Free and useful Android apps

bubblesmoney

tightrs wrote: »

well i did not read all the manual and was just sharing what i did,it was a quick fix and oh so easy on my htc desire.
took no time at all in fact less time than to read through the manual or watch a tutorial on a website :whistle:

when you have some free time, check out the tutorials on that website, especially the battery caliberation, power control widget and related articles and others on rooting, and various other features. i found many of them useful. it will be useful for many who are new to android handsets but may not be useful for people who have had android for a long time.

lucylucky

bubblesmoney wrote: »

yes it is free on the places app, like everything else on the places icon on google maps.

when you open the places icon, if you have not added any icons, then select the add button, then on the search bar type 'bus stop', then when ever you clik that new icon you will get a list of nearest bus stops with distances and choices for directions, bus stop number etc. clik the bus stop you need and it will bring up a list of all the bus numbers going through that stop (via a travelline link) and the next bus time for each of those routes, when i try on my phone it shows me the next bus times for the next few minutes and the bus stop numbers and routes and times are accurate for where i live.

Thanks for that info just tried it but only takes me to the main traveline site, no timetables or bus numbers I am afraid


i havent tried the atm machine option, so dont know how accurate that is. but i have tried the options for dentists, hospitals, tesco, petrol station, taxi, rail station, bus stop, hotel, parking area etc on many occassions and found the app reliable.

I used to have the yelp app I have never used the yelp app and deleted it as i found i hardly used it in comparison to the places app which i have put on my home screen next to the navigation app, so that i can bring it up quickly when travelling. in fact taxi drivers and shop keepers etc have asked how i found their number and i told them google places app and they were surprised and pleased that they were getting business for free without advertising on google. I just use it because it is quick and easy and accurate and i dont need to keep a list of taxi numbers at destination when travelling. i have used it various cities where i would be lost without the app. i dont even need to know the address etc, i can just type the name of the shop and i have a good chance of getting the correct shop on the app even in a city i dont know and can call or navigate with the clik of a button.
Thought I would add "Taxis" and see how it performed. The first 8 listings were for bridal cars!?! Neither of the two local firms I use appear at all.

i deleted the RAC app as well as i find this and the navigation app (both google) suits my needs.

for airline ticket pricing overf many airlines the best i found was ... "OnTheFly" by ITA software. it gives a good choice of air prices on various routes, even when other travel apps like tripit, and other similar apps didnt bring up anything. but even this is of no use if you want a multidestination or open jaw type of ticket as this app only gives one way or return option. BA app is ok only if travelling via BA. Tripit is useful for other info like airline contact details etc which would be useful for rebooking journey in a hurry if your flight gets cancelled.

HotUKDeals app is pretty nice like others have already mentioned.

other useful apps are ...
- silentboot (especially useful is you want to permanently shut up the boot up music on your phone if you have small kids and dont want the boot up sound the wake them up etc)
- chrome to phone
- freedi downloader / freedi youtube downloader / youtube downloader
- mini file manager for managing files and generally cleaning up crap that accumulates on your phone. i found this much more useful that other file managers like astro or estrongs file explorer which i have used before and deleted them now as i prefer mini file manager which has a small footprint and does the job. estrongs file explorer is ok for wirelessly exploring and moving files from phone to computer or vice versa.
- multicon app. for having 4 icons in the place of 1 icon on your home screen if you want smaller icons
- sd move / sd watch / apps2sd
- SDrescan is very useful after copying files from computer etc and no need to reboot for the phone to find the files easily.
- Tax Calculator
- traintimesuk, i have the old free version.

I like the sound of the mini file manager
I use App 2 SD for moving files to the SD card

colinicky

bubblesmoney wrote: »

the games are still for original price on android market but available for 1£ for hd games on their website. i have played the free asphalthd game and it is awesome, i wanted to buy it and tried twice today, i got sent a code to buy by sms for billing via operator. both times when i enetered code to buy it said error and i could not buy it.
edit: gave up after three purchases failed and error message was coming on phone.

Had the self same problem. I am with Tmobile & I had requested a block on the short code texts (the ones that you get charged for recieving them) once this block was removed then I could purchase the games .
Hope that helps
colin

bubblesmoney

lucylucky wrote: »

Thanks for that info just tried it but only takes me to the main traveline site, no timetables or bus numbers I am afraid


Thought I would add "Taxis" and see how it performed. The first 8 listings were for bridal cars!?! Neither of the two local firms I use appear at all.

