It used to be that you couldn’t turn around in cyberspace without falling over an iPhone app but slowly the tables are turning and the apps available for the Android are starting to leak into all corners. Here is a list, not a comprehensive one, mind, of ten of the coolest Android apps lurking out there for fans to enjoy.
Google Earth
If you happen to be one of the Android 2.1 elite then Google’s finally brought the wonders of Google Earth to the phone. You can enjoy all the amazing features that Google Earth has to offer along with voice search and multitouch. It rocks.
Google Gesture Search
Ha! You may think it’s all about voice search but you’d be wrong. The Gesture Search app is damn sexy and has the added bonus of keeping you entertained for several hours just because making shapes on the screen and seeing a wealth of content appear is cool. You just draw the letters of the word you want and results start filling up the screen.
Pong Time
The coolest videogame of the 70s. The game that made Nolan Bushnell and Al Alcorn famous is now in Android form. As a clock. Keep a close eye on the time and play Pong at the same time! The use of an exclamation mark is mandatory in this instance. Did I mention it was free?
Doodle Jump
I need to thank Gizmodo for this one. I also need to kill them. This is so addictive it’s could potentially lose you your job, your marriage and your kids. You use your phone’s accelerometer to control the game and form a new addiction. It’s a bit pricier than the iPhone version though.
Google SkyMap
Say goodbye to smug iPhone users boasting about how their phones have apps that can show you the positioning of the stars in the sky. Thanks to this neat app you can see real-time information about the stars, constellations and celestial objects as you pass your phone across the sky. This is just too good to be true and well worth our very own smug conversations.
Talk To Me
Thanks to the determined Ash Cloud of Doom you may well be stuck in a foreign country without any ideas on how to communicate with the locals. Thank goodness for this free app that will translate your input text or speech into around 40 different languages. Now you can finally get that cup of coffee.
Android Lightsaber
Officially sanctioned by LucasArts, this is your very own lightsaber in your pocket. You need this. You really do.
Note Everything
Never forget anything ever again with this superbly handy app that notes things in paint, voice, text, checklists, photos and runs in live folders. Simple, effective and will save you from missing those all important dental checkups.
Advanced Task Killer
This is vital, essential, mandatory, essential – oh, wait I already said that. Android phones can suddenly screech to a frustrating halt thanks to the millions of background processes eating up your speed. Use this app to free your internal memory, sort your files and improve performance.
Metal Detector
Instead of praising this app to the skies I’m just going to quote the developer description verbatim. It made me cry with laughter.
“Turns your cell phone into a metal detector, and makes people with iPhones jealous.”