[Android] Apps/Games Reviews & Recommendations

Life Technology
1

Android Apps/Games Reviews & Recommendations

Well the [url=http://tw.forumosa.com/t/android-phones-sold-in-taiwan-thread/55492/1 Android thread[/url] is getting a bit too big to be handled efficiently, so lets break out reviews and recommendations of apps into a separate thread. Post about your new app or that awesome new game you discovered right in this thread. Here is a basic guideline:

● Review only one app per post. If you have a couple of apps to talk about, give each one its own post.
● Copy the header template (below) and fill in the relevant information. Write a paragraph or two about what the app is and how it differs from similar apps (if applicable).
● Optionally, include up to four screenshots of the app in action, two to a line. Use your own screenshots if possible (instructions on taking screenshots using ddms here).
● If the app is available on the Android Market, search for the app on androlib.com and embed a copy of the QR code link below your header.
● Do not post direct download links to .apk files of paid applications!

Header template:

[code][color=#A4C639]██████████████████████████████████████████████████[/color]

Application Name[/size]

Reviewed:
yyyy-mm-dd
Version:
x.x.x
Root required?
Yes/No

Source:
Android Market or webpage
Price:
$xx.xx

Website:
http://www.sample.com/sampleapp
[/code]
The Android robot above is reproduced from work created and shared by Google and used according to terms described in the Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution License.

[size=200]Quick links to reviews:

  1. Hanping Chinese English Dict
  2. Aldiko
  3. Air Control
  4. MarketEnabler
  5. NPR News
  6. AdFree Android
2

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Hanping Chinese English Dict

Reviewed:
2010-04-01
Version:
1.1.2
Root required?
No

Source:
All Android Market
Price:
Free

Website:
http://embermitre.com/hanping/ce

It’s not a definitive all-in-one tool, but I find Hanping Chinese-English dictionary to be quite helpful. No flashcards or anything. It’s just a dictionary. But it’s a very easy to use one. Type your query in Chinese, in pinyin or in English and it will find the results for you in realtime as you type. Also, this is entirely offline. No data connection required aside from the initial download from Android Market.

The paid version adds an option to show only idioms as well as a details page which has an option to speak the words (it uses a voice file created by a native speaker, not Android’s onboard voice synthesizer) as well as links to nciku’s usage page (fourth screenshot below). The free version alone is worth the £3.99 the developer asks for the paid version, imho.


3

Aldiko

Reviewed:
2010-04-04
Version:
x.x.x
Root required?
No

Source:
All Android Marker
Price:
FREE

Website:
http://www.aldiko.com/

A fairly robust e-reader application for android handsets. It has an excellent reading interface, similar to the kindle app on the iPhone app store, but what really sets Aldiko apart from other e-readers I have tested is that it provides an amazing interface for downloading new books for free. Inside the application you can choose from various categories of books and download them within 20 seconds. There are only 2 issues I have with the application. 1. There does not appear to be a way to load my own E-Pub format books into the device. 2. The download repositories are public domain and original work only.

Overall it is pretty slick and provides a crap-load of reading material for free. Highly recommend.

(Photos later, can’t find my USB cable)

4

[quote=“djlowballer”]
Aldiko

Reviewed:
2010-04-04
Version:
x.x.x
Root required?
No

Source:
All Android Marker
Price:
FREE

Website:
http://www.aldiko.com/

A fairly robust e-reader application for android handsets. It has an excellent reading interface, similar to the kindle app on the iPhone app store, but what really sets Aldiko apart from other e-readers I have tested is that it provides an amazing interface for downloading new books for free. Inside the application you can choose from various categories of books and download them within 20 seconds. There are only 2 issues I have with the application. 1. There does not appear to be a way to load my own E-Pub format books into the device. 2. The download repositories are public domain and original work only.

Overall it is pretty slick and provides a crap-load of reading material for free. Highly recommend.

