But this year, with devices using the Android operating system reaching a dominant position in the world’s smartphone market, deeper-pocketed developers turned their full attention to them. The result was a slate of new apps that can more seriously challenge Apple’s best.
Note that this list does not include seasonal standouts like MLB.com’s At Bat 11; nor does it include games, which I’ll cover in a post on the Gadgetwise blog.
GOOGLE MUSIC (free) Google’s music service lets a user upload 20,000 songs from a PC or Mac to the cloud; the Android app instantly syncs those tunes and playlists, so there’s no longer any worry about plugging a mobile device into the desktop computer to pick up the latest purchases for the next workout or commuting trip. Wireless syncing is also available through Apple or Amazon, but with less free storage. Google Music is nicely integrated with the Android Market, which in recent weeks has featured popular songs free, as well as millions of other titles for 49 cents each.
WEBROOT SECURITY AND ANTIVIRUS (free) One unsettling thing about Android phones is that their apps often reach the market without any testing for malicious software. That is not the case for Apple apps, or Android apps offered by Amazon. Attacks have been infrequent, but with Android’s huge rise in popularity, security analysts say consumers should take precautions. Webroot is a good place to start. The app’s free version automatically scans a phone for viruses and blocks malicious Web sites and SMS messages. It includes a device locator feature, which is activated from the company’s Web site.
SWIFTKEY X ($3) If your thumbs don’t fly on a touch-screen keypad, and newfangled typing options like Swype do not work for you, SwiftKey X is a great option. The app offers corrections and predictions as you type, and it can scan your Gmail, Facebook, Twitter and SMS accounts to refine its predictions. In some cases, if not many, it will even stay one step ahead by suggesting the correct next word.
ANY.DO (free) There is no Web component to this reminder service yet, but Any.Do is still a tremendously useful and smart way to manage one’s to-do list. Those needing Web synchronization might try Wunderlist, which is also free. Any.Do includes an auto-fill feature to save keystrokes, and tasks can be rescheduled by dragging entries from one day to the next. Reminders come reliably on schedule, and when a task is complete, the entry can be crossed out with a swipe of the finger. Everything about Any.Do feels elegant and efficient, as a personal assistant should be.
8TRACKS (free) This is my new favorite app for listening to other people’s music. Spotify is great online, but it is greatly limited on a mobile phone unless you pay $10 a month. With 8tracks, strangers are your D.J.’s. Type the name of an artist or genre, and it delivers related playlists from other listeners. You can fast-forward only through two songs per hour, but it is nice to hear playlists built by real people, not algorithms, and to keep those people on a list of favorites. It is like having a virtual army of college D.J.’s arrayed before you, ready to indulge your musical tastes.
PAPER CAMERA ($2) Too often, camera filter apps are not nearly as fun as they initially appear, since loading the special effects takes time, and the results frequently fail to impress. Paper Camera suffers from neither shortcoming. When you point the camera, it applies the chosen filter to the viewfinder, so you know exactly what shot you will get. Don’t like what you see? Just press a button and the screen quickly displays the next effect; there are 12 in all. Paper Camera includes multiple sharing options as well, but does not yet provide for a front-facing camera.
TEXTONLY — BROWSER (free) People who are watching their data limits can cut corners with TextOnly — Browser, which works as advertised for most of the well-known news sites. It is far from flawless, since users must type in the precise Web address rather than searching with keywords, and some important sites seem immune to the technology. The Huffington Post and ESPN.com, for instance, repeatedly failed to load pages last week. Still, it works smoothly on most sites. Think of it as the anti-Flipboard, where aesthetics count for nothing. But when you tally your cellphone bill at month’s end, it may count for a lot.
BEWEATHER (free). A lovely, nimble little weather assistant, BeWeather delivers quick, essential information with a flick of the thumb. The data is wrapped in an animated skin that adds elegance, or drama, to the experience.
One of its better competitors, MyWeather (also free), has more raw information and more precise forecasts, but it is slower and less refined- looking than BeWeather. BeWeather’s forecast data is from Weather Underground, a service that has built a loyal following and a good reputation for reliability.
GOOGLE CURRENTS (free) Google isn’t about to let Flipboard run away with the mobile market for newsreaders. The company this year released Google Currents, an attractive and efficient way to view all news sources in a single magazine format. Google Currents makes it easy to customize your news feed, although it may sometimes cause frustration by offering articles and sources that sit behind pay walls. A bigger flaw is that the app does not yet include Twitter or Facebook feeds, but it still scores big points by identifying “trending” articles in various genres, which is great if you care deeply about particular topics.
SPEAKTOIT ASSISTANT (free) The closest thing on Android to Siri, the personal assistant for iPhone 4S owners, Speaktoit isn’t quite as sharp as Siri, but is useful in many situations. You cannot get an answer for a query like “I feel like sushi,” as you would with Siri, but if you ask Speaktoit to find a nearby sushi restaurant, it obliges. As with Siri, if the app cannot find an answer, it opens a Google search with a few key words from your request, which is often faster than typing. Speaktoit’s humanesque voice is also roughly similar to thatof its Apple counterpart, and you can choose different voices if a perky woman isn’t exactly your type.
Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=e13c8e4ae83f0e274ef156c1a6f1928e