Android Utility Apps
App Review Websites
★
Android Central
★ Engadget
★ PC World
★ AndroidPolice
★ Appolicious (iPhone)
★ VentureBeat
★ Lifehacker.com
★ Mashable.com
★ GigaOm
AppJudgement/Revision3
Android User Blog Roll
VIMEO:
App Show features fun
young blondes using Nokia at
WEBSITE: Lady Geek TV from
London
WEBSITE:
Top 20 Apps
by Jason Heiner at Tech Republic
WEBSITE: Lockerknome???
Scanners: QR, Microsoft Tag, and Digimarc
The location of installers can be specified on websites and print media using
WIKIPEDIA: Quick Response
QR codes.
WARNING: Scan goes thru the app's website first (AT&T or Microsoft or Symantec Norton).
APP: Symantec Norton Snap is the QR Reader I use it rather than blindly sending you to websites, it checks if the site is known bad. Plus it optionally enables the camera's flash when appropriate.
APP: Googles recognizes text, and translates. It also recognizes landmarks. Best of all, scan business cards. More here. I don't use its QR reader.
Other QR apps I don't use:
APP:
AT&T Code Scanner pre-installed on their phones doesn't work without a phone connection, and uses up phone data minutes.
APP:
Barcode Scanner from Zxing
(for Zebra Crossing)
is preferred by some because it's made from open source Java code,
and it scans bar codes of many varieties (QR, UPC/EAN, Datamatrix, EZcode), as does
APP:
QR Droid from DroidLa is among the most popular of free apps downloaded.
The only QR code app rated "5.0 out of 5 stars" by PCWorld.
It creates QR codes for specified contacts.
APP:
HP's Code Scanner
Example: Invoke the app and scan the black-and-white QR code for downloading
a scanner app for
Microsoft's Tag from
http://gettag.mobi.
Invoke the Tag app and scan the color code at right, which takes you to this site's home page.
-
APP:
Digimarc Discover reads
human-imperceptible digital watermarks in printed materials as well as QR Codes.
This app only processes codes which link to websites.
CAUTION: Avoid promisciously scanning of QR codes.
CAUTION: Review the permissions you give to every app. Allowing access to your contact list is a good way to lose friends when they are spammed with your address.
CAUTION: Don't google the app's name because there are sites that provide downloads of apps altered with malicious code. There are websites that look like the Google Android Market or Apple iPhone, but was really created by malicious greedy slimeballs.
TIP: Use a web browser and in the browser's Address field, type in the company's website address, and search within the company's website.
This is why users are forced to first enable their phone to install from a source other than the Android Market:
Settings > Applications. Check the box marked "Unknown Sources".
If not done, you'll get the message "For security, your phone is set to block installation of
applications not obtained from Android Market." In case you missed it, the message is
"Your phone and personal data are more vulnerable to attack by applications from unknown
sources. You agree that you are solely responsible for any damage to your phone or loss
of data that may result from using these applications."
-
APP:
AndGuard
blocks ads displayed.
Dangerous Permissions
CAUTION: Know that accepting read permissions to an app means it can read anything on your device.
I usually click "Allow automatic updating" However, this is dangerous for apps from organizations I can't trust because vetted apps with many users can update an app to turn it malicious.
Malicious trojans found include Android.Rootcager, Android.Pjapps, and Android.Bgserv. They came from an existing (popular) app, Injected the malicious code, (e.g. trojan), re‐packaged, and re‐signed with a new key/cert, Uploaded to market (or distribute via web).
There are (as of this writing) 122 permissions listed in the Android Reference on Permissions
-
SMS permissions was used by malware authors to gain false legitimacy posing as the compromised users
requesting friends to sign up for SMS premium subscriptions with carriers.
CONTACTS enable readers to send spam or phising emails to everyone on yoru contact list.
MODE_WORLD_READABLE and MODE_WORLD_WRITABLE enable any other app to read the app's files.
