New smart phone - application recommendations?

[Jim Laumann]

All

Just got a smart phone - major step up from the 'phone only' models I've had in the past. It runs Android 4.1. Are there any 'must have' app's out there - ie anti virus?

Any tips on using the dang thing....

Thanks

Jim

[Pat Barry]

Here is one I just learned. I phone and Android both

Use the volume buttons on either an iPhone or Android to take pictures. It can help enhance your photographs by providing a physical button to push vs. the virtual button displayed on the screen.

iPhone:
The Volume Buttons
After accessing the camera mode you can use the volume buttons on the left side of the device to take a picture. Both volume up and volume down will do the trick, and using the buttons will actually make it feel as if you were using a real camera.

Your Apple Headphones
If your headphones have a built-in volume control (like Apple headphones do), you can use their volume buttons as a shutter release. This is useful to achieve those hard to capture camera angles.

Android:
By default, the Volume key is used to control the zoom on Camera app. But, in Android 4.3 you can assign the Volume key as the camera key by following the steps below:


Open Camera app.
Tap the Cogwheel icon to enter the settings menu.
Scroll down to find Volume key option, and then tap it.
Select The camera key option.
Go back to the camera screen.
Now you're ready to take picture using the Volume up key or the Volume down key.

[Mike Chance in Iowa]

What "must have" apps really depend upon what you do and where you live. People who live near the coasts may use Tide apps, while others may have tornado warning apps. Because of my business, I use my PayPal app every day on my iphone as well as my banking apps and USPS & UPS tracking apps. I use a Trip app to document my business mileage. I use Weather Underground & WeatherBug for weather reports and also use various Traffic apps for when traveling certain cities. Since we have been in house-hunting hell for several years, my must-have app for new real estate listing alerts. For fun, we have a "Oh Ranger Park Finder" app that lists all sorts of local and national parks all over the US. We also use some tracking apps that will record how far we have hiked as well as let us input GPS coordinates for finding property markers on homes we are looking at buying.

One thing both my LOML and I share is a "Key Ring" app that keeps all of those store card info so that we both have the proper card info for when we pick up groceries, car parts, office supplies, etc. All we have to do is select the store and it opens the card info we scanned into it and will display a bar code for the store clerk to scan instead of carrying all those darn cards in our wallet.

You name it. You can probably find an app for that. If you want to learn how to tie knots in ropes, you can input "rope" or "knots" in the search and you can probably find a dozen or so apps that will show you how!

[Lee Ludden]

Evernote is my go-to app, on phone, tablet, or computer.

[Judson Green]

I've been using "Google Keep" its a quicky note taking app. You can set location based reminders. Google Drive is cool. I use Drive Auto sync too, automatically uploads the pictures I take with one of my phones to the Google Drive.

A flashlight app is a must have.

[David Masters]

I have an iPhone, but the applications I find most valuable are

1. A good GPS (Google Maps and Waze are free and update maps as needed, but end you're in a cellular network dead spot, it's nice to have the maps in memory)
2. A good weather application with doppler radar display. I use Weather Channel and RadarCast.
3. A collection of travel applications - airline apps, hotel apps, rental car apps (I travel a lot).
4. A collection of utilities for conversions, translators, and calculations
5. I do my advanced note taking on an iPad, but have a memo recorder and a light weight note pad.
6. I have a scanner application to send receipts, small documents, etc, through Fax and email
7. I have a good dictionary and thesaurus as well as some other reference material (knots, cable pinouts, first aid, etc.)
8. A small collection of photo apps for minor editing and location/sun position
9. Some music applications (SoundHound, Ocarina, and piano and guitar apps)
10. White and Yellow Pages, and Yelp

[Shawn Pixley]

Required Apps from my perspective:

My Measures (take a photo, add dimensions. This is essential for home remodeling)
Google Maps (mandatory as it will do navigation in the car through blutooth, but it burns battery life)
Google Earth
Wikipedia (iWiki)
An Advanced Calculator Program
Fandango
United Airlines (I travel a lot on United)
Starbucks (electronic coffee)
Dropbox (share stuff with others)
Evernote (multimedia organization and checklists)
NPR News
iWeather (deeper content)
Metalsmith Suite (tons of information and current pricing)
Quid (currency conversion)
iChess Pro (I am totally addicted)
Nextdoor (local comunity bulleton board - with police access. I would suggest setting your notifications to receive Amber Alerts, reverse 911, and I add Earthquake and Tsunami alerts.)
Flashlight (remarkably handy)
Grocery Go (share grocery lists between family members, updates automatically)
Pandora (Music streaming)
Up (for Jawbone Up24)
DecibelMeter (how loud is the world?)
myLightMeter (helps with photography)
ID Wood (incomplete but handy)
Convert Free (unit conversion)
Scanner Pro (turns photos into line drawings) will also scan documents
Gas Buddy (gas prices near your location)
Numbers (Excel)
Pages (Word)
Aye Tides (it's a beach / boaty thing)

