Android Essential apps

I've recently ordered my Edge and I am hoping it will be here by the weekend. I was just curious, what apps have you guys downloaded? Which ones have made your Edge more fun or easier? Which ones can't you live without?

I love Dolphin browser, because it has tabs! I always have 3-5 tabs open at once.

For me:

Dolphin Browser
Swift Twit (Twitter)
Bebbled (Game - much like "Big Money" on Popcap.com website)
Fring (IM client for MSN Messenger and Skype contacts) - but I'm thinking of checking out Meebo and Nimbuzz, the more common apps for this

Another vote for RadioTime, and I will add my favorite waste of time app:

Simon Tatham's Portable Puzzle Collection. It's 31 different puzzle-like games that run nicely on the eDGe's large screen. (All but one, anyway.) You can download it here:

http://chris.boyle.name/projects/android-puzzles

* ES file explorer
* connectbot ssh client
* +1 for dolphin browser
* slide IT keyboard (can't get swype yet)
* original simon game

-Dolphin Browser (Note that the more recent 2.0 does not work very well on the edge, but 1.3.2 from SlideMe.org works great. Learned that the hard way)
-Dropbox
-Astro File Manager
-Smart Keyboard Pro
-RadioTime
-Astro Player Beta
-AndroidVNC
-MapDroyd (offline street maps on that big screen, a real life saver!)

For me it's Touchdown (for my corporate email/calendar) Astro for file management and backups, NewsRob for my blogs subscriptions, LOVINGN radiotime, Wishing my Swype would work. It's an essential for my Moto Droid.

smartkb does not work for me but dolphin 2 works 100% fine

musicjunkie?

Originally Posted by vicinc

smartkb does not work for me but dolphin 2 works 100% fine

To be more specific, both versions "work," but 2.0.0 has a problem with displaying the menus properly on the eDGe. In Portrait they are not visible at the bottom at all when you press Menu, and in Landscape only the top half is visible. The version from SlideMe.org, v1.3.2 however, does not seem to have this problem and works fine.

At least, that was the glitch I got from the 2.0 version from http://www.androidfreeware.org/downl...-browser-2.0.0 Maybe it's defective? Anyone else use 2.0 successfully from alternate sources?

My use patterns are as follows:

Everyday:
Touchdown (for Exchange)
Dolphin Browser (now my default for most tasks)
Droidbox (different app to access Dropbox)
Weather Widgets (current/forecast weather display right on desktop)
ContactOwner (runs in background, so technically always on, but not so essential.. until you misplace your eDGe)

Occasionally needed:
AndroidVNC (for remote desktop connections)
Google Voice mobile (for call connect callback service - voice does not work)
Radiotime (might turn into everyday when I get my bluetooth headset)
Better Term Emulator Pro (for geekier stuff)
Taskkiller (kill kill kill)
ES File Explorer (comes with latest update)
Docs 2 Go (preinstalled)
Note Everything (use mainly for drawings on LCD side)
SAM SlideMe app store


Newly installed and looks promising:
Fring
PrinterShare
Pandora

Originally Posted by devseev

My use patterns are as follows:

Everyday:
Touchdown (for Exchange)
Dolphin Browser (now my default for most tasks)
Droidbox (different app to access Dropbox)
Weather Widgets (current/forecast weather display right on desktop)
ContactOwner (runs in background, so technically always on, but not so essential.. until you misplace your eDGe)

Occasionally needed:
AndroidVNC (for remote desktop connections)
Google Voice mobile (for call connect callback service - voice does not work)
Radiotime (might turn into everyday when I get my bluetooth headset)
Better Term Emulator Pro (for geekier stuff)
Taskkiller (kill kill kill)
ES File Explorer (comes with latest update)
Docs 2 Go (preinstalled)
Note Everything (use mainly for drawings on LCD side)
SAM SlideMe app store


Newly installed and looks promising:
Fring
PrinterShare
Pandora

I'm glad to see TouchDown at the top of your list. ;-)


A bit of a warning though about Task Killers.

Using a task killer greatly elevates the chances of corrupting your Databases.
The problem with task killers is that they do not honor the state of the applications, even if they’re on the “ignore list. If any application is writing to a DB when it’s suspended or killed, BAM….corrupt DB.

They’re truly not needed on Android devices. Android really does an amazing job of managing resources, but for some reason the developers of these applications have convinced people that Android is like Windows Mobile or something. It’s just not.

a large percentage of our database corruption issues can be traced back to task killer applications.

A bit of a warning though about Task Killers. .....
They’re truly not needed on Android devices.

I was reading a web article on this the other day that completely supported what you are saying. I considered putting the link up here but decided that, probably, everyone here knew this (unlike me), so it did not happen. I wish I had done it, now. Unfortunately, I don't remember where it was. What I can say, Ron, is that it more than supported what you are saying. One of the comments was that when they stopped using the 'killer' they noticed a substantial improvement in the performance of their phone.

Being totally clueless about Android, what I took away from this article/blog was that the Android OS handles multi-tasking by 'suspending' the programs you have used (putting them to sleep?) rather than leaving them completely operative or shutting them down. So, by using a 'task killer' you are actually forcing them to shut down, possibly leaving certain 'strings' in the OS still operating (now futilely) rather than allowing them to do their job, which is to close whatever operations are deemed not necessary, which is dependent, partly, on how long it has been since it was used. So, in a sense, by using a Task Killer, you may be defeating the whole purpose of what it is supposed to be doing... and, actually increasing the workload of the OS, instead of helping it.

Please help me out here, Ron. Am I understanding this correctly?

I just discovered I had emailed myself the link.... http://geekfor.me/faq/you-shouldnt-b...-with-android/

Originally Posted by aidren

I just discovered I had emailed myself the link.... http://geekfor.me/faq/you-shouldnt-b...-with-android/

Yep, that's correct. The task killers try to mimic what the OS does natively, but not nearly as well. Killing the process has always been bad, in windows, in linux, in DOS.....and in Android. Lots of things are happening when an application shuts down properly, cutting those things off and killing the application is akin to using a broom handle through the spokes of your bicycle as a brake.
It stops the bike, but has "consequences"

Originally Posted by borisb

I couldn't live without RadioTime It's the only one that gives me pure joy and use steadily

I second that...but my local presets have started showing up as unavailable. I know that they are available because they still show up on Radiotime on my Palm Pre. Any ideas on why this is happening?