40 best free Android apps
Updated: Fill your Google mobile with these top free Android apps
Mobile phones News
By Gary Cutlack
February 25th | Tell us what you think [ 51 comments ]
Top free apps for your Android phone
OK, so the Android Market is more akin to Lidl or Asda than the
iPhone's enormous, indulgent Selfridges-at-Christmas time approach, but
the open source nature of Google's OS means there are plenty of apps for
Android to be found.
UPDATE: More great apps at Top 150 best Android apps
And best of all, most of the good stuff on Android is free, thanks to the work of developers who do it for love alone. So here's our pick of the top free Android apps you should install.
You can also check out our video of the top 10 free Android games
1. Seesmic
There are many Twitter apps on Android - and Twitter itself shook up the scene with the launch of its own-brand app recently - but we're sticking with Seesmic. Offering support for multiple accounts, a home page widget showing latest tweets and an incredibly slick and professional design, it's one of the finest examples of app development out there today.
2. Facebook for Android
Facebook for Android is lacking in features compared to Facebook itself, but a recent update added Inbox support to the Android app, finally allowing its users to communicate in almost real time. The app's fast and stable, with a simplicity that reminds you of the old days when using Facebook used to be bearable.
3. ASTRO File Manager
ASTRO is nothing more than a Windows-style file explorer, but if you're into tinkering and directly installing Android APK files yourself, it's essential to stick something like this on your phone. It makes your phone feel like a computer, and makes you feel like you're in charge of it.
UPDATE: ASTRO still exists as a free ad-supported app, but you'll have to pay for the full version without ads. Our new favourite file explorer app is listed below.
4. Job Centre Plus
Hey, times are hard and you've got to pay for your oppressive monthly mobile phone contract somehow. Offering a fully searchable database of current UK job vacancies, it's a slightly cumbersome but useful tool. Some of the spelling's a bit off and the presentation could be better, but you can't argue with the chance to browse low-level admin jobs in Plymouth from the comfort of your bed.
UPDATE: It would appear this app has been removed. The best replacement is the non-governmental UK Jobs, which pulls in its data from independent employment site www.1job.co.uk.
5. AppBrain Market Sync
You iPhone users won't believe this, but there's no official way to install Android apps from a PC. Seriously. You'd think Google of all companies would've sorted that out, but no. Which is where the unofficial AppBrain app comes in, letting users queue up Market downloads via PC and have them sent to your mobile. You're also able to generate an embeddable code that displays your currently installed apps on a website.
UPDATE: Obviously Google now supports web-based Android Market app installations and purchases, which makes the above a little less exciting than it once was. But well done for leading the curve for so long, AppBrain.
6. Google Sky Map
A stunning app that renders Patrick Moore obsolete, by using your phone's orientation tools to give you an accurate representation of the stars and planets on your screen. Point your phone at the sky, then learn what constellations are visible and if that's a UFO or just Venus. Google Sky Map even works indoors, if you're not keen on getting cold.
7. Layar
The stunning augmented reality app Layar has recently gone commercial, adding an online shop that allows users to buy AR content such as travel guides, local house price apps and much more. But you're still able to use the numerous free Layers to pop data up over real-world locations, delivering a satisfying futuristic experience.
8. Foursquare
The social media darling Foursquare is represented in fine form on Android, with the Google app offering easy one-click check-ins, integrated Google Maps for a seamless Google-branded experience and home page shortcut options to all your favourite places.
9. WordPress for Android
WordPress for Android started out as independent creation wpToGo, before WordPress decided it liked it so much it bought it up - hiring the maker to develop it in-house. It's very feature-packed, with the latest version offering full integration with other apps, letting you spin content and send it directly to the app for easy updating. It could do with more image insertion tools, though.
10. Google Goggles
A bit of a novelty, in that Google Goggles lets you take photos and have Google analyse them and come back with a search results page for what it thinks you're looking at. However, the app's main use is as a QR code reader, which lets you scan barcodes for quick access to apps and whatever data people choose to embed in the odd little data squares.
