Yen Kai's Idea Cast

I’ve been wanting to write this article for some time but interestingly, i’ve just lost my Android phone! So this is a bit like a post-mortem dump. After the excitement of getting a new phone and experimenting with Apps has worn out, the Apps i found myself using frequently were:

Having upgraded to Froyo from Eclair, some apps which i have recommended before are no longer needed in my opinion. Here’s a rundown on the keepers and losers as well as new apps you may want to use with Froyo:

Keepers

Upgraded my Samsung Galaxy S to the highly anticipated Froyo (i.e. Android 2.2) firmware more than a week ago. Main impression: the phone does seem more responsive. Previously (i.e. when running Android 2.1 aka Eclair), the phone is often in a state where the CPU is fully utilized and is unable to respond for no less than 10 seconds. With Froyo, there seems to be a huge improvement in task management, which is evident also from the improved responsiveness even when the phone is installing a new app (which used to stall the phone completely).

AppBrain - Besides allowing you to sync your apps list so that you can re-install them in case you had to reset your phone back to factory settings, the most prominent feature is the app recommendation, which, frankly, is the source through which i discovered most of the apps i’m recommending in my mini app reviews. So go ahead, install AppBrain and browse the hot apps every now and then. The quality of the apps listed is way better than those listed in the default Google Market App (which i suspect may have been prioritized based on ad dollars from the App publishers).

Buy a new phone. Just kidding. As the saying goes, prevention is better than cure. Don’t take risks if the potential gain is not significant. I learnt it the hard way when i tried out some App Launchers (Launcher Pro and QuickDesk Beta), both of which rendered my Samsung Galaxy S unbootable (phone starts up but refuses to show the home screen).

Along with those apps i have mentioned before, here are more which made it to my must have list:

You can probably find thousands of “My Android Apps List” postings out there, here’s mine (standard built-in apps excluded):

My previous attempt at reviewing the Samsung Galaxy S/Android ended up being more of commentaries on Android in general. Here’s the follow up real deal, a practical month-old-user review of the Galaxy S.