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Top Android App: Epicurious Recipes

Posted on Jun 3, 2010 in Lifestyle, Top Rated Apps | comment

If you’re looking to eat-in and need some exciting new recipes to inspire you, check out the Android app for the award-winning food site, Epicurious.

  • Version: 1.0.1
  • Size: 4.03MB
  • Category: Lifestyle
  • Price: Free



The Epicurious app opens up to a very attractive UI with suggested categories that you can browse as well as a convenient search button. Recipes are included from popular magazines like Gourmet and Bon Appetite, as well as renowned chefs, restaurants, and cookbooks. When you’ve found a meal/snack/dessert that sounds appetizing, select it to view a picture, read user reviews (including the % that would make the dish again), and checkout the full recipe (including description, ingredients, and preparation instructions).

If you like what you’ve found, click the grey plus button for options including adding the recipe to your favorites, to your shopping list, or share it via email. The shopping list is one of the best features of this app. Based on what dish you have selected, the shopping list will break up the ingredients into related food types (i.e. dairy, nuts/spices, etc.) and each item is checkable, that way you won’t need to create the list yourself and you won’t forget anything! This really makes cooking new dishes very simple.

Pros:

  • 25,000+ recipes to choose from
  • Exceptional UI
  • Shopping List makes buying proper ingredients very simple



Areas for improvement:

  • No option to use different measuring systems
  • Force close issues on some devices
  • Many recipes do not have pictures



Conclusion: For anyone tired of the same meals, Epicurious makes it easy to spice things up!

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Top Android App: Ultimate Stopwatch

Posted on May 20, 2010 in Lifestyle, Top Rated Apps | 4 comments

Ultimate Stopwatch is a graphical stopwatch and countdown timer.

  • Version: 3.1.2
  • Size: 229KB
  • Category: Lifestyle
  • Price: Free
  • Overall Score: 4.6/5



This app is great for timing or counting down to anything! The graphical interface is very appealing, and makes it rather fun to use. Previous updates to this app have improved the animation so that it uses much less battery than before. Additionally, the app can run in the background and alert you when it is complete (for the countdown timer).

To start or pause the timer, simply touch the stopwatch. The reset button in the upper right-hand corner will clear the timer and all lap-times. In order to record a lap-time in the first place, tap the bottom of the screen while the timer is running. Recording lap-times won’t stop the timer, so keep going!

To switch between stopwatch and countdown modes, just hit menu.

Pros:

  • Aesthetic user interface
  • Simple to use
  • Allows lap-time recordings



Areas for improvement:

  • No saved timings
  • Can’t perform multiple timings at once



Conclusion: Definitely a handy app to have at your disposal. Awesome graphic interface to boot!

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Top Android App: Flip2Silent

Posted on May 14, 2010 in Lifestyle, Top Rated Apps | 2 comments

Flip2Silent is a simplistic app that allows you to escape those embarrassing situations when your phone rings at the most inopportune moments.

  • Version: 1.0.1.5
  • Size: 528KB
  • Category: Lifestyle
  • Price: $1.49
  • Overall Score: 4.6/5



With Flip2Silent’s etiquette mode, you can quickly mute incoming calls/notifications by placing your phone face down. The response time is very impressive, with almost no lag between flipping your phone and silencing your phone.

You can also quickly change your sound profile to normal, vibrate, or silent. You can also customize exactly what you want the etiquette mode to regulate. While using this app, I had all options activated so that flipping the phone over would mute incoming calls and notifications along with disabling the vibration. Furthermore, you can add an icon in your notification bar if you’d like quick access to the app’s options (however, I think for more settings control, Quick Settings is the way to go).

Pros:

  • Extremely responsive, instantly mutes your phone
  • Simple implementation and usage



Areas for improvement:

  • Keep it simple! Maybe replace with a widget for quick access.



Conclusion: Definitely worth a download if you’re someone who often forgets to silence their phones!

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Top Android App: Zillow Real Estate

Posted on Mar 24, 2010 in Lifestyle, Top Rated Apps | comment

Are you in the market to buy/sell/rent a home or apartment? Or are you interested in real estate and want to educate yourself? Then lucky for you, Zillow.com has just released their official Zillow app for Android, with many great features.

