The Android Marketplace: A review of cool apps

The marketplace is coming out with really awesome apps. A lot of the popular apps for the iPhone are also available for G1. These apps take advantage of the internet connection, Google maps, GPS and tilting detection, making some really innovative stuff. They are all rather new since the G1 only just came out - but if they are great already, they will be awesome in a year!

I am hoping that the open source nature of Android, in addition to the market place starting out free will foster more free and open source applications. I also hope it will help avoid some of the problems I have heard for the iPhone market place where people have spent a few dollars for completely useless apps.

My favorite apps so far:

Locale allows you to set situations where certain conditions will cause specified settings to change. The conditions can be based on battery life, plugged/unplugged state, dates, times, a caller or a location. The settings can toggle wi-fi, GPS, ringer volume, ring tone, twitter and wallpaper.

This is great for battery life. I have it set to turn off wi-fi except for locations where I know there is wi-fi access (searching for wi-fi drains batteries). The same for GPS - I have it automatically turn off for locations where I would be indoors, yet automatically turn off when the battery hits 40%. I also set it so the phone is silent at night.

Reviewers found it useful to have the phone automatically turn off the ringer while at work or class. However, what is even more great is that you can have it so that certain people can call during times when you would normally silence your phone. Work emergencies could come through while you sleep, and your child’s school can call you while at work.

Compare Everywhere (with several competitors) uses the camera to scan a bar code and check for prices online. Damn, this is useful. I have so many times left a store so I could research a product online at home. In fact, one of the reasons I even want an internet enabled phone is so I can look up prices while in the store. This completely streamlines the process. It also allows you to quickly set up shopping lists, such as wish lists or gifts.

I used this today, too. I couldn’t believe that an item I was looking at was $20. I remembered this app and scanned the bar code. I was instantly proven correct, that item was only worth $5-7, so I instantly knew I was being royally ripped off.

Meebo IM lets you send instant messages to the various IM networks out there for free. Why in the world the default IM client that comes with the Android counts towards your text message limit is beyond me - I guess they just wanted some means to suck more money out of you. However, Meebo elegantly skirts around this issue by sending the messages through the internet so it is free, like it is supposed to be.

BlueBrush is the app I was dying for years ago on my old PDA. You can draw with your finger on a never ending canvas. The UI is pretty good, too.

Imeem links up with their web app, allowing you to listen to internet radio on the phone. Who needs an MP3 player anymore? (Oh yeah, need 3G, though…)

Terminal Emulator and ConnectBot is the system administrator’s dream. The Terminal Emulator gives you access to the command line on the phone, and the community is searching for a way to hack root access. ConnectBot gives you shell access to remote servers. Very handy for fixing any server problems anywhere.

AnyCut allows you to make a short cut to any setting on the phone. This allows you to, for example, quickly toggle 3G (for preserving battery life). You can also make it link to calling a particular person, so I have the person I call the most right up front.

Toggle Settings just gives you a list of available things to toggle as opposed to AnyCut’s jumping you to the menu to set a setting. Very useful for toggling settings to preserve battery life, or even just quickly switching on and off silent mode.

‘Zombies, Run!’ is the most inspired game I have come across. The concept is that “Zombies” are invisible, and your G1 is the only way you can see their location. It is kind of like the motion detector they used in Aliens. It syncs up with Google maps and uses the GPS to track you. It then places red dots on the map wherever the zombies are, and your job is to run to the target location while avoiding being caught by the zombies. If you reach the target location, you win. If a zombie catches up with you, you lose.

I thought it was going to be ridiculously silly, and downloaded it for laughs. I stood in the backyard watching amused as the little red dots moved towards me. I was unprepared for the sudden burst of immersion, though! As soon as a red dot entered my driveway, the hair on the back of my neck raised as I thought, “Oh no! One is right in my drive way!!” Then a zombie creeped up behind me and ate me. This app is hilarious.

Bonsai Blast is a simple, yet relaxing puzzle game, somewhat similar to Tetris 2. You blast colored balls towards a moving string a beads and when three or more line up, they disappear. The game controls are all through touching various places on the game board.

Amazed is a game that uses the tilt detection on the phone to control the direction a marble rolls across the board. The goal is to move it through a maze without it falling off the edge.

Of course there are more classic productivity apps and games, but I am only bringing up the most unusually useful or innovative apps.