WRITE_TO_EXTERNAL_STORAGE enables read and write of all data on the SD card (/mnt/sdcard).
A proposal to Android is to have a more restrictive INTERNET permission which only sends to specific hosts or IP address associated with the app.
On Ice Cream Sandwich onwards, loads system files in a random way using ASLR (Address Space Layout Randomization) to make the system more resistent to attacks.
Move to SD Card
TIP: To avoid "Application Full" messages when installing apps, make room on your internal ROM: On Android 2.2+ devices, in Settings > Applications > Manage Aplications, tap Downloaded tab, select an app, and tap Move to SD card.
CAUTION: Moving data to SD card does not help when the whole device hardware is lost or stolen, which is the single biggest security concern with mobile devices.
Google Two-Factor Sign-In
To get apps from Google Play, you need a Gmail account.
If just one mail account for resetting passwords, if that account is ever compromised, all other accounts are compromised. So I recommend setting up several email accounts. Use an account with a weird name for personal financial transactions. Use a password for it that is completely different than any other account.
For social media, however, use an account with your name. To make it easier for others, use the same name on all sites (Facebook, Twitter, etc.). But vary the password on each site so that passwords stolen from one site cannot be used to compromise your other sites.
Set up two-step password verification for your Google account. When enabled, if someone (you) use a new machine (with a new IP address), Google will send via SMS to your phone a six-digit code. If you have your phone setup on Voice.Google.com, you'll also get that code on Gmail.
Some applications that work outside a browser aren't yet compatible with 2-step verification and cannot ask for verification codes. For example, if an Android phone is new or goes through a factory reset, you won't be able to log into your Google account on your phone unless you jump through the following hoops:
In Gmail, log into your primary Google account on a computer already setup to do so. click on your picture at the upper right corner. Click Account. Click Security on the left menu. Scroll down to "Connected applications and sites" and click "Manage access".
Scroll down to "Application-specific passwords". If you see application-specific passwords listed, click [REVOKE] to remove them because they're only good for one-time use. Under "Step 1 of 2: Generate new application-specific password", create a name for the device and click the "Generate password" button. A new box pops up displaying a long password for one-time use.
On your Android device, first make sure you have a connection to the internet.
Get Notifications by pulling down from the top of the screen. If there is a "sign-In error" message, click on it. In the sign-in, for your email address and (instead of your regular password), input the one-time use password just created (including spaces).
The Google Play account may not recognize the device immediately per https://support.google.com/androidmarket/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1141080
Partial Data Backups
TIP: The first app to find and install should be a way to keep a copy of data on your device in a data cloud.
But the travesty with Android is that, without
rooting,
one cannot obtain a complete image of a device
to recover all data when one's device is lost, destroyed, or so one can confidently upgrade.
The author of an app can create an upgrade that requires payment for an app that was installed as FREE.
So it helps to have the free version back in case that happens.
BLAH: Shockingly, the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) which wrote Android provided no way to do that in their stock system. This, again, is similar to Microsoft Windows users needing Symantec or other software to do full backups.
The dilemma is that users still need to figure out how to do backups without rooting since the process of rooting wipes out all data on the device. Some apps claim they provide backups, but only a limited set of user data:
-
APP:
$4.99 MyBackup Pro from
RerWare.com have online secure servers the app can save (on a scheduled basis)
backup (for migration to another phone) of Data
Contacts, Call log, Browser Bookmarks,
SMS (text messages), MMS (message attachments),
System Settings, Home Shortcut positions,
Alarms, Dictionary, Calendar,
Music Playlists.
Backup of Apps and Media include Photos.
Rooted phones bakcup apk+data and market links.
APP: Lookout backs up contacts and identifies viruses. $30/year premium subscription includes backup of pictures and call history to their cloud as well as remote lock and remote wipe.
APP: Dropbox provides a cloud-based repository to share files among devices, your PC, Mac, etc.