Application: Zillow Real Estate
Version: 1.0.2
Size: 234KB
Category: Lifestyle
Price: Free
Overall Score: 4.6/5

User Interface: 5/5
Ease of Use: 5/5
Customizability: 4.5/5
Originality: 4.5/5
Indispensability: 4/5

Zillow Real Estate offers you the ability to see Zestimate home values, homes for sale, homes for rent, and more. You can use voice search, as well as your GPS, to search for homes.

When you open the app, your GPS location will be displayed on the layered map. You’ll notice different colored icons representing homes for sale, rent, etc. If you’re interested in a nearby location, just swipe the screen to move the map and the housing information will automatically update for you.

If you’ve found a home you’d like more information about, simply click the icon hovering over it. You’ll be given the address, the sale price, the # of beds/baths, and the square footage.

Then, if you’re further intrigued, click the info box for the full listing. Here you’ll find even more valuable information that will help you make an informed decision. For one, you’ll be able to see the Zestimate chart over different time periods so you can see the price fluctuation. Also, you’ll be able to see property tax information (where applicable), comparable sale prices in the area, and realtor information. Additionally, check out the street view from Google if you want to see a view of the rest of the neighborhood.

Furthermore, if you’re only in the market for a specific price range or # of bedrooms, apply filters to help ease your search.

Try out Zillow Real Estate from the Android Market today! Scan or click the QR code below for instant access. Let us know if this helped you make a decision on where to move or how much to pay for your new place!

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Top Android App: OpenTable

Posted on Dec 19, 2009 in Lifestyle, Top Rated Apps | comment

OpenTable is a great Android app that allows you to search for restaurants and make reservations.  Now when you’re on the go you can book reservations ahead of time from your Android phone!

Application: OpenTable

Version: 1.0.8
Size: 689KB
Category: Lifestyle
Price: Free
Overall Score: 4.5/5
User Interface: 4.5/5
Ease of Use: 4.5/5
Customizability: 4/5
Originality: 5/5
Indispensability: 4.5/5
When you open the app, you can search the database of OpenTable restaurants by selecting a location (easiest) or by finding a location around a specific metro (this wasn’t as easy).  When you select to find a table near your current location, you can choose the options for “Date & Time” as well as “Party Size” and the maximum amount of restaurants you’d like the app to display.  If you’re willing to travel to a greater area, have more results returned.  Then, click “Find a Table.”
The app then lists all search results based on location, nearest to you first.  It also gives you available times that you can make a reservation with the options you selected in the previous page.  From here you can map all the restaurants selected using Google Maps.  This option is very similar to other apps like Yelp.
You can also refine your search results based on cuisine, price, show unavailable times, and 1000pt tables only.  This should help you narrow down your search.  Furthermore, clicking the search button allows you to narrow down the long list of results as you type in information.  It’s nice to see that list shorten with each added letter you search, instead of simply doing an endpoint search which is frustrating if you can’t remember how to spell the restaurant name.  Even more, you can find reviews entered by other OpenTable users to see how their experience rated.
If you’re ready to make a reservation, simply click the time you want.  From here you can either login to your OpenTable account if you’re already registered, or just fill in your name, email, phone, etc. to sign up and make the reservation.  Signing in to OpenTable is required so they can determine whether or not you actually make good on your reservations.
Overall, OpenTable is a very useful app for making reservations for restaurants on the go.  A couple important notes to be made are that the OpenTable database is only as big as the number of restaurants that actually participate.  This app isn’t made to be something like Yelp where you can see a list of every single restaurant in your area.  Remember this if you don’t find a particular restaurant in this app.
Similarly, the one drawback I found with this app is there isn’t a quick way to make a search.  I’d like one of the options on the main page of the app to allow you to select a location and restaurant name and immediately show you what you wanted.  Adding this functionality would greatly improve the ease of use of this app.
Scan the barcode with Barcode Scanner or click the QR code (if you’re on your Android phone) to be taken directly to OpenTable in the Android Market.
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