Other things
Camera control - some DSLR's (like Nikon) have control apps for their cameras
I don't have the eyesight for it, but some put Kindle on their phones

[Shawn Pixley]

I have an iPhone, but the applications I find most valuable are

1. A good GPS (Google Maps and Waze are free and update maps as needed, but end you're in a cellular network dead spot, it's nice to have the maps in memory)
2. A good weather application with doppler radar display. I use Weather Channel and RadarCast.
3. A collection of travel applications - airline apps, hotel apps, rental car apps (I travel a lot).
4. A collection of utilities for conversions, translators, and calculations
5. I do my advanced note taking on an iPad, but have a memo recorder and a light weight note pad.
6. I have a scanner application to send receipts, small documents, etc, through Fax and email
7. I have a good dictionary and thesaurus as well as some other reference material (knots, cable pinouts, first aid, etc.)
8. A small collection of photo apps for minor editing and location/sun position
9. Some music applications (SoundHound, Ocarina, and piano and guitar apps)
10. White and Yellow Pages, and Yelp

I travel a lot too. You can get OffMaps. These are maps of an area that are available without mobile reception.
There are language Translation apps as well. These are especially necessary if the language doesn't use our alphabet.

[Mike Chance in Iowa]

Shawn reminded me of a few things....

When using GPS, decibel and other various tools, remember they aren't always totally accurate and many apps require cell coverage to work. We too have decibel apps for testing various noise levels. Our iphones can only manage about 110 db before they max out while our true decibel meter was reading 124 for the same noise. One GPS tracking app I tried out had me racing back & forth all over & around the grocery store parking lot when all I did was turn on the tracking and back out of the parking stall and then pull forward to leave.

[Myk Rian]

Google Sky Map. Great for showing the kids, and yourself, what's in the sky at night.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.stardroid

Is your phone upgradable to Android 4.4.2 KitKat? Might want to check on that.
What phone is it?

[Roger Feeley]

If you travel at all for work, I highly recommend PDANet. It's an application that allows you to tether your computer to your phone via a USB cable. You phone will provide internet access wherever you have phone service.

Again, if you travel, most large cities have subway systems and there is generally an app that helps you navigate the systems.

[Greg Peterson]

Rather than suggest go to apps, or must have apps, as everyone will have a different list, what you need to do is adjust your perspective a bit.

Go to the app store or Google Play, start looking at the various apps and consider how a particular app can assist you or make specific tasks easier.

Apps, more accurate to call them tools, tend to provide a very specific utility. As you get accustomed to the mobile platform, you will begin to see how some tools can provide better organization, find least expensive fuel, determine what that incredibly bright object in the night sky is and so on.

Selecting the apps is easy. Determining how to integrate apps into your lifestyle is a question only you can answer. In due time you will likely find some 'killer' apps.

[Bob Coleman]

In colorado at least the DOT has a great app that shows traffic problems, construction, etc. Other states may have something similar.

Bank apps - I don't do much of the actual banking stuff on my phone, but the app lets me deposit checks by just snapping a picture of the front and back. Takes 3 seconds!

Airline apps - especially if your airport allows on-phone boarding passes (DIA & Atlanta do, I expect most larger ones do as well)

There are a couple others that I can't believe someone thought up:
Leafsnap - take a picture of a leaf and it tells you what it thinks the tree is (YMMV on that one)
A level - not all that useful, but seriously, a level?!?
Shazam - listens to a song for a few seconds then tells you the title and artist (and of course offers to sell it to you, but I figure its an even trade)

And my personal can't live without - MLB Atbat. This one is $20/year, but I can listen to the Atlanta radio broadcast of every Braves game and watch maybe 15 tv broadcasts. For a baseball fan living 2000 miles from the team I grew up with its cheap at twice the price.

[Shawn Pixley]

I have Star Walk on the iPad. Is a smart phone big enough to see at night?

[Kevin Bourque]

Sky Guide-Just point it at the sky and it tells you the names of planets, constellations, comets, etc.
It will also automatically find any star, planet, etc. for you.
The thing I like most about it is that it shows you where all the satellites are and it gives you their name, country of origin, trajectory and some other info as well.
Very cool app!

Flightradar24-This app shows you where every reporting aircraft is and shows them moving around the in the sky. It tells you a planes manufacturer, model, altitude, airspeed, flight path etc. I'm a pilot and this stuff is cool to me, but its not for everybody.