(Photos later, can’t find my USB cable)[/quote]

re: loading your own epub format books into the device - simply mount your phone on your PC, copy your epub files to your phone and place in the ebook/import folder on your phone. Then unmount your phone, run Aldiko and at the main screen, hit Menu and click on import. It will automatically import any books in the import folder.

5

Yeah I feel like a dolt. I just saw the import option this morning when I accidentally hit menu.

6

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Air Control

Reviewed:
yyyy-mm-dd
Version:
1.08
Root required?
No

Source:
Android Market
Price:
Free w/Ads

I can’t put this game down, simple but very addictive. You are an air traffic controller, and guide the planes to various runways while trying to avoid them colliding. In the free version there are 2 airports to select from. You have to guide helicopters, small planes, large planes and jet planes. They all fly at different speeds so it takes some planning to route them all…

7

It took me a bit of experimenting to get Aldiko set up just the way I had my FBReaderJ set up before. Here is what it looks like (this is on HTC Dream, so 3" HVGA) and the settings to get it in that state. On a page of text with no paragraph breaks, fourteen lines are displayed.

Day Theme > Font Color > Black
Font Settings > Font Family > Default Serif
Font Settings > Font Size > 24 (*May differ for non-HVGA screens. Experiment and report back)
Layout Settings > Line Spacing > 1.4
Layout Settings > Horizontal Margin > 5
Layout Settings > Vertical Margin > 5
Layout Settings > Text Alignment > Left
Navigation Settings > Page Turn Speed > 0.2 second

8

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MarketEnabler

Reviewed:
2010-04-05
Version:
3.0.8
Root required?
[color=#FF0000]Yes[/color]

Source:
Off-market
Price:
Free w/ ads

Website:
http://code.google.com/p/market-enabler/

This app conveniently changes your gsm sim operator system property for you. The gsm sim operator value is used by the Android Market to determine what country you are in. This means you will be able to see applications that are only released for a specific region. Also, as Taiwan is not currently a paid app buying market, changing your market region is the only way at the time of this writing to buy paid apps. Root access is required to use this application.

9

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NPR News

Reviewed:
2010-04-05
Version:
1.2
Root required?
No

Source:
All Android Markets
Price:
Free

Website:
http://www.npr.org/services/mobile/android.php

This is a fully featured app that has three main functions:

It displays news articles from NPR’s new service.
It can be used to listen to NPR podcasts.
It can find and play live streams of local public radio stations.

Overall the app is very responsive and well made. Note that this app does not index or play back content from the other two major U.S. public radio networks (PRI and APM). If you are a fan of U.S. public radio, this is a must have app.


10

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AdFree Android

Reviewed:
2010-04-05
Version:
0.4.1
Root required?
[color=#FF0000]Yes[/color]

Source:
All Android Markets
Price:
Free

Website:
http://www.bigtincan.com/downloads/android.html

This is a very simple app which downloads an ad-blocking HOSTS file from BigTinCan.com and writes it to your /system/etc/hosts. The effect is that most (not all) ads in the browser and applications-- basically the entire system-- will be blocked from being downloaded. It may break a few apps.

11

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Parrot Puzzle

Reviewed:
2010-04-05
Version:
3.6
Root required?
No

Source:
Android Market
Price:
Free

Website:
http://playgamesite.com

I have a parrot, so this one really appealed to me. It’s a jig-saw type, where you slide the jumbled pieces around until the picture is arranged correctly. There are 95 levels – each level has a different picture – some are fairly easy; others can be quite complicated. There is a move counter, so you can see how many moves it took to get the picture finished correctly.

Good time killer while you are waiting for whatever.

12

Will contribute once I found the guilty app draining the legend 75% over night. :bluemad:
Was googling for blacklisted app’s with known bacground consumption, but no culprits found though

13

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Android Town

Reviewed:
2010-05-24
Version:
1.3.1
Root required?
No

Source:
Android Market or webpage
Price:
Free

Website:
http://www.android-town.com

Android Town is a mobile location based social community (Android OS 1.6 requirement). It searches out people near you using the same application and shows them on your screen. You are then able to message them, add them as friends and even send them a picture of where you are. You can also check their profile. From there on it’s up to you if you want to meet them or not…

14

Thanks for starting this thread. That Chinese/English dictionary looks good. By all means, keep the recommendations coming.