I like the sound of the mini file manager
I use App 2 SD for moving files to the SD card

when i try the "bus stop" option, then clik on one of the bus stop options that shows up, then i am brought to the https://www.transportdirect.info website journey planning section with the bus stop number pre entered and below that there is an option to fill in for destination and below that options for date and time, depart/arrive etc and on the right there is a box in which all the bus numbers that pass through that bus stop with next time of arrival at that stop and also a report section (which i guess is for delays cancellations etc). earlier my wife used to use the sms option given at the bus stop for finding out bus information but the places app is faster and gives accurate information with just a clik or two and no need to send sms to bus company etc.

try taxi instead of taxis. i get all the taxi companies in my area, i havent had problems getting taxi numbers in areas that i dont know either when i needed taxis getting back home. yes it does bring up some companies that hire cars for other purposes as well if those companies hire taxis as well.

i have used the same app for finding a restaurant in leicester and nottingham, areas that i dont know at all. i just knew the name of the restaurant, not a well known one and it navigated me there quicker than my cousin who was using tomtom and knew the location.

i checked the ATM option now, yes it is crap for me too.

lucylucky

bubblesmoney wrote: »

when i try the "bus stop" option, then clik on one of the bus stop options that shows up, then i am brought to the www.transportdirect.info website journey planning section with the bus stop number pre entered and below that there is an option to fill in for destination and below that options for date and time, depart/arrive etc and on the right there is a box in which all the bus numbers that pass through that bus stop with next time of arrival at that stop and also a report section (which i guess is for delays cancellations etc). earlier my wife used to use the sms option given at the bus stop for finding out bus information but the places app is faster and gives accurate information with just a clik or two and no need to send sms to bus company etc. Interesting, the transportdirect link doesn't appear for me

try taxi instead of taxis. I did as it happens i get all the taxi companies in my area, i havent had problems getting taxi numbers in areas that i dont know either when i needed taxis getting back home. yes it does bring up some companies that hire cars for other purposes as well if those companies hire taxis as well.

i have used the same app for finding a restaurant in leicester and nottingham, areas that i dont know at all. i just knew the name of the restaurant, not a well known one and it navigated me there quicker than my cousin who was using tomtom and knew the location.

i checked the ATM option now, yes it is crap for me too.

The navigation is generally superb I have to admit, although battery hungry. I use it a lot and have found it invaluable.

bubblesmoney

colinicky wrote: »

Had the self same problem. I am with Tmobile & I had requested a block on the short code texts (the ones that you get charged for recieving them) once this block was removed then I could purchase the games .
Hope that helps
colin

thanks. i didnt know that. i hadnt asked for a block. but if it has been put on by Three then good, i will let it be. Too late to get the block removed as sale ends today. I will try to buy next time there is a sale. for people who can buy check out the size of the file on internal memory. some of them are above 20mb on internal memory and you will be screwed if your phone has low internal memory for apps. for eg on htc desire you only have 147mb internal memory available for apps. although this wont be an issue on phones like samsung galaxy s where the internal memory for apps is 1.8gb and htc desire hd is 1.1gb as far as i am aware. but lower spec phones you will get screwed if you load apps that hog internal memory.

asphalt hd is only a few mb on internal memory but it downloads another 80mb or so for sd card.

another game worth trying is ko boxing (if i remember the name right) and free version of a fighter plane dog fighting game, i cant recall the name. i had to delete them because of low memory issues. chess (many versions) is good too.

POPSCI is ok. As is Androidify which is fun for my child. google skymap for those interested in learning about stars and planets in an augmented reality fashion.

Sue_S

"Words with Friends" is now available for Android. Great, play scrabble with your friends! I've been dying to get this, originally it was only for the iPhone.

wolvesinwales

Sue_S wrote: »

"Words with Friends" is now available for Android. Great, play scrabble with your friends! I've been dying to get this, originally it was only for the iPhone.

Great thanks, just need some friends now :cool:

phague

Sue_S wrote: »

"Words with Friends" is now available for Android. Great, play scrabble with your friends! I've been dying to get this, originally it was only for the iPhone.

Thanks for this, mate sat next to me at work was playing it on his iphone today!
Won't download for my HTC Wildfire tho

miss_pixie_2

i have the following free apps on my HTC wildfire

app killer
twitter
facebook
opera mini web browser - so much faster than the HTC internet browser
google translate
camera fun free - has things like mirror image etc - fun for kids or messing about with
zedge ringtones and wallpapers
google maps
bubble popper
AVG anti virus free - scans all downloads
yell.com (yellow pages)
mouse trap by magma mobile - this game is addictive, a real brain teaser - try it and you will see what i mean
wallpaper by DragonLib - icon looks like 3 pics stacked by each other - really good large selection of wallpapers