11. AppMonster
The act of monitoring and uninstalling apps on Android is a bit of a clumsy process, to be honest, with numerous sub-screens to navigate - and yet more yes/no/are-you-sure dialogue boxes to get through once you've found the 'bin it' page. So get a decent app manager such as AppMonster, which also offers one-click backup of all your apps to an SD card, if you're the type of person who worries about having copies of everything.
12. AppSaver
The Android 2.2 update known as 'FroYo' will let users save their Android Market purchases to their phone's SD card, freeing up valuable in-phone memory. But if you're using an older, less fancy version of the OS, an app like AppSaver does at least let you save your app install files to the SD card.
13. Skyfire 2.0
The USP of the Skyfire browser is that it supports Flash content, popping up a little window when it detects an embedded YouTube video or something similar. The actual Flash business is handled by Skyfire's server, which does all the computery stuff, then sends the file to your handset. A bit clunky on slower Android phones, but it works like a dream on models with faster processors.
UPDATE: This has been superseded by SkyFire 3.0. You can't fight evolution. Despite the arrival of Flash with Andriod 2.2, this is still relevant for those on phones and Android versions not able to support Adobe's Flash Player.
14. Task Manager
If you come from a bit of a hardcore PC background, you'll find Android's lack of a red X to close apps a bit of a worry, what with the OS handling app closures itself. Which is why you need a good manual override tool to shut any persistent apps. It may help you save battery life, but most important is the feeling of control and empowerment you get from one-click closing apps.
UPDATE: Popular thinking is now that task killers are a waste of time on modern versions of Android, as our phones use more power relaunching apps than keeping them suspended in memory. If you still insist on taking manual control, Advanced Task Killer is the current most popular option.
15. RAC Traffic
An official production of the motoring organisation, RAC Traffic is dead simple - it guesstimates your location via the mobile signal, then pops up the current traffic alerts for your area. It's much better than having to listen to the radio for the odd update about arterial blockages.
16. Swype
The odd line-drawing alternate keyboard Swype is a love-it or hate-it kind of thing, with the significant amount of re-learning required to make the most of it quite offputting to some users. Once you're familiar with the idea, though, it's genius - with advanced prediction options further speeding your line-typing. Swype is not available through the Android Market - the only way to install is is via a direct download from the maker.
17. Evernote
After the Android version of Dropbox, the next best solution for keeping all your 'business' in one place is Evernote - which lets you stash and sync all your text notes, voice memos and files on your phone and access them through a desktop computer.
18. beebPlayer
This does one thing - it lets you access the BBC's famed iPlayer on your Android phone. You need to be connected via Wi-Fi for the best performance, as our mobile networks can't really handle live streaming the new Doctor Who through the ether, but for in-bed TV it's a great solution.
UPDATE: The developer of beebPlayer has recently removed the app from Android Market and ceased further development. There's now an official BBC iPlayer app, which we take a look at on the next page.
19. Last.fm
If you're too tight to pay for a Spotify subscription, the free thrills of Last.fm open up a world of music streaming on your mobile. You have to 'buy in' to the odd Last.fm way of organising things and suggesting new music, but if you're easily led and not restricted by bandwidth it's a superb free music tool.
UPDATE: Rather unfortunately, Last.fm has recently announced plans to become a subscription-based service. For free music streaming, try TuneIn Radio. It offers radio rather than on-demand tracks, but works in the background - unlike the BBC's iPlayer app.
20. Google Maps Navigation
An absolute must-get. As long as you have Android 1.6 or above, the latest update to Google Maps introduces turn-by-turn voice navigation, simultaneously devastating the satnav industry while boosting the in-car dashboard dock/charger accessory scene. Route calculations are done at the outset of your trip, minimising data transfer en route and keeping you on target even when the GPS signal drops. It's amazing, it works, and it's free.
21. 3banana Notes/ Catch Notes
A simple note-taking tool that lets you sync those disjointed, late night thoughts you have together into one huge, incoherent database. If you have a Snaptic account you're able to sync the Android app with that too - or you can simply log in with your Google details for instant mobile jotting. Once written, notes may also be pinned to the home screen, creating a little post-it note-style reminder icon.