Android File Explorers
Android does not come with a GUI app to browse files on your SD card.
So install from
Google Play marketplace
one of these apps:
-
APP:
Linda File Manager has an intuitive user interface.
APP: ASTRO File Manager has been popular.
Rooted Apps to Extend Battery Life and Other Settings
APP:
Locale from 24Forum for $9.99
was the Grand Prize Winner of an Android Challenge because it turns on and off the device depending on
various situations.
Locale sets your phone's ringer behavior based on rules:
the time, who is calling, what is on your schedule,
and the phone's location. Set it to stop ringing during sales meetings or prioritize some calls over others.
Many other apps work with Locale's settings.
Location and Timeriffic lets you program different settings by time of day, such as no rings after 10pm.
Some utility apps only work with phones which have been
Rooted
-
APP:
Power Setting Widget
lets you tweak what's not exposed in regular Settings GUI.
APP: Memory Booster looks for and frees up memory.
Prior to version 2.2 (on early Droids), the Android OS prefers to leave apps running, which consumes battery and makes active apps slower.
APP:
Advanced Task Killer (ATK) enables users to manually kill applications running.
APP: Shootme is a screen grabber. It takes screen shots of the screen.
Launchers
The launcher is the home page of Android devices. This Computerworld article lists 12 of them.
APP: Everything launcher rearranges icons depending on a voice command and also your GPS location.
APP: Nova launcher allows you to adjust the size of the desktop grid (which determines the number of icons), pick from an assortment of animation effects, make the app drawer look and work any way you want, customize the appearance of folders, change and resize app icons and labels, and even adjust the speed at which scrolling occurs.
APP: The Everything Launcher from EverythingMe is context sensitive - it presents different icons depending on time of day.
APP: Terrain Home: Sidebar & Search from Terrainhome provides a better sidebar accessible from any app.
Themes, Wallpapers, Skins, Icons
- MetaMorph or
- cyanogenmod
The Home screen can dynamically display a Live Wallpaper.
-
APP:
Beautiful Widgets by LevelUp Studio
WARNING: Live Wallpapers and Themes run an service all the time, which drains battery life. This factor may be more important to some than a prettier screen.
TIP: Set a black background wallpaper saves battery life.
A theme defines colors and icons, including those of the system itself. They are applied by users modifying the contents of ROM, through downloading a and installing a zip file such as
Flashlight apps enable the device a flashlight by painting a pure white screen (or other light color). Options include turning on the flash used on the camera.
-
APP:
Keyboards
Since the keyboard is one UI that people use the most, small time savings during text input can add up over time. If you find yurself making many typing mistakes, and the auto-completion doesn't thrill you, especially if you have a smaller phone, try these:
-
APP:
SwiftKey X Keyboard from top developer Swiftkey (TouchType),
replaces Android's default touchscreen keyboard with smarter natural language technology.
There are separate free trial editions for
smartphones and
tablets, as well as a
$2.99 full edition for smartphones and
$3.99 full edition for tablets.
Data Encryption
On their own, mobile devices do not provide built-in encryption.
So programming is needed using
Enterprise-oriented mobile app development tools
Several apps provide encryption.
-
WEBSITE:
TrueCrypt encrypts files to a special drive on PC's.
The AT&T Developer Program makes available source code which encrypt files.
MDM (Mobile Device Management)
Mobile Device Management is a must-have for business enterprises:
-
www.hp.com/go/devicemanagement
Good Technologies
SMobile Systems is a mobile personal and enterprise security firm offering "Monitor and Control" services for Android (virus protection, GPS location, remote wipe, etc.).
MobileIron 4.5,
AirWatch,
SyBase (for SAP),
Symantec,
Divide from Enterproid.
