FINALLY, I
am part of the « true » Android family. It is not a particular pride
for me, just that I spend countless hours checking the latest updates in the
smartphone industry on the internet, but the smartphone I owned was not “cool”
enough to download all the apps I read about. This is history since August 22nd,
when I purchased the Samsung GT-I8190, also known as Galaxy S3 mini. Now, it’s
definitely NOT the best device you can currently carry, it is even supposed to
be a budget phone…
If so, I
guess people who can afford budget phones have reached another level of
comfort! Because this phone really seems and feels premium. But this post is
not going to be about my new phone (even though I really love it), It will be
about the applications that are rapidly changing my life.
Even though
I knew about mobile applications for a long time, I never really measured the impact
that they can make in one’s life. The funny thing is that I don’t even have
access to the internet at all times, like what happens in more developed
countries. Still, I found a way to enjoy the applications I downloaded, and it
looks like losing my smartphone would hurt more than being dumped by my
girlfriend! No I‘m kidding of course. Really, it is just a joke. Anyways, here are
my favorite apps for Android:
1.
Any.do
I first downloaded this sweetheart (yes, I know this is too much, but
that’s how I love it) on my former Android phone, the Galaxy Young Pro. I
uninstalled soon after because it did not suit the format of that phone, and I
never really got the chance to experience the app to the fullest. Now, it’s
simply one of the most useful pieces of software I ever had. The idea behind it
is to list all the tasks that you have to do, and the app beautifully organizes
them for you. You can either organize them in folders (personal, work), or on a
time basis (tasks for today, tomorrow, etc.). if you choose the time the time
basis method, you can tap on “plan your day”. Then plays a nice animation for
you to set the time and remainders of the tasks. This is just brilliant because
the mobile phone is the one device that we carry all day long, therefore there
can be no better entity to remind you of the stuff you have to do. A must have
for all those who find it tough to manage their time.
2.
Evernote
Thoughts fly, writings remain. I don’t know if my translation of this
French expression really catches its essence, but it’s enough to describe the
reason why you should have Evernote installed on your phone. The idea is
simple: just write down everything you have in mind, whether it’s related to
work, family, entertainment, anything. It could a recipe of a dish, the
lyrics of a song, the code of a computer program, the procedure to obtain a
visa, etc. You can even add voice notes, images or videos. All the notes can be
synchronized online, so that you can access them on any device with an internet
connection. There is no more excuse to forget about anything now.
3.
Moon+
reader
If you read the very first post of this blog, you must have understood
that I have been trying to get back to a couple of activities that I used to
like. One of them is reading. Let me introduce you the application that helped
me get back to it: Moon+ Reader. This one worked already on my previous phone,
but it’s even better now with a larger screen. You can get books in different
formats (epub, pdf), and just enjoy the best novels from your phone, with a
large choice of customization: colors of background and text, fonts type and
size, portrait and landscape mode, and so many more options. It is now
impossible to get bored when sitting in a waiting room or while travelling. It
also is a nice way to bring people to reading, since they don’t need to carry
books around; you can have a whole collection of books and novels right in your
pocket.
4.
Pocket
Talking about "pocket", there exists an application of the same name which
is a must have for those who read lots of articles on the internet. The former
name of this app explains its use: “Read
it later”. The idea behind it is to save
into Pocket all the articles that you don’t need to read online. You can then
access them offline, with all the formatting of the web page you visited. The
app also gives you the opportunity to set some articles as favorite, or to
archive others. It is compatible with hundreds of article based websites.
5.
Feedly
If you are looking for a single place to find articles that you can
later save in Pocket, Feedly might be of a great help. It is just the best
replacement of Google Reader as an RSS reader. You can choose among hundreds of
RSS feeds, sort them in categories and let Feedly’s beautiful design and
features do the remaining. Another nice feature is the fact that it supports 5
languages, and features the best article based sites for each language.
6.
WhatsApp
I left India more than 2 years ago after my degree studies, but I feel
like I have never moved thanks to WhatsApp. When you install it on
your phone, it registers your phone number, checks the numbers existing in your
contact list and discovers those that have WhatsApp installed on their phone.
You are then able to send text and voice messages, images and videos to all
your friends and relatives as long as they have a working internet connection on
their phone.
7.
Temple
run 2
Games are an important part of the applications on Android, and one of my
favorite is Temple run 2. As the player, you control a character that steals
something in a temple, and starts running away from a big monkey chasing him
(or her). You are supposed to avoid all the obstacles and traps that stand on
your way and be stay away from the big and ugly monkey. You can also collect
different kind of items to break records or increase the efficiency of your
run. Really addictive game.
8.
Fruit
Ninja
Fruit Ninja is kind of game that makes good use of the touch screen of
your phone. Your finger becomes a blade that is meant to slice fruits that
appear on the screen, but you need to make sure not to touch the bombs that
sometimes appear along with the fruits to fool you. It is just impressive how
innovative developers can be. Easy with your screen though.
9.
I
can’t wake up
With classic alarm clocks applications, you can just tap the snooze
button, go back to your sleep and make sure to be late for work. But if you really need to get up, I can’t wake
up is what you need. When the alarm rings and vibrates at the time you set, you
will need to do much more to stop it. You can choose between shaking up your
phone, solve mathematics equations, play a puzzle, and find the right capital
of a country and so on. There is no way you will feel sleepy after you’re done
passing this app’s challenges. Another brainy idea.
You understood, part of my life revolves around my phone now. I can
work, socialize, play or organize my life with all these great tools. Listing
and describing all the apps I like on my phone here will make of this post an essay; so I will
just mention apps like Facebook, Twiiter, Viber, Instagram, Angry Birds Star
Wars 2, BMX boy… If you’re part of the “family” yet, I hope this post makes ou
understand what you are missing!