UPDATE: 3banana has undergone a name change and is now known as Catch Notes.
22. gvSIG Mini Maps
gvSIG Mini Maps is an incredibly comprehensive mapping tool which combines major online maps including Google, Bing, Open Street Map and more, which will win UK fans for one huge reason alone - it supports the official and recently open-sourced Ordnance Survey data. This means you're never more than a post code search away from seeing where you are in OS-level detail, which offers much more in the way of accurate local data than other map tools provide.
23. Astrid Task / Todo list
Astrid describes itself as an "open source" task list, which includes syncing support with www.rememberthemilk.com for the ultimate in minutiae management. You set a list of tasks and are then able to order them according to their importance - also setting off a timer to see precisely how long you've wasted on Twitter instead of doing the job in hand. It's basically the world's most complex and in-depth personal to do list, which, if used correctly, will consume more time than the tasks themselves. Ideal for expert-level procrastinators.
24. Shareprice
Shareprice uses your login from financial site www.iii.co.uk to offer live share price updates on your Android phone. Watch your nest-egg lose 50 per cent in value every three weeks during the latest trans-global financial crisis, live! It's ideal for users with share values so low they have to be checked in private, to ensure their partner doesn't see exactly how much money has disappeared into some notional financial black hole.
25. Skifta
Skifta is the first software tool to be granted DLNA certification, meaning it turns your Android phone into an official DLNA device. This in turn means streaming all of your household media to your phone, and beaming your phone videos to your TV. Seems a little buggy at the moment, but there are plenty of updates arriving all the time. Requires Android 2.2 or higher.
26. Dropbox
The Android version of the insanely popular stuff-syncing app has arrived, and while Dropbox is a little lacking in the sort of fancy auto-syncing options many were hoping for, it still works as expected. Files have to be specifically downloaded to your phone to be edited or shared, which is not quite the automated dream offered by the desktop tools, but it's still Dropbox on Android. Six months ago that was a distant, crazy fantasy.
27. London Tube Status
Reduce the misery of being told you've just missed a train and it's a 14-minute wait until the next one with London Tube Status, which combines travel status updates and live departure times. It also includes a home screen widget that shows your favourite (or at least your most used) platform departures, making it easy to check how much you've just missed the next one by while tearing down the escalators.
28. Amazon UK
Amazon recently launched an official Android app, replacing its reliance on a mobile web store. The app's very simple and fast to use, and even includes full shopping cart features with Amazon's one-click system once you've signed in with your usual account details.
29. Meebo IM
If you like to pass the time exchanging smiley faces and abbreviations with your friends through instant messaging apps, you ought to get a copy of Meebo IM. It's an instant messaging aggregator, incorporating AIM, MSN, Yahoo, MySpace, Facebook, good old ICQ and more, serving everything up in one convenient interface. Typing in all your logins and passwords for everything is the only, very temporary, inconvenience.
30. Beelicious
If you're into the slightly last-generation social networking site Delicious, you ought to get yourself organised with one of the many third-party Android apps out there that support the bookmarking tool. Such as Beelicious, which, once you've got through the slightly cumbersome initial set-up process, lets you simply send website links to your Delicious account via the Android browser's 'Share Page' sub menu.
31. TweetDeck
The new star on the Twitter app scene, TweetDeck for Android is one amazing little tool. As well as presenting your timeline, DMs and replies in separate side-by-side panels that you swipe the screen to flip between, it can also pull in Facebook status updates. And mix it all in together. And it does Foursquare. And Buzz.
32. iPlayer
The BBC's iPlayer app has finally arrived, and a right weird old mixed bag it is, too. On the one hand, support for streaming radio and live TV channels (Wi-Fi only) elevates this over the Android 2.2 compatible mobile website, but the requirement for Android 2.2 and Flash Player 10.1 remains. And there's no 3G streaming, not even of radio feeds. And you can't download shows, unlike in the sadly departed Beebplayer. And the radio requires the screen to be on at all times. Strange app, this.