Accuweather-Has a Doppler map that shows where the storms are and which way they are moving. Also gives short and long term forecasting info.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

The first thing I install on a new android is a better predictive keyboard, i recommend swiftkey. Then the beauty of todays phones starts, you can make them do anything YOU want. Have fun!

[Jim Laumann]

Thanks for all of the replies - need to study some of this, start looking, then will likely be back w/ some
questions.....

[Wes Mitchell]

All these replies, and I don't see Candy Crush anywhere!?

[Joel Goodman]

If you have wondered where the nearest mailbox is and when the last pickup is the USPS has an app. Clinometer is a level. Turbo Scan lets you take a picture of a page and convert it to a pdf for emailing. Cleartune is a tuning app for musicians. Docs to Go lets you keep and edit frequently used word and excel files on the phone to email out, and synchs them with your computer. I have these for iPhone but I am sure they have Android versions. All useful.

[Dick Latshaw]

Flightradar24-This app shows you where every reporting aircraft is and shows them moving around the in the sky. It tells you a planes manufacturer, model, altitude, airspeed, flight path etc. I'm a pilot and this stuff is cool to me, but its not for everybody.



What fun!! Thanks. :)

[Leo Graywacz]

TechCalc by Roaming Squirrel

TelsaLED Flashlight by Telsacoil Software

Magnifying Glass by David Parry

ES File Explorer

Kingston Office

[John O'Brien]

Sky Guide-Just point it at the sky and it tells you the names of planets, constellations, comets, etc.
It will also automatically find any star, planet, etc. for you.
The thing I like most about it is that it shows you where all the satellites are and it gives you their name, country of origin, trajectory and some other info as well.
Very cool app!

Could not find SKY GUIDE in the app store. Could it be known as a different name? I have Google sky maps but this one sounds interesting.

Thanks

[Kevin Bourque]

Sky Guide-Just point it at the sky and it tells you the names of planets, constellations, comets, etc.
It will also automatically find any star, planet, etc. for you.
The thing I like most about it is that it shows you where all the satellites are and it gives you their name, country of origin, trajectory and some other info as well.
Very cool app!

Could not find SKY GUIDE in the app store. Could it be known as a different name? I have Google sky maps but this one sounds interesting.

Thanks

You have to go to the search feature and type it in as one name. Skyguide.

[Kevin Bourque]

Candycrush is the Devil's game!!!!! It's evil!!!:D

[Myk Rian]

Google has maps, and it works well, but there is another app that is becoming very popular.

WAZE is a social driving app that is great for a passenger to play with during a trip. Chat, warning of police, accidents, traffic, etc.
On our last drive for 2 hours, we stopped at a rest area. No tp in either rest room. I reported that in Waze, and by the time we got to our destination, 8 people had thanked me. We got a good laugh out of it because I didn't think so many people used the app yet.

Go to play.google.com and type in a search term for whatever interests you. There is something for everyone.

[Myk Rian]

Join android central com for free
The info there is like SMC is to WWing .

You will find support available for every possible Android device in the forums.

[Myk Rian]

You will find support available for every possible Android device in the forums.

[Myk Rian]

You will find support available for every







Damned phone. ;)

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Lots of neat suggestions in here; I'll have to check some of these things out. One thing that I didn't see mentioned was Twitter. One of the first things I put on my phones and laptops. Not because I'm a heavy social media user, mind you - but because lots of local organizations use Twitter as a quick messaging platform for news updates, at least where I live. (I actually specifically don't "follow" more I suppose it's usefulness is probably dependent on where you live, and how the organizations around you use it, but it might be worth checking out.

I follow my power company and my internet company, so it's an easy way to find out about planned outages or other news, and when something goes wrong, they're usually pretty good about tweeting what happened, who's affected, and how long they think the repair will take. The local police dept. tweets out some bits of info, there's a State account that lets you know about major traffic issues on the interstate, the local Public Works department posts about parking bans during the winter, and issues coming up (closure of an area for street maint., etc.) Some of the feeds from local news sites are useful too, and a couple of accounts post hazardous weather info. If you're careful about what you subscribe to, it can be a nice, concise way to get pertinent information quickly.

The other one I like, that's probably only applicable in non-rural areas, is "SeeClickFix" - certain municipalities partner with them, (some have their own app, branded with a different name, but the software seems to be from the same company.) It basically lets you use your cellphone (or a computer on the web) to post issues you see, with descriptions and photos, and they get forwarded to the right people. Not the place to post emergency things, but easier than trying to call up public works to fix a pothole, or code enforcement when someone's left junk on the greenbelt.