HSO's Members Smart "Cell" Phone Apps & App Reviews

[SkunkedAgain]

Great thread. Here are my iPhone 3GS apps, leaving out the duplicates of what people have listed already:

LockBox: keep all of my passwords here. I paid money for this one hoping that it wasn't easy to crack.

aSmHUDCam: gives you a compass, speed, altimeter, etc.

WeatherBug & AccuWeather: good alternatives to the native weather app on the iPhone

Flashlight: turns your screen bright white. It won't over-ride the brightness settings that you've got on your phone, so to get it really bright you have to adjust that in your iphone settings as well.

Knot Time: has a few of the more standard knots with videos, in case you forget how to do something

Train Brain: Gives all of the Minnesota Northstar and Hiawatha lightrail schedules. Helpful if you travel like me or use either for daily commuting.

Bump: I've never used it yet

Chirp! USA: has clear and accurate reproductions of most birds in the United States, and can be specific about the Midwest too. Really cool and gives background on each bird too.

Hearts Free: hearts card game

World Series of Poker - Hold'em: card game

iSpadez: spades card game

21 Pro: blackjack card game

Cribbage lite: card game

SpiderFree: spider solitare

Ms PAC-MAN: I admit paying a few bucks for this but it is just like the arcade game and fun to play.

Music/listening apps for 92KQRS, 93X, 96.5WKLH in Milwaukee, and MPR

Tunemark: internet radio app

BatteryDoctor: allows you to do a longer trickle charge. Also claims to extend battery life, but I haven't really noticed.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Really disappointed in the changes to Accuweather.

App used to be quick & simple, now it is slow and tries to do to much IMO.

[Shack]

Weather Bug has changed also and IMO not for the better. Seems slow at times, but I guess I got used to the app and the changes just seem like extra steps for the user. The time lapse radar is a very nice feature though.

SA great list. Good stuff all you guys. I have added I would say 10 apps from your guys reviews.

My greatest rave added app right now is Netflix. All I can say is HD, earphones, and 3G is a very cool way I never thought I would watch movies and TV shows. The only other thing I can say is "I am hooked". Never before I have been like this for any other app. I have watched 4 movies and several TV show series now via my smartphone. You can pause the show, close the app and even shutdown, Netflix keeps the show at the point you left. Dave Cheppelle season 2, 3, some of 1 & Curious Case of B Button have been on my must list. I have scratched them off now. Men Who Stair at Goats & The Office seasons are next. It comes in great if you are on 3G and 3+ bars. You have 4 or 5 bars no pauses at all while moving. Nothing like have an ear piece in and one eye on a movie.

The other must have app I have found is Touch Mouse by Logitech. It turns your touch screen phone into a very cool mouse pad. It also let's you use the key board to type as I am now via my TV as a monitor. I just hook up my laptop to my tv as a monitor and I am sitting 13' away using my smartphone as my wireless mouse & keyboard. Never would I have ever thought. Just got done watching the game on the TV, while watching snips of a movie via the smartphone during breaks, been checking in on HSO since and will play a couple of MW2 after this post. All from the same spot. God help the US race. Lol. We will get to a point where we will never move, but be overwhelmed and multi tasking our selves into a size 48 and a coronary .

[SledNeck]

weatherunderground is the best weather app

[DTro]

Since it hasn't been mentioned specifically I'll throw out a thumbs up for FishNotes again. I've been inputting all my fish caught and looking forward to having that log at my fingertips.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Is there an app for FM tuner? The TV's at the gym broadcast sound over FM on some custom stations.

[MuleShack]

Shack,

Whats the name of the Netflix app? I have a Hero and there is nothing in the market that is labeled Netflix. Others that say they can view the que and other stuff, but nothing directly from netflix.

[Shack]

Mule, I took some screen shots to help:

I searched in the App Store for Netflix. It is the top one and its free.

Go into the app purchase screen and it will say this:

After you download it, it will show up as an App like this:

When you go into the app, you will get an instant quick view of shows and movies Netflix gathers based on your previous viewings and ratings:

When you click in on the show you want to watch, it brings you into a review screen:

Hot play or resume next to the shows thumbnail and boom:

You are watching that movie or show within seconds.

They also have made it easy to choose which episode you want to watch, while keeping track of how much you have watched:

[MuleShack]

Thanks,

I only see phone flix and some other knock offs, maybe it isn't available for droid yet or my phone isn't capable of using it?

[Shack]

If it ain't now, check back in a week or two. This one just came out and I thought both Iphone and Android were going to be released at the same time? They might have had a hiccup or two, but worth the wait if you already have Netflix.

[DTro]

Nope not available for Android based phones. I wouldn't look for it anytime soon on Verizon, or if it is, expect to pay another $10 or more/month to be able to use it....

[Shack]

Thats what they said about Netflix and the Iphone. Then "boom" (6 months later after I last checked) and it is up and being used as if it was on my TV.

I guess if you have a limited data plan you might want to upgrade to unlimited, but you can still use it via WiFi....