33. Google Reader
Google has brought its RSS feed tool into the app era, launching its Google Reader for Android. It's got some great functionality built in, with support for multiple Google accounts and plenty of thread customisation options. You're also able to use the volume rocker to page up and down between messages, which is handy for extra-lazy news assimilation.
34. BT FON
BT's incredibly clever FON network is often a lifesaver, letting you legally borrow Wi-Fi for free in many public places. And while standing outside strangers' houses. The BT FON Android app lets you automate the sign-in process, so you can walk around towns and housing estates safe in the knowledge that your phone's always seeking out available Wi-Fi. You need a BT FON username, though, so sort that out before you venture out into the scary internet-free world.
35. Amazon Kindle
Amazon's Kindle app is a great e-reader, which is seamlessly linked with your Amazon account. Support for magazines and newspapers is limited at the moment, with only a handful of niche publications in Android-friendly format. But for books it's great, with plenty of screen and text display options to get it looking a way that hurts your eyes the least. Another exciting new way to collect classic novels you'll probably never get around to reading because there's the internet now.
36. ES File Explorer
We're officially out-of-love with previous favourite file explorer ASTRO, thanks to it now coming plastered with ads. ES File Explorer is prettier, ad-free, and comes with a much more user-friendly and functional interface. And yes, Android users have favourite file explorers.
37. Androidify
Let your hair down by creating a realistic interpretation of what you hair looks like with Androidify. It's an avatar creator that uses the Android mascot as its base, letting you swap trousers and hats with the swipe of a finger. Results are then sharable via Twitter and the usual social tools. There aren't enough types of beard, though. Please release a Beard Expansion Pack.
38. Kongregate Arcade
Thanks to Android's Flash Player powers, casual gaming portal Kongregate is able to bring a huge number of its internet games to Android. They run in the browser so resolutions can be a bit all over the place, but with over 300 games to choose from there's bound to be something there for you.
39. Blogger
The Google-owned Blogger platform now has a presence in the current decade, thanks to the official Blogger app. It's remarkably simple, supports image uploads and geo-tagging and imports the settings of all blogs associated with your Gmail account. There's no fancy editing the positions of your photos, which just get chucked in at the bottom, but it works.
40. RD Mute
UPDATE: More great apps at Top 150 best Android apps
And best of all, most of the good stuff on Android is free, thanks to the work of developers who do it for love alone. So here's our pick of the top free Android apps you should install.
You can also check out our video of the top 10 free Android games
1. Seesmic
There are many Twitter apps on Android - and Twitter itself shook up the scene with the launch of its own-brand app recently - but we're sticking with Seesmic. Offering support for multiple accounts, a home page widget showing latest tweets and an incredibly slick and professional design, it's one of the finest examples of app development out there today.
2. Facebook for Android
Facebook for Android is lacking in features compared to Facebook itself, but a recent update added Inbox support to the Android app, finally allowing its users to communicate in almost real time. The app's fast and stable, with a simplicity that reminds you of the old days when using Facebook used to be bearable.
3. ASTRO File Manager
ASTRO is nothing more than a Windows-style file explorer, but if you're into tinkering and directly installing Android APK files yourself, it's essential to stick something like this on your phone. It makes your phone feel like a computer, and makes you feel like you're in charge of it.
UPDATE: ASTRO still exists as a free ad-supported app, but you'll have to pay for the full version without ads. Our new favourite file explorer app is listed below.
4. Job Centre Plus
Hey, times are hard and you've got to pay for your oppressive monthly mobile phone contract somehow. Offering a fully searchable database of current UK job vacancies, it's a slightly cumbersome but useful tool. Some of the spelling's a bit off and the presentation could be better, but you can't argue with the chance to browse low-level admin jobs in Plymouth from the comfort of your bed.
UPDATE: It would appear this app has been removed. The best replacement is the non-governmental UK Jobs, which pulls in its data from independent employment site www.1job.co.uk.
5. AppBrain Market Sync
You iPhone users won't believe this, but there's no official way to install Android apps from a PC. Seriously. You'd think Google of all companies would've sorted that out, but no. Which is where the unofficial AppBrain app comes in, letting users queue up Market downloads via PC and have them sent to your mobile. You're also able to generate an embeddable code that displays your currently installed apps on a website.
