sources I’ve seen on Android, and it includes a Search function to find specific episodes that include that keyword. There is also support for Favorites and Topics.

Yelp

As if we needed yet another app to tell us where to go to eat, Yelp is here to provide location-aware recommendations on food, shopping, and other businesses in your area. This GPS-based app taps into the popular Yelp! website/directory of businesses across the country and will provide ratings and reviews based on your location. However, be advised that the app is missing some key features like adding reviews from an Android phone.

Google Goggles

Google is hell-bent on controlling all aspects of search, and they’ve managed to offer a new way to use visual search. Google Goggles is an app that searches based on images or showing information based on your location and camera view. Snap a photo or look at a business and Goggles will provide an answer. For more information on Google Goggles, read our post announcing the new app.

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Android Apps Alert 8: a closer look at a few ADC2 apps [Dec. 6]

Looking for the best Android apps? Good luck finding them on your own. But if you do stumble across apps people will love, let the world know. Androinica.com encourages users to tweet great apps with the #androidapps tag on Twitter, and we plan to incorporate that into our weekly notifications of new, updated, or recommended apps. Get to downloading and keep telling us about those exciting #androidapps.

In the eighth edition of Android Apps Alert, we’re focused on the Android Developer’s Challenge 2. All of the apps featured this week are ADC2 winners or runners-up in Google’s recent app contest. While I couldn’t find or profile every app, we can look at a file sharer, an app for phone protection/location, a photo effects studio, multiplayer guessing game, and a multiplayer photo game. The video previews of these apps are below, along with text explanations and QR codes for those who want to focus on words.

Hoccer

Sharing data wirelessly with other phones just got a bit easier thanks to Hoccer, an Android app that allows ad-hoc sharing. We’ve seen a similar function in Bump, but Hoccer has more sharing options like bookmarks and text as well as photos and contacts. The app even supports sharing functions from note-taking apps like AK Notepad. Hoccer is a polished, quick, and fun way to share data. It is also available for iPhone users and there is a web client to use if someone has neither operating system.

Possible Alternative: Bump

FxCamera

Everyone thinks he is a professional photographer, so why not pretend a little more with this great cameras effects app? FxCamera is a camera replacement app that provides several shooting modes to alter each photo taken with an Android phone. I love this app because of the Toy Camera effect, but there are also settings for symmetry, Warhol, fisheye lens, Polaroid, and color settings like sepia, black and white, or negatives. Each shooting mode is configurable to fine-tune every photo to your desires. Though your phone’s camera may not be the greatest, FxCamera can liven up snapshots with a few choice effects.

What The Doodle

Pictionary is the scorn or lifeline of many dinner parties and couples gatherings. A digital version of the game can be played with What The Doodle, a multiplayer game that connects users in a guessing game played on Android phones. Players join private or public games and take turns illustrating a word, without words or numbers, that others must guess. A successful guess provides a point to both the illustrator and person who answers correctly. It’s always nice to see a classic become modernized in such a successful manner.

A World of Photo

Android phones have proliferated to users across the globe, and A World of Photo takes advantage of that fact with a photo-based interactive game. A World of Photo is a global social game that requires users to snap photos that are then shared with random users. Recipients then rate the photos for creativity and quality, which gives points to the sender. The game pairs players based on geographic location and “threads” that start and end with the individual user. Users are not allowed to share adult or inappropriate content.

WaveSecure

Losing your phone is one of the worst non-tragic feelings a person can experience. Never have that feeling again with WaveSecure, an Android app that can locate your stolen or lost phone. When a phone is misplaced or taken, log-on to the WaveSecure website and track, remotely lock, remotely wipe, or backup phone data, and then restore data once the device is recovered. WaveSecure can also be used as a backup for call logs or SMS messages, uploaded media, and manually locking a phone while it’s still in your possession.

Possible Alternative: Mobile Defense Click here to see a video of how easy it is to set-up and use WaveSecure

Other App News

Be sure to try out SpeedForge 3D, an ADC2 winner that we reviewed previously.
Note: The previous critiques about sluggishness have been addressed and the game is great.

Facebook app “Bloo” is once again a free application

Clear Channel’s iheartradio app is on the way to Android

Dolphin Browser supports multitouch browsing

When you’re in New York City, find the nearest subway with Wayfinder

Layar has been updated once again to support 3D objects in augmented reality

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