Advanced Task Manager is your Android app to end applications, speed up your phone, and save battery life.  This is one of the most useful apps you can own on your Android device, hands down.

Application: Advanced Task Manager

Version: 3.9

Size: 145KB

Category: Tools

Price: $0.99

Overall Score: 4.8/5

User Interface: 4.5/5

Ease of Use: 5/5

Customizability: 5/5

Originality: 4.5/5

Indispensability: 5/5

Inside the app you will see a tab called Applications which shows all the current running applications.  It also shows the amount of memory that each app is currently using.  You can use the check boxes to select multiple applications at once to end them all.  An important note is that if you end any applications, their services and notifications will be also stopped.  In order to avoid this, there is an option to add an app to the exclude list.  The exclude list will put a red X in the applications tab and so it won’t be an option to end.  Examples of apps that you might want to add to the exclude list include Email, Facebook, or Twitter.

There is a handy feature to this app called auto-end.  This feature will activate itself, auto-end all running apps that are not excluded, and then deactivate.  This way Advanced Task Manager will only be running for a very short time, yet apps will be closed in order to conserve battery life.  Again, exclude any apps like email, calendar, etc. which you don’t want their notifications to be cleared.  If it’s easier to just select apps you want to auto-end (instead of all running apps) you can add applications to the auto-end apps list.  You can adjust the frequency of auto-end as well to fit your personal preference.

There is even a shake-to-end-all option that will auto-end all applications with the shake of your phone (you can set the threshold for how hard you shake it to activate this feature).  Similarly, there is a 1×1 widget for Advanced Task Manager that allows you to auto-end all running (or predetermined auto-end apps list) apps.  These two features speed up the task killing process, even though it’s very fast to begin with.

The uninstall tab offers a one-touch method of uninstalling any unwanted apps.  Simply click the app you no longer want to open the uninstall dialogue.

Toggle Settings is one of the fastest way to control the settings on your Android phone.  This app is extremely customizable and offers you total control of your phones’ settings.

Application: Toggle Settings

Version: 2.5.4

Size: 522KB

Category: Productivity

Price: Free

Overall Score: 4.7/5

User Interface: 4.5/5

Ease of Use: 4.5/5

Customizability: 5/5

Originality: 4.5/5

Indispensability: 5/5

The initial screen that is brought up contains tabs for Toggles (1-3) and Profiles.  Each Toggle tab can have up to 8 settings to control.  Again, these are customizable so that you can have the settings you want to control the most often on the first tab.  Settings you never change don’t even have to be included on any of the tabs.  List of settings that can be added to your toggle tabs:

·         Airplane

·         Mobile Data

·         Auto sync

·         Bluetooth

·         Fast bright

·         Lock Screen

·         Orientation

·         Screen never timeout

·         Silent Mode

·         Wi-Fi

·         3G network

·         Brightness

·         Notification ringtone

·         Phone ringtone

·         Ringer mode

·         Screen timeout

·         Volume control

The second great part of this app is the customizable profiles that you can create.  Simplified, a profile is a saved set of settings that you want to apply repeatedly.  For example, you can have a Low Battery profile that has settings set to conserve the amount of battery life that you have remaining i.e. turn off GPS, lower screen brightness, etc.  This is a great part of the app that can really come in handy for quick settings adjustments.  Currently I have Home, Location, Low Battery, and Work profiles.

The third important part of this app is the customizable rules that you can setup.  A rule is basically a criteria that when met, will lead to the application of a particular profile.  For example, you can add a rule that when the Battery is less than some %, the Low Battery profile is applied.  Or another example would be a rule based on the time, so that at 8:00AM the Work profile is applied.  Your work profile might include setting your phone to silent, turning off GPS, etc.  Rules can be applied to various different parameters like time, location, battery life, charger is plugged in, etc.

Overall, Toggle Settings is one of those must have Android apps to quickly and efficiently change the settings of your Android phone.  Similarly, it is a great app for conserving battery life in that you can control how settings that are battery intensive are used.  Definitely worth the download.

Scan with Barcode Scanner for direct link to Toggle Settings in the Android Market (Android 1.6 and 2.0).  If you’re running 1.5, search for Toggle Settings (Cupcake) for the appropriate app.

Google Goggles is the newest release for Google on Android.  Instead of using words or voice to search for an item or location, now you can use your camera!  Simply take a picture of an item or your surroundings and the app will attempt to recognize what has been captured.  From there, the app will return relevant search results using their Google search engine.  This is a great development for items that are tough to describe, like a monument in a place you’ve never been before.

