GregHowley.com

Latest Greatest Android Apps

October 8, 2013 -

Okay - so here's a roundup of some of the latest greatest Android apps I've been trying. I'm not going to go back into detail about my all-time favorites like Llama, EStrongs File Explorer, or Google Tasks. I'm planning to write about apps I probably haven't covered before. They're new to me, but not necessarily new apps.

Apps

Focal Beta Focal had been tied to Cyanogenmod, an Android ROM I'd nearly installed a couple times. But now it's available for download via Google Play. It's all about the UI. I still haven't figured out how to tell it to save my photos to my SD card rather than the default DCIM directory, but it is still in beta. I do like the app.

uTorrent Remote Having a good UI through which to access my uTorrent client remotely is very nice. And setup is extremely easy. I've been making good use of it.

Sold A new E-Bay like app. I've still yet to use it, but from what I gather, Sold focuses on ease of use. They do just about everything for you. You provide photos and a description of what you're selling. They set the price, find a buyer and then ship you packaging. You mail out the item, and they direct deposit your payment. You can't determine what you'll be paid, but it's super-easy.

Pocket I need a good, easy way to save off longer articles and videos to check out later. I tried Pocket. I hate it. Why? Because there's no way to click a saved URL and view it in a browser or in my YouTube app. I'm locked into Pocket's crappy browser. I'm currently looking into alternatives because Pocket infuriates me.

Google Keep For taking quick notes. I don't generally use the photo or audio options, although I've used a checklist once or twice. I'm also trying Evernote, but not liking it as much as Keep. I'm not a fan of Evernote's marketplace and the nudging to buy a premium version. On the other hand, not giving all my data to Google would be a plus.

Games

Uniwar Current favorite game. I'm playing with the same three friends I get together with to play Descent about once per month. Uniwar is an asynchronous multiplayer turn-based strategy game much like Starcraft. There are three races: A robotic one, a monstrous alien one, and a human-like one. The robots can teleport, but are frozen in place for a short time afterwards. The alien monsters have units that can dig underground. The humans have units that can double-move or retreat after attacking. The differentiation between races is very good, but I'd like to see even more of it.

Broken Sword I've only played the very beginning, but as of yet, it's the best Android point-and-click adventure game I've tried.

SpaceTeam! You can only play if you've got a few friends in the same room with their own (Android or iOS) devices, but it's crazy fun. You and your friends are a SPACE TEAM. Each player is shown a control panel, and each is given commands such as "Activate forward thrusters" or "Set Particle Flux dispersal matrix to 6". The control to take any given action is on one of the players' screens, and you've got about eight seconds to perform the right action before the ship takes damage. The game mostly amounts to you and your friends yelling at each other. It's a lot of fun.

Dungeon Raid I'm not going to highly recommend the game, but it's a fun little time killer. I just wish it had more depth. It's essentially a Puzzle Quest clone. Match coins, armor or potions to get money, armor or health. Match swords with monsters to damage those monsters. It's a nice little mechanic, but the game really needed more.