UPDATE: Obviously Google now supports web-based Android Market app installations and purchases, which makes the above a little less exciting than it once was. But well done for leading the curve for so long, AppBrain.
6. Google Sky Map
A stunning app that renders Patrick Moore obsolete, by using your phone's orientation tools to give you an accurate representation of the stars and planets on your screen. Point your phone at the sky, then learn what constellations are visible and if that's a UFO or just Venus. Google Sky Map even works indoors, if you're not keen on getting cold.
7. Layar
The stunning augmented reality app Layar has recently gone commercial, adding an online shop that allows users to buy AR content such as travel guides, local house price apps and much more. But you're still able to use the numerous free Layers to pop data up over real-world locations, delivering a satisfying futuristic experience.
8. Foursquare
The social media darling Foursquare is represented in fine form on Android, with the Google app offering easy one-click check-ins, integrated Google Maps for a seamless Google-branded experience and home page shortcut options to all your favourite places.
9. WordPress for Android
WordPress for Android started out as independent creation wpToGo, before WordPress decided it liked it so much it bought it up - hiring the maker to develop it in-house. It's very feature-packed, with the latest version offering full integration with other apps, letting you spin content and send it directly to the app for easy updating. It could do with more image insertion tools, though.
10. Google Goggles
A bit of a novelty, in that Google Goggles lets you take photos and have Google analyse them and come back with a search results page for what it thinks you're looking at. However, the app's main use is as a QR code reader, which lets you scan barcodes for quick access to apps and whatever data people choose to embed in the odd little data squares.
11. AppMonster
The act of monitoring and uninstalling apps on Android is a bit of a clumsy process, to be honest, with numerous sub-screens to navigate - and yet more yes/no/are-you-sure dialogue boxes to get through once you've found the 'bin it' page. So get a decent app manager such as AppMonster, which also offers one-click backup of all your apps to an SD card, if you're the type of person who worries about having copies of everything.
12. AppSaver
The Android 2.2 update known as 'FroYo' will let users save their Android Market purchases to their phone's SD card, freeing up valuable in-phone memory. But if you're using an older, less fancy version of the OS, an app like AppSaver does at least let you save your app install files to the SD card.
13. Skyfire 2.0
The USP of the Skyfire browser is that it supports Flash content, popping up a little window when it detects an embedded YouTube video or something similar. The actual Flash business is handled by Skyfire's server, which does all the computery stuff, then sends the file to your handset. A bit clunky on slower Android phones, but it works like a dream on models with faster processors.
UPDATE: This has been superseded by SkyFire 3.0. You can't fight evolution. Despite the arrival of Flash with Andriod 2.2, this is still relevant for those on phones and Android versions not able to support Adobe's Flash Player.
14. Task Manager
If you come from a bit of a hardcore PC background, you'll find Android's lack of a red X to close apps a bit of a worry, what with the OS handling app closures itself. Which is why you need a good manual override tool to shut any persistent apps. It may help you save battery life, but most important is the feeling of control and empowerment you get from one-click closing apps.
UPDATE: Popular thinking is now that task killers are a waste of time on modern versions of Android, as our phones use more power relaunching apps than keeping them suspended in memory. If you still insist on taking manual control, Advanced Task Killer is the current most popular option.
15. RAC Traffic
An official production of the motoring organisation, RAC Traffic is dead simple - it guesstimates your location via the mobile signal, then pops up the current traffic alerts for your area. It's much better than having to listen to the radio for the odd update about arterial blockages.
16. Swype
The odd line-drawing alternate keyboard Swype is a love-it or hate-it kind of thing, with the significant amount of re-learning required to make the most of it quite offputting to some users. Once you're familiar with the idea, though, it's genius - with advanced prediction options further speeding your line-typing. Swype is not available through the Android Market - the only way to install is is via a direct download from the maker.
17. Evernote
After the Android version of Dropbox, the next best solution for keeping all your 'business' in one place is Evernote - which lets you stash and sync all your text notes, voice memos and files on your phone and access them through a desktop computer.