15

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Alchemy

Reviewed:
2010-10-11
Version:
1.8
Root required?
No

Source:
Android Market
Price:
free



Alchemy is strangely addictive and it’s a great way to pass the time. You start with four basic elements, earth, water, fire, and air. From there, you drag two elements together to make new ones. For instance, fire and water make alcohol (see, this IS a game you guys will love!), tobacco and man make cancer, and egg and fire make omelet. There are a total of 300 possible items to make; some of them are esoteric, some of them are machines, some of them are buildings, some of them are animals, some of them are silly… there are several groaners too, so beware.

In the screenshots above, you can see the start screen, a screen with a lot of stuff built (if there are too many things on the screen, you can always drag some to the plus, which will turn into a trash can). The final screenshot shows the library, where all the items you’ve unlocked appear in alphabetical order. Some items are “terminal” which means that nothing else can be built using them. An example of this is “beach” and the red asterisk is your clue that it’s terminal. (Though “beach” ticks me off… beach plus bird should equal seagull, damn it!)

Version 1.8 adds some new supported languages and fixes some old bugs. Watch for new updates, because they add 20-30 new items each time they rev the app (usually). On one of my other phones, I got to 295 before I got really frustrated because I couldn’t guess the last 5… the first 130 or so are easy and then there’s an element of blind luck and brute force. Normally, that sort of play annoys me, but let’s face it, what else is there to do on the MRT?

Promise yourself to NOT Google “Alchemy cheats” because once you do, the game kinda sucks. I know people who have ruined the game for themselves that way…

16

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Android Town

Reviewed:
2010-05-24
Version:
1.3.1
Root required?
No

Source:
Android Market or webpage
Price:
Free

Website:
http://www.android-town.com

Android Town is a mobile location based social community (Android OS 1.6 requirement). It searches out people near you using the same application and shows them on your screen. You are then able to message them, add them as friends and even send them a picture of where you are. You can also check their profile. From there on it’s up to you if you want to meet them or not…[/quote]

Has anyone else tried this app? I am in the market for a social network like plurk or twitter but NOT fb. Gosh, not fb.

17

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Screen Filter

Reviewed:
2010-12-24
Version:
1.1.1
Root required?
No

Source:
Android Market
Price:
Free!

Website:
http://www.appbrain.com/app/screen-filter/com.haxor

This is a handy little app for reducing screen brightness. I’ve often found my Galaxy S screen too bright in low-light situations, and I’m sure most people have difficulty using their devices in pitch black. This app lets you adjust the screen brightness to below the manufacturer’s level.

18

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Moon+ Reader

Reviewed:
2010-12-24
Version:
1.2.6
Root required?
No

Source:
Android Market
Price:
Free!

Website:
http://www.appbrain.com/app/moon-reader/com.flyersoft.moonreader

The primary function of my phone for me is an e-book reader. As such, I’ve spent some time playing around with several readers: Aldiko, Laputa, FBReader, Cool Reader, Kindle, Kobo, and Nook (I had to get that one off-market). I keep coming back to Moon+ Reader every time.

First off, it gets updated regularly. Of all my installed reading apps, this is the one that gets an update the most often, and the developer is very responsive to requests from users.

Some of the main features are:

  • supports txt, html, epub, umd, fb2, zip, OPDS
  • online (Google, Wikipedia) and offline (ColorDict, Fora) dictionary support
  • note-taking and highlighting
  • extremely customizable menu
  • extremely customizable color options, including saved themes for different lighting conditions
  • autoscroll
  • online catalogs

All of the other readers I’ve used have had one or more of the above features missing, or they tried to rope and hogtie you into their closed networks. It’s easily the best reading app I’ve come across so far.