"Anytime soon" or "a long time" in the smart phone world is only 30 days.

Did you read this one from late Aug:

Netflix is working on a streaming video application for smartphones running Google’s Android operating system, a Netflix employee and online job listing have each confirmed.

Netflix has posted two job listings on its website so far this summer, both seeking Android developers. The current listing is titled “Android Video Playback Expert,” and begins, “Netflix is looking for a great engineer to help us build Instant Streaming client implementations on Android devices.”

Netflix is looking for someone with at least 10 years of development experience, who has already implemented video playback in an Android application. It also names two notable pluses: experience with digital rights management (DRM) and “Experience with other mobile application platforms (e.g. iPhone/iPad).” The second of those would seem to imply that Netflix will use its previous work creating Watch Instantly streaming apps for the iPad and iPhone as a basis for the Android app.

As The Next Web notes, there is already an unofficial Netflix app for Android phones, but it leaves a lot to be desired because it eats up your handset’s battery and displays a lot of ads, so an official app would be very welcome.

As if the job advert weren’t enough, a user claiming to be a Netflix employee posted the following comment in a thread on social news site Reddit: “I just know we’re actively hiring Android devs. I wish I knew more about a timeframe for you. Good things come to those who wait. Netflix is essentially a tech company and with the way Android is blowing up it would be stupid of us to ignore that.”

Since Netflix is still looking for a senior architect for the application, it stands to reason that it’s a ways off. The employee on Reddit seems to imply that as well. Do you think the app will be worth the wait?

[rundrave]

aCar - keeps track of your gas milage, can add multiple vehicles and maintanance reminders. Can also go into to detail as to what gas station, grade etc. Probably not a must have but just another nerdy app to track data and I like looking at my costs per day etc

carDar - remembers where you parked so you dont have to lol

gesture search - search contacts, applications, music by writing letters or digits on the screen (a huge time saver )

call confirm - confirm before you make a call, elminated butt dialing and accidental phone calls

I have most of the ones other suggested I just thought I would share these

[DTro]

I have been playing the bejeezus out of "Angry Birds"

Fun game!

[Shack]

Dude! I am addicted to Pokerist. On-line Texas Holdem where you play via 3G or WiFi against other players for fake cash. Thank God Apple (I assume) would not let real money play fly. Anyone that is on shout-out your player tag. I will friend ya. Other that have made the cut are Bay of E, Paypal & raigslist Pro.

[deadeye]

Its really tough for me not to get onto the games again with you guys talking about that stuff, especially the poker stuff. I had to give it up cause I just couldn't put the phone down LOL.

Is raigslist Pro a pay app or is it a free one?

[LMITOUT]

I've been playing Live Holdem (Android). Similar to what Shack mentioned in that you play against real people and for fake straight cash homey.

[deadeye]

For the straight fake cash, Yeahh. LMAO.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

I have been playing the bejeezus out of "Angry Birds"

Fun game!

Can't find this listed in the market. I see ad-ons, but not the actual game.

[LMITOUT]

Do you use App Brain? I seem to have better luck finding apps using that than the "Market". It's in there.

I also use App Brain to update my apps and check every few days to see if there are any to update. Angry Birds had one the other day because they added 45 more levels!

[CAMAN]

Angry birds is in the market, in fact it's almost always listed in the featured apps. If i remember right you have a slightly older phone? If that's correct it may not be available for it.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Angry birds is in the market, in fact it's almost always listed in the featured apps. If i remember right you have a slightly older phone? If that's correct it may not be available for it.

Yeah, I have Android 1.6, but it is supposed to be updated to 2.2 sometime soon.

[CAMAN]

Don't know how many other people know, but I just found out Firefox is in Beta for Android 2.0 and up. Just downloaded and playing around with it so don't know how much better it is than the stock browser currently, just thought I'd let those who didn't, know. If you'd like to download it, don't go to the app market (the app in there is spam) , go to Firefox(dot)com/m/beta

The thing I like about it so far is you can set it to emulate the desktop version of Firefox. So those websites that you need to be a bit more in-depth than they give you on their mobile site and they don't give you the option to leave their mobile site can now be fully accessible on your Android. Great feature!

[LMITOUT]

I found it about a month ago and deleted it shortly after installing as I really wasn't impressed by it. It might have been an early beta, though. Maybe the latest version is better, but it seems that the stock Android browser is pretty darn good. I've tried Dolphin HD and although some people like that browser it never really grew on me. The one fault I have with the stock browser is it's lack of bookmark organization.

[CAMAN]

Yeah, they released the 2nd Beta a little over a week ago so you were probably playing with the 1st Beta, never tried the 1st, but according to the change log they added a ton. One thing I don't like about it so far is if you minimize the program it shuts it down, but so far its pretty slick. Probably won't leave the stock browser for good just yet, but if Mozilla figures everything out I may make the switch.

I've tried both Dolphin HD and Opera and quickly deleted them both, nothing too special in my eyes and didn't notice any speed difference that other people claim to have. Don't get me wrong, I like the stock browser, but do feel there is room for improvement.