Speed of Network Connections
Utilities to analyze connection quality and speed include:
-
APP:
Speedtest.net Mobile tells you how fast data transfers are occuring from your device, taking advantage of the website
speedtest.net
APP: Shunra Network Catcher captures latency (delay) and packets loss during periods of up to 15 minutes. It can create NTX files that other Shunra products use to emulate the same conditions captured by this app.
APP: Wifi Analyzer from farproc shows which Wi-Fi channels (1-14) around you has the fastest connection.
APP: WiFi Lock keeps from losing connection.
APP: Antennas shows where cell phone towers are so you know where to walk so you can get closer to them for get better reception, rather than walking around aimlessly.
Phones need to be rooted
to take advantage of
Network tweaks
like tethering and faster DNS lookups.
Device Measurements
Measure the speed of your phone's hardware components versus a benchmark of other phones:
-
APP:
Global Quandrant rank by Android experts at
OPDA
Ignore
Quadrant Standard from Aurorasoftworks.
APP: AnTuTu Benchmark
APP: System Test by George Android.
APP: zero-x-bench (by Joseph Chang) is based on open-source Comprehensive Benchmark Suite for Android running industry-standard benchmark routines, with results displayed at 0xbenchmark.appspot.com/public
Android Application Resource Optimizer (ARO)
To capture a video of what appears on the screen and create a network trace (pcap file),
the
AT&T Developer Program
offers their
Application Resource Optimizer (ARO).
[
FAQ,
Forum (from http://developer.att.com/ARO/forum),
Blog
]
The app is open-sourced on GitHub as ARO-master.zip from https://github.com/attdevsupport/ARO/. The User Guide pdf in the zip is also available from this link.
DO THIS: Getting Started Guide. It shows the app as pre-installed on Android mobile devices in the Keynote DeviceAnywhere cloud Virtual Developer Lab (VDL).
When unzipped, folder ARODataCollector contains
the ARODataCollector_OpenSource_V1.5.0.5.apk (dated Oct 16, 2012) Android 2.1+ app to run on
rooted
devices. It was coded using
AT&T developement Best Practices.
DO THIS:
side-load
the "ARO" app.
WARNING: A large Secure Digital (SD) card is recommended. When running in an emulator, configure at least 1GB. The app was compiled with the WinPcap.org driver which captures network packets analyzed later to determine network bandwidth usage statistics.
The source code also uses Flurry Analytics to track user events in the app, after import of com.flurry.android.FlurryAgent. This sends data to the 3rd party Flurry server?
ddmlib (DDM library) from the Android SDK is used within Android NDK app code to connect to the host side Android Debug Bridge (ADB).
DO THIS: Invoke the app. Click the checkbox to create an mp4 video file of the screen during capture. This feature is enabled by the app's use of the FFmpeg code library on both capture and analysis programs.
DO THIS: So that only the app under test is traced, click Open Task Killer for this screen to select all apps expect the app under test.
DO THIS: Click Hide Collector at this screen to select all apps expect the app under test.
DO THIS: Run through the app under test. Trace files get written, profiling battery and other aspects.
The server app is a java program, so it can be run on both Windows and Mac OS platforms.
There are four tabs in the AT&T ARO application. By default, AT&T ARO opens on the "Best Practices/Results" tab. When a trace file is loaded, the top section of this tab is filled in with basic information, including a list of applications that were running when the trace data was captured by the AT&T ARO Data Collector. This Trace Summary provides a basic scorecard of test statistics, and shows pass/fail results for each of the best practices that the trace is evaluated against.
The build uses the open-source Jpcap library, a custom JNI library that wraps around the tcpdump 4.1.1 packet analyzer and libpcap 1.1.1 library for network traffic capture.
DO THIS: Invoke ARO.jar The AT&T ARO Data Analyzer may be launched from any web browser that has associations set automatically set when Java is installed on your computer. (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) type association for Java Network Launching Protocol (JNLP) files).
The AT&T ARO Data Analyzer makes visibile radio resource and energy utilization when applications are running on a device or on the Android Emulator. It benchmarks the resource efficiencies of an application against 12 commonly viewed best practices, and gives an automatic diagnosis of application inefficiencies..
