Friday, October 25, 2013

Life with Android 4.X

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!



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