18. beebPlayer
This does one thing - it lets you access the BBC's famed iPlayer on your Android phone. You need to be connected via Wi-Fi for the best performance, as our mobile networks can't really handle live streaming the new Doctor Who through the ether, but for in-bed TV it's a great solution.
UPDATE: The developer of beebPlayer has recently removed the app from Android Market and ceased further development. There's now an official BBC iPlayer app, which we take a look at on the next page.
19. Last.fm
If you're too tight to pay for a Spotify subscription, the free thrills of Last.fm open up a world of music streaming on your mobile. You have to 'buy in' to the odd Last.fm way of organising things and suggesting new music, but if you're easily led and not restricted by bandwidth it's a superb free music tool.
UPDATE: Rather unfortunately, Last.fm has recently announced plans to become a subscription-based service. For free music streaming, try TuneIn Radio. It offers radio rather than on-demand tracks, but works in the background - unlike the BBC's iPlayer app.
20. Google Maps Navigation
An absolute must-get. As long as you have Android 1.6 or above, the latest update to Google Maps introduces turn-by-turn voice navigation, simultaneously devastating the satnav industry while boosting the in-car dashboard dock/charger accessory scene. Route calculations are done at the outset of your trip, minimising data transfer en route and keeping you on target even when the GPS signal drops. It's amazing, it works, and it's free.
21. 3banana Notes/ Catch Notes
A simple note-taking tool that lets you sync those disjointed, late night thoughts you have together into one huge, incoherent database. If you have a Snaptic account you're able to sync the Android app with that too - or you can simply log in with your Google details for instant mobile jotting. Once written, notes may also be pinned to the home screen, creating a little post-it note-style reminder icon.
UPDATE: 3banana has undergone a name change and is now known as Catch Notes.
22. gvSIG Mini Maps
gvSIG Mini Maps is an incredibly comprehensive mapping tool which combines major online maps including Google, Bing, Open Street Map and more, which will win UK fans for one huge reason alone - it supports the official and recently open-sourced Ordnance Survey data. This means you're never more than a post code search away from seeing where you are in OS-level detail, which offers much more in the way of accurate local data than other map tools provide.
23. Astrid Task / Todo list
Astrid describes itself as an "open source" task list, which includes syncing support with www.rememberthemilk.com for the ultimate in minutiae management. You set a list of tasks and are then able to order them according to their importance - also setting off a timer to see precisely how long you've wasted on Twitter instead of doing the job in hand. It's basically the world's most complex and in-depth personal to do list, which, if used correctly, will consume more time than the tasks themselves. Ideal for expert-level procrastinators.
24. Shareprice
Shareprice uses your login from financial site www.iii.co.uk to offer live share price updates on your Android phone. Watch your nest-egg lose 50 per cent in value every three weeks during the latest trans-global financial crisis, live! It's ideal for users with share values so low they have to be checked in private, to ensure their partner doesn't see exactly how much money has disappeared into some notional financial black hole.
25. Skifta
Skifta is the first software tool to be granted DLNA certification, meaning it turns your Android phone into an official DLNA device. This in turn means streaming all of your household media to your phone, and beaming your phone videos to your TV. Seems a little buggy at the moment, but there are plenty of updates arriving all the time. Requires Android 2.2 or higher.
26. Dropbox
The Android version of the insanely popular stuff-syncing app has arrived, and while Dropbox is a little lacking in the sort of fancy auto-syncing options many were hoping for, it still works as expected. Files have to be specifically downloaded to your phone to be edited or shared, which is not quite the automated dream offered by the desktop tools, but it's still Dropbox on Android. Six months ago that was a distant, crazy fantasy.
27. London Tube Status
Reduce the misery of being told you've just missed a train and it's a 14-minute wait until the next one with London Tube Status, which combines travel status updates and live departure times. It also includes a home screen widget that shows your favourite (or at least your most used) platform departures, making it easy to check how much you've just missed the next one by while tearing down the escalators.
28. Amazon UK
Amazon recently launched an official Android app, replacing its reliance on a mobile web store. The app's very simple and fast to use, and even includes full shopping cart features with Amazon's one-click system once you've signed in with your usual account details.