Application: Google Goggles

Version: 1.0

Size: 486KB

Category: Tools

Price: Free

Overall Score: 4.8/5

User Interface: 4.5/5

Ease of Use: 4.5/5

Customizability: 5/5

Originality: 5/5

Indispensability: 5/5

Some of the items that Google Goggles recommends you use with this app:

·         Books & DVDs

·         Landmarks

·         Logos

·         Contact info

·         Artwork

·         Businesses

·         Products

·         Barcodes

·         Text

And some of the items that Google Goggles does not recommend you use with this app:

·         Animals

·         Plants

·         Cards

·         Furniture

·         Apparel

Also, the app recommends using the left landscape to take pictures for best results.

Here’s a YouTube video from Google describing the app and how to use it.

So far I’ve tried this app with a few different items.  A couple items had obscure/rare logos and they were not recognized.  Then I tried the 2^nd book in the Twilight series (New Moon) and it had no problem recognizing it and giving me relevant results.

A nice feature is that the app stores a history of all your searches (if you choose so) so you can comeback at a later time to remember what you saw and searched for at a particular time.

Another great feature that may often get overlooked is that Google Goggles will also show nearby businesses in your camera view (based on your GPS location).  When you see the small info box at the bottom of the screen you can click on it to return a search result for that business location.  This page will subsequently show you the location’s name, website, phone number, web results, and more information.  In one touch all this information is yours.  Incredible.

Right off the bat, this is a great app that really displays Android’s functionality and utility in your everyday life.  You can’t possibly skip out on this app for your Android device.  Go get it!

Note: Unfortunately, Google Goggles is only available for Android phones running Android 1.6 or later.  Hopefully all phones running 1.5 will upgraded sooner rather than later.

Scan with Barcode Scanner for direct link to Google Goggles in the Android Market.

FxCamera is an app that enables you to take pictures with a selection of effects. 

Application: FxCamera

Version: 0.5.1

Size: 1.06MB

Category: Mulitmedia

Price: Free

Overall Score: 4.9/5

User Interface: 5/5

Ease of Use: 5/5

Customizability: 4.5/5

Originality: 5/5

Indispensability: 5/5

So far, there are 6 different effects that you can take advantage of to make unique photos.

·         ToyCam

·         Polandroid (Polaroid)

·         Fisheye

·         SymmetriCam

·         Warhol

This app is a great addition to the Android platform.  Sometimes normal pictures just don’t do a picture justice.  Now when you want to send someone a picture you can add your own touch to it.  Want a portrait like something Warhol painted?  You got it.  Want a Fisheye picture of your pet?  You got it.  This app will definitely make your gallery of pictures on your phone much more interesting and fun to look at.

One note: this app requires an SD card to be in your phone.  As long as you haven’t removed the one that came with your device (or replaced it with one with a larger capacity) you are fine.

This top rated app is extremely easy to use so jump right into it.

Scan with Barcode Scanner for direct link to FxCamera in the Android Market.

Key Ring Reward Cards is developed by Froogloid, LLC and uses the barcode scanner on your device to recreate digital copies of all your reward cards.  Know you don’t have to search through your wallet or purse for reward and discount cards, you have them at the tip of your finger.

Application: Key Ring Reward Cards

Version: 1.3.21

Size: 593KB

Category: Tools

Price: Free

Overall Score: 4.7/5

User Interface: 4.5/5

Ease of Use: 4.5/5

Customizability: 5/5

Originality: 4.5/5

Indispensability: 5/5

Adding a card is extremely easy once you’re in the app.  Simply click ‘Add Card’ to open a window where you have the option of either scanning a barcode to add it to the app, or you can also use the keypad to manually type in the code that is located on the card.  With this versatile functionality, Key Ring allows you to add any barcode or non-barcode cards.

Once you’ve scanned the card you then select the retailer that it belongs to.  Key Ring currently supports over 650 global retailers so you shouldn’t have a problem with many of the cards you find yourself carrying around everyday.  Here’s a few photos to show the quick step-by-step process.

Overall, Key Ring Reward Cards is extremely useful in consolidating all your retail/discount cards into one place.  This way you never have to bother with carrying around countless cards again.  This app is a great demonstration of the ability of Android to make life easier.  We recommend you start trying out this app if you haven’t already done so.

If you have any trouble with scanners being unable to recognize a code, watch Froogloid’s short YouTube video which includes their tips on how to maximize the effectiveness of their app.