Trace files are displayed as Diagnostics View charts by the java program coded using the free JFreeChart library.
Analysis Guide pdf 3G UMTS, 4G LTE, and WiFi models can be applied to packet trace. No matter HOW the trace was collected (3G, LTE or WiFi), you can see how the energy model would be applied to the packets.
Instructions for re-building the program using ANT build from http://ant.apache.org is provided in the zip file. Cygwin is used to compile.
Printing
- Wal-mart
- Costco
It's becoming more rare, but when enterprise users meet face-to-face, it is often useful to have some collateral paper. To print paper from your Android:
-
APP:
Samsung MobilePrint invokes
GCPIntent which creates a PDF and sends it to cloud-ready printers users have shared via wireless or ethernet cable on
Google Cloud Print: This involves
Kodak and Epson as well as HP printers.
APP: HP ePrint Home & Biz takes an URI of the image or PDF to be printed (with MIME type "image/*") and prints it on a nearby HP ePrint wireless printer. It's sneaky in that it not just not support older iPrint for older HP printers, but deletes prior version that do: HP iPrint Photo.
You can send an email of your printer (such as ___@hpeprint.com) and HP routes it to that printer for printing. But don't publish this information or you'll end up with junk from spammers.
Want to create multi-page pdf files?
APP:
CamScanner (the paid version) does it.
The free app creates one-page PDF files from pictures after it auto-crops and enhance image quality.
It was the number one free app (ahead of even Angry Birds), and also among the highest rated.
-
APP:
Shiprack doesn't require entry of tracking codes because it reads confirmation emails from the carriers:
-
APP:
USPS
APP: FedEx Mobile by FedEx Corporate Services
APP: UPS
Web Browsers
Stay with the default Goolge Chrome browser on Android if you want to send links/numbers/maps from PC desktop browser via the internet to your Android phone:
-
APP:
Chrome to Phone
Ice Creatm Sandwich devices can try the beta of:
-
APP:
Google Chrome for Android browser
If you are married to certain Firefox add-ons, or if you need to sync complete browser history, bookmarks, passwords and open tabs across all Firefox instances (and don't mind lack of Flash support):
-
APP:
Firefox 4 for Android from
Mozilla
Many don't feel much speed advantage from the Opera browser caching and compressing images on its server. But it does offer pinch zoom and smooth panning with syncing bookmarks, speed dial. Check out how it supports Twitter and Facebook.
-
APP:
Opera Mobile
APP: Opera Mini 5 browser replaces the browser that comes with your device.
To grant Opera Mini 5 the intents necessary to become your device’s first choice for loading links, download:
APP: OperaBridge from DUMAPIC. Click a web link on the phone and a window should come up saying “Complete action using” Select the “Use by default for this action” radio button Press OperaBridge.
For different themes and gestures to do some tasks like going back, refreshing, etc.:
-
APP:
Dolphin HD 4.5
For a super-fast browser with a customizable home screen, multi touch pinch zoom, choice of night mode for different default brightness settings (but don't mind force closes occassionally):
-
APP:
MIREN Browser (ported to English from Chinese) is only available from XDA, not the Android Market.
If you like controlling the user agent your browser sends to servers you're visiting so that you can pretend to be a desktop browser (such as when some content is not visible on the mobile version of the site):
-
APP:
Skyfire claims to be the world’s smartest and most social mobile browser.
The one that has it all: switch between the Google/Apple Webit or Microsoft's Trident rendering engines, automatically. [Wikipedia article]
-
APP:
Maxthon from China
Voice Recognition
During the iPhone 4S launch in 2011, the Siri Virtual: Personal Assistant was all the rage. Apple bought the artificial intelligence company so its software can be include it in all Apple phones.
Android has something close to its features:
-
APP:
Vlingo (free)