8 Great Apps for Your Android Phone ...

One of those truly great apps for Android, Aldiko reader is a definite must for every fan of the written word! It’s totally free and pretty much the only thing you’ll need in order to start reading immediately! Visit the store and take your pick amongst tons of free classics or purchase something specific in a heartbeat by choosing a paid-for section and the genre you love the most. Oh and let’s not forget the coolest part – shelf view! Just click to open this handy app and voila – you’ve just entered your personal library with all of your favorite titles neatly arranged on wooden shelves.

Pros: A textbook example of a user-friendly app! Background is very comfy, everything is totally customizable, switching between day/night mode is super-easy and many more! This app doesn’t only look great – it works great as well, providing a fantastic user experience you’re not likely to get with most other readers.

Cons: Newest update allows you to import books and that’s great but doesn’t always work as well as it sounds. Oh, and background… is there a reason for which we’re not allowed to change it? I love it the way it is and this really is nothing but me trying to be super nitpicky but still – I just can’t find the option in question and I know some people (namely, my brother) love to change and customize everything!

May not be the very best Android app out there but it sure is best in my book! It allows me to read books regardless of the format they’re in and it used to be a lifesaver back when you couldn’t import books to Aldiko. That alone is enough for me to name it absolutely great, as not having it at hand would mean not having the chance to enjoy all of those wonderful titles and stories. Thumbs up for the new design and improvements! Visual experience is still a world away from Aldiko but the newest version definitely solved a lot of problems, giving the user not only that easy to browse shelf-view but a lot of handy search options as well!

Pros: Reads all formats except lit. files but hey, if you happen to use Android, you probably know this is an ongoing issue with all readers. Very easy to use, tons of tools, day/night setting, tons of background textures and colors to choose from!

Cons: Each update is like a darn lottery! Some versions crash nonstop, others are surprisingly stable! Used to look pretty basic (even a bit crude) and used to open the last viewed document the moment the app is started (very annoying!). New version solved everything, though, making this app truly awesome!

If you’re absolutely hooked on Skype and wish its Android version could be at least a bit better, you should definitely download Viber – a free VoIP application that allows you to call and send messages for free, regardless of whom you’re calling and where in the world he or she is located! Once installed and set up, this application imports your contact list, scanning it for contacts that use Viber. Contacts that use it will be notified of your newest addition and you’ll also receive the same notification should any of your non-Viber contacts decide to start using this app. And that’s not all – you can also invite folks to Viber instead of waiting for them to discover it and broaden the list of people to call for free in a heartbeat!

Pros: Great if you have a lot of friends and relatives abroad or simply travel a lot and need to keep in touch with everyone without the high costs of international calls. Works like a charm even if you don’t use a mobile network but rely on WiFi instead.

Cons: App has a mind of its own and could use a bit of debugging! It can crash multiple times, making the conversation almost impossible, yet often runs so smoothly you’ll forget there ever was a problem! And something that annoys me the most – it doesn’t show which of your Viber contacts are online.

I’m still testing this one but it sure looks like we’ve got one great app for Android to brag about! I love its design, love the handy little wheel and the way you can just tap one of the icons and choose a preferred method of recording your thoughts! Sync this cool app with Facebook and your Google account so you could share tasks and thoughts but worry not, as there is no way to accidentally share stuff that isn't meant to be shared. Fantastic way to organize your files, time, life, work and leisure activities!

Pros: This app lets you sync and backup your notes, allowing you to access everything from a different device and restore your notes quickly should you decide to change a phone/tablet.

Cons: Free version is pretty basic, allowing you three spaces for your notes and a limited use of the Catch cloud (70MB/month). Use it this way or upgrade for a fee of $5/month and you’ll get 50 additional spaces, a chance to use more of Catch’s cloud capacity and be able to attach documents to your notes.

An optional but very interesting Catch addition – I Journal is an app that’s supposed to help you lead a better life! Seriously! It’s based on the principles developed by this guy Shawn Achor (search for his book titled The Happiness Advantage if you’re interested to know more) and allows you to record your positive experiences and thoughts, choosing one of the four categories – Meditation, Exercise, Kindness or Gratitude. Now, I’ve never heard of this guy before but he says that you can reprogram your brain, stress less, turn your life around and become a happier individual all by writing down positive experiences for 21 day in a row. And that sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? Not sure whether it’s going to work or not but hey, spending at least 5 minutes of your day reliving happy moments means you’ll have 5 minutes less to spend stressing or worrying about bad stuff. And that has to count for something!

Pros: A very interesting app that motivates you to focus on the good things in your life instead of the bad ones! Great if you’re planning to finally turn your life around and need a fresh new year for a fresh new start.

Cons: Quite uninteresting-looking! I didn’t expect Sistine Chapel –worthy graphics, of course, but for something made to inspire positive thinking, it sure lacks quite a bit in the visual department.

What a great app for Android! I’m totally hooked and I’m sure you will be, too! Download it, choose your favorite categories, sync your Facebook and Twitter accounts and you’re all set! This app will use your preferences to sift through internet content, choose articles and news that match your interests and present them in a handy easy-to-use, easy-to-choose layout! Flip up and down to read Flipboard picks, gain access to news and stories in each of the selected categories or check your social network feed!

Pros: It’s an all in one sort of app you simply have to have! Your coffee-drinking morning routine is about to get much better, I swear! Give it a shot – you’ll never want to go back to switching between tons of websites again.

Cons: None so far! I’ve expected quite a few glitches, to be quite honest, yet had none so far! Didn’t even expect for it to work on my (older) Android version yet it does and I’m really impressed!

This seriously rocks! It probably makes people lazy and helps them forget everything they’ve ever learned about spelling and grammar but it also saves a great deal of time and allows you to have nice, long, well-manicured nails and still use the messaging feature of your Android phone. Swipe your message instead of typing it by moving your finger from one letter to another – it’s easier than using text message abbreviations and produces a much better (read: comprehensible) result.

Pros: Great if you don’t like to bother with proper capitalization and spelling, although you will have to proofread the message before hitting the “send” button. Oh, and you can dictate your messages as well, just in case you don’t really enjoy writing either!

Cons: Installing this app might be a bit more complicated than you’ve imagined. I wouldn’t know as my brother did all the work for me, but it seems that it involves signing up for the app and having the download link delivered via mail.

Do I even need to say anything? I mean come on, we already know about this one and we’re ecstatic for having an Android version – aren’t we? No need to explain why this is one of the best Android apps either – it’s Instagram, ladies and gents, that hyped program that lets you take fancy, pro-looking photos even if you’re not that great of a photographer!

Pros: Android users have finally gotten their chance to snap and share fabulous photos! Thumbs up for that!

Cons: Is it just me or this list of effects should be longer? Looking forward to updates!

Any other great app for Android out there? I’m really not into games, don’t use screensavers or backgrounds that could seriously affect battery consumption and find my standard music player satisfying enough not to look for others. So I guess those are out of my area of “expertise”! Luckily, I have you guys and I’m hoping you could suggest a few handy apps for me to download next.