29. Meebo IM
If you like to pass the time exchanging smiley faces and abbreviations with your friends through instant messaging apps, you ought to get a copy of Meebo IM. It's an instant messaging aggregator, incorporating AIM, MSN, Yahoo, MySpace, Facebook, good old ICQ and more, serving everything up in one convenient interface. Typing in all your logins and passwords for everything is the only, very temporary, inconvenience.
30. Beelicious
If you're into the slightly last-generation social networking site Delicious, you ought to get yourself organised with one of the many third-party Android apps out there that support the bookmarking tool. Such as Beelicious, which, once you've got through the slightly cumbersome initial set-up process, lets you simply send website links to your Delicious account via the Android browser's 'Share Page' sub menu.
31. TweetDeck
The new star on the Twitter app scene, TweetDeck for Android is one amazing little tool. As well as presenting your timeline, DMs and replies in separate side-by-side panels that you swipe the screen to flip between, it can also pull in Facebook status updates. And mix it all in together. And it does Foursquare. And Buzz.
32. iPlayer
The BBC's iPlayer app has finally arrived, and a right weird old mixed bag it is, too. On the one hand, support for streaming radio and live TV channels (Wi-Fi only) elevates this over the Android 2.2 compatible mobile website, but the requirement for Android 2.2 and Flash Player 10.1 remains. And there's no 3G streaming, not even of radio feeds. And you can't download shows, unlike in the sadly departed Beebplayer. And the radio requires the screen to be on at all times. Strange app, this.
33. Google Reader
Google has brought its RSS feed tool into the app era, launching its Google Reader for Android. It's got some great functionality built in, with support for multiple Google accounts and plenty of thread customisation options. You're also able to use the volume rocker to page up and down between messages, which is handy for extra-lazy news assimilation.
34. BT FON
BT's incredibly clever FON network is often a lifesaver, letting you legally borrow Wi-Fi for free in many public places. And while standing outside strangers' houses. The BT FON Android app lets you automate the sign-in process, so you can walk around towns and housing estates safe in the knowledge that your phone's always seeking out available Wi-Fi. You need a BT FON username, though, so sort that out before you venture out into the scary internet-free world.
35. Amazon Kindle
Amazon's Kindle app is a great e-reader, which is seamlessly linked with your Amazon account. Support for magazines and newspapers is limited at the moment, with only a handful of niche publications in Android-friendly format. But for books it's great, with plenty of screen and text display options to get it looking a way that hurts your eyes the least. Another exciting new way to collect classic novels you'll probably never get around to reading because there's the internet now.
36. ES File Explorer
We're officially out-of-love with previous favourite file explorer ASTRO, thanks to it now coming plastered with ads. ES File Explorer is prettier, ad-free, and comes with a much more user-friendly and functional interface. And yes, Android users have favourite file explorers.
37. Androidify
Let your hair down by creating a realistic interpretation of what you hair looks like with Androidify. It's an avatar creator that uses the Android mascot as its base, letting you swap trousers and hats with the swipe of a finger. Results are then sharable via Twitter and the usual social tools. There aren't enough types of beard, though. Please release a Beard Expansion Pack.
38. Kongregate Arcade
Thanks to Android's Flash Player powers, casual gaming portal Kongregate is able to bring a huge number of its internet games to Android. They run in the browser so resolutions can be a bit all over the place, but with over 300 games to choose from there's bound to be something there for you.
39. Blogger
The Google-owned Blogger platform now has a presence in the current decade, thanks to the official Blogger app. It's remarkably simple, supports image uploads and geo-tagging and imports the settings of all blogs associated with your Gmail account. There's no fancy editing the positions of your photos, which just get chucked in at the bottom, but it works.
40. RD Mute
RD Mute
serves one purpose – to turn off all phone sounds when the Android
accelerometer tells it you've picked it up and turned it over. It's a
'silent mode' shortcut for when you can't even be bothered to press a
button. Put your phone on its front to shut it up – and add any very
important numbers to the app's exceptions list, so people you don't
mind talking to can get through.
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