Price: Free
We got some problems.
One of Android's weak points is media management. Every time I want to add music, movies, or books to my phone, I have to plug it in to my computer, mount it as a USB drive, go into my "Music" folder I created, and create a new file for the album. This is as barebones as it gets (You could use
Awesome Drop if you wanted to make things easier, of course). iTunes doesn't have this problem - you drag music from your iTunes library into your phone, and that's that.
Speaking of iTunes, it sucks. Maybe that's a little harsh - I've been using it since version 4.1 back in 2003, and I like it because it can easily handle my 200GB of music without much stutter. Over six versions it's also become quite powerful and very customizable. Of course, over six versions its also become a bit bloated and outdated, offering support for a variety of services I have no interest in (friend me on Ping!) and it's incredibly frustrating how they've chosen not to properly implement coverart in recent versions.
And while we're on the subject of flawed music software, let's get back to Android and its stock music player which hasn't been updated since Android 1.x. Aesthetically it doesn't fit with the rest of the OS, and it's limited in functionality - offering support only for music, organized in only a couple of different ways, and support for a playlist or two, not that I've ever went to the trouble of exporting an iTunes playlist as an .m3u and importing it to my phone.
I got two words to say to all three problems: doubleTwist (maybe it's one word). It's been around for a while, and it consists of two separate components: a piece of software for your desktop, and an app.
The desktop application is pretty much a straight rip-off of iTunes, attempting to match most of its look and functionality. doubleTwist (program) imports your iTunes library and playlists, including pictures and videos. There's even a built-in video converter, so any video you drag onto your phone should theoretically be transcoded so as to be playable. You also get a podcast browser and an interface to Amazon MP3 for buying music. It's as close as you're getting to iTunes for Android, though there are plenty of problems with the software - I don't think it works with .m4p files, so any older music you've purchased through iTunes shouldn't work (though it's not like it was working on Android anyway). The video transcoder is a nice thought, but it doesn't fare that well in execution - any Xvid files I tried to convert failed with an error (though if you use
RockPlayer it shouldn't be a problem). Otherwise, music, podcasts, and pictures are all easily added to my phone without issues. The worst part about the program is it isn't nearly as customizable as iTunes, offering many fewer ways to edit and organize tracks. It seems to be a bit slow to respond, too, like when I'm typing an artist into the search bar.
doubleTwist also offers an app that duplicated much of the functionality in the standard Music app, though in a better looking interface, and with the addition of some nice features. You still have your music sorting by artist, album, song, and playlist, but there's also a home for podcasts and videos that you've brought over from your computer. Also interesting is the radio entry, which seems to cull radio stations from all over the country, organize them by genre, and present them for your listening. It's no Pandora or Last.fm, but if you're looking for something a little more raw or specific, it's a pretty cool feature.
As boring as it may be, the default Music app gets the playback right, featuring little more than the artist info, coverart, and big navigation buttons, and doubleTwist presents a similar look, though it doesn't add much aside from an easy way to rate music. It also doesn't have a landscape view, which can be frustrating for the car rides. Regardless, by keeping a similar presentation to the classic Android player, while updating the look and adding a handful of nice features, it keeps things familiar and usable.
I don't think I'll keep using the doubleTwist program - it can't match the functionality of iTunes, and I have no problem digging into my phone's file structure to manually add songs. Other people might not feel so comfortable doing this, in which case I would recommend doubleTwist as the easiest way to get your songs onto your phone. I'm on the fence as to the app, too - I'm pretty content with the plain ol' Music player, but again, doubleTwist's product is a nice improvement for those who are looking for a little bit more from their players. The choice is up to you, and that's what Android's all about.
Price: Free
The Gmail app was updated today for those of us with Froyo, adding some improved controls, better navigation of nested conversations, and some Priority Inbox support. It's also no longer a part of the OS, so the app can be updated more frequently, but it also means you have to go to the app store and download it yourself. Also, if I squish these couple of sentences between two pictures, it makes the post look longer than it really is.
The desktop application is pretty much a straight rip-off of iTunes, attempting to match most of its look and functionality. doubleTwist (program) imports your iTunes library and playlists, including pictures and videos. There's even a built-in video converter, so any video you drag onto your phone should theoretically be transcoded so as to be playable. You also get a podcast browser and an interface to Amazon MP3 for buying music. It's as close as you're getting to iTunes for Android, though there are plenty of problems with the software - I don't think it works with .m4p files, so any older music you've purchased through iTunes shouldn't work (though it's not like it was working on Android anyway). The video transcoder is a nice thought, but it doesn't fare that well in execution - any Xvid files I tried to convert failed with an error (though if you use RockPlayer it shouldn't be a problem). Otherwise, music, podcasts, and pictures are all easily added to my phone without issues. The worst part about the program is it isn't nearly as customizable as iTunes, offering many fewer ways to edit and organize tracks. It seems to be a bit slow to respond, too, like when I'm typing an artist into the search bar.
Back when I had my old Audiovox PPC4100 I always wondered why there was no way to interface between my computer and my phone when I had the thing docked and connected to my PC. It was especially an issue when I was wearing headphones and I would miss a text or incoming call because I couldn't hear the thing. They were both running Windows (at the time) and yet I was lucky to have my email and contacts synced without issues. Turns out (spoiler alert!) Windows mobile was a horrible OS, and it took six years and several phones to find a fairly elegant solution.
Price: Free ($3.49 paid version)
Watchdog is a nifty little program that sits in the background and watches for apps misbehaving. When it catches something that meets a percentage of system utilization that you can specify, it lets you know and it can take actions to correct the problem. More than that, it also allows you to see just how much of your CPU your apps are using, so you can see for yourself that the Facebook app isn't sucking as much juice as you originally thought. In fact, I only recently received validation that the program worked - the Android Market was using 88% of my CPU when it started automatically downloading 5 updates at once.
GetGlue is a website that focuses on likes. Think Facebook has cornered the market on liking things? Think again. You can like anything you want on the website, but the fun really begins when you download the app and a new and exciting world opens to checking in to just anything your heart desires.
Liking and checking into things earns "stickers," a straight ripoff of Foursquare's badges. The thing about GetGlue is that 1. Stickers are easier to earn than badges and 2. They're not just digital bragging rights - if you earn seven stickers, you can get actual stickers mailed to you, so now you have physical proof of just how many mundane moments of your life you are sharing with people you think give a shit on the internet!
