Destructoid Android Family

[Sexualchocolate]

OK, so I'm getting my first Android phone today and I'm super stoked.

My HTC Desire will be delivered any minute now and i figured I'd make a thread where all Destructoid's Android fanboys could gather and discuss all things Android.

I cannot wait to get into the Marketplace, i read that there are LOADS of awesome apps on the Android OS. What are your favourites?

Do you have any must-have games on your Android?

Not long now. Squeeeeeeeeee. Can't wait to join the Android Family!

[HerosPlayDumb]

Everything I mention here should work on the Desire because the Desire is running 2.1, just like the Nexus One which I currently have.

Get the game Replica Island. It's free and easily one of the best mobile platformers ever. Traffic Jam is also fun. Not sure if they are compatible with the Desire, but they have NES, SNES, GBA, and Genesis emulators on the marketplace. You can get it for free, but the paid version allows for save states. Those are Nesoid, Snesoid, Gensoid, and Gameboid. Getting ROMs for them you are on your own. Once you get them from however one gets ROMs, you just USB the phone to your computer and drag and drop. I recommend making a folder on the SD card for each console, makes it easier to find the games.

For must have Apps (all free), you need Advanced Task Killer. It's a task manager so you can close apps to save memory/battery life. Opera Mini, in my opinion, is better than the default browser, but the default is damn good too. Astro File manager makes it easier to browse what's installed on your SD card as well. Bluetooth File Transfer is also good if you want to transfer files to and from your computer without hooking up the USB, not needed though.

If you like and comics like Dilbert, Calvin and Hobbes, XKCD, the Boondocks, and tons of others there's apps for each one that has access to all the comics and is updated every day with a new comic (or however often a new one is put out). All those are free as well.

If you want news apps NPR, BBC, AP, Huffington Post, and USA Today all also have free apps for their stuff.

Google Goggles should come preinstalled, but if it doesn't definitely get that too. It's a barcode reader that can be used for price comparsion and online shopping. Just use the camera to take a pic of the product's barcode or the actual product and it will do an internet search for the product on prices and where to buy. Another awesome thing about that app is every Android app has a unique UPC code associated with it. Find the app on your computer, see the UPC code on your monitor, take a picture of it with your phone, and BOOM!! app downloaded.

If you don't like the normal text screen setup, you can get Handcent SMS, also free, and use that instead and it make it look like iPhone texting screen with the bubbles.

Currently Flash support is in the works and due out this summer. There is also a Skype app in the works, not sure when that's coming out but I want it now.

That's pretty much everything I can recommend off the top of my head that I have on my phone. I currently have the Nexus One on Android 2.1

Congrats on the phone. I personally love Android and hope you do too.

Sorry if this whole thing seemed like a sales pitch/spam. It wasn't meant to.

[fluxus]

My current provider is a piece of shit and doesn't have any Android phones. As soon as my contract is up with them in ~7 months, I'm leaving and going to whoever has the nicest Android.

[Sexualchocolate]

My current provider is a piece of shit and doesn't have any Android phones. As soon as my contract is up with them in ~7 months, I'm leaving and going to whoever has the nicest Android.

I don't know where in the world you are but I assume there are similar services all over....

I was having a real shit time with my current provider. Piss poor connection, call dropping, old provider tweeked and broken firmware for my top end phone, which I could rarely use on the mobile internet because of poor signal.

I called them and they told me it would cost £150 to buy myself out of the last 8 months of my contract.

I checked out mazumamobile (mobile trade in service) who will give me £155 for my current handset!!!

So I've started a new contract, at a cheaper rate, with a free HTC desire (Virgin media) and will use the money I get from the sale of my old handset to buy my way out of my old contract!

Win!

As i say, you probably don't have mazuma in theUS or wherever you are (unless you're in the UK?) but it's worth checking out both the early cancellation fee for your contract and the trade in value of your handset because you may even make a little money by selling the phone to pay off the ocntract, I made a whole £5 which paid for the shipping on my sexy new phone.

2:30pm here, Desire is to be delivered between 8am and 6pm - it will be here any minute now. So fucking excited.


@Herosplaydumb - Thanks for the suggestions dude! I will be on the case as soon as my phone arrives!!!

I was also reading about an app that can turn your Android phone into a DNLA media server, allowing you to access the files on it wirelessly from a PS3 or other DNLA enabled device!

Pretty fucking awesome.

just hope there's something that works the other way around so I can pick up my PC's media server on my phone, that would be SWEET!

[Sexualchocolate]

T-Mobile doesn't have Androids, so I have a Blackberry. It can hardly run IRC and this makes me sadface.

Tmobile UK?

Mrs Sexualchocolate has a G1 on Tmobile!! Sure it's not the newest or bestest Android phone, but it's pretty sweet.

[Buddha]

I would have an Android if it weren't for the $30 a month data plan.

wtf verizon

[Tomasz]

I'm in possession of an Android as well! Here are a few of my must-have app suggestions (on top of the ones Heros gave up):

General

Gigbox - for people who go to shows, lists all nearby shows for the next few months and you can easily keep track of your favourite artists and where they'll be

Google Goggles/Sky/Translate - standard stuff, Google makes solid apps

Ringdroid - make your own ringtones from music on your phone! Huge must

3G Data Usage Beta - track them downloading

gStrings - if you play guitar, must have tuner

Games

m:Zombies - let's all play together! My ID is 309486261

Radiant Lite - solid shmup

Gem Miner - you mine gems...

Bonsai Blast - this was called "Zulu" on Xbox Arcade

Robo Defense - best tower defense game ever

[HerosPlayDumb]

T-Mobile doesn't have Androids, so I have a Blackberry. It can hardly run IRC and this makes me sadface.

Let me correct you. T-Mobile was the FIRST US carrier to have Android with the Google G1. T-Mobile has some of the BEST android phones. Nexus One is the best android phone on market and T-Mobile has it. The MyTouch 3G is android, so is the MotoCliq, and the Samsung Behold and Behold 2. They are also getting more made by HTC later in the year. Garmin is also releasing and Android phone on T-Mobile US sometime this year. As of right now the BEST Android phone on the market is the Nexus One, originally on T-Mo, now on AT&T as well. Not to be a dick, but you couldn't have been more wrong about your statement.

[HerosPlayDumb]

Oh... wow. I am kinda clueless when it comes to phones.

No problem. Phones are one of the things I follow as closely, if not closer, than video games because I normally buy 2 or 3 phones a year, all at full retail. About 8 months ago I got a HTC Fuze for $600 and then a month ago I got the AT&T Nexus One for $550. Once a WinPho7 releases this fall/holiday I'll probably be picking up as well. The new Dell phones that were leaked yesterday look fucking GORGEOUS.

[HerosPlayDumb]

Shit, son. I can't keep up with all that.
I just get a new phone whenever my contract is up. Although I had to bitch to T-Mobile to let me get a new phone at contract price (without renewing the contract) a couple months ago because Sidekicks are the fucking worst phones ever.
Mine literally just stopped functioning...while I was out of the country.

Yeah, phones are somewhat of an obsession of mine. I always want the best phone on the market. I may end up opening up a Sprint line just so I can get the HTC EVO 4G when that comes out this summer as well. In the 5 years I've had my cellphones I don't think I've ever paid less than full price for a phone, other than when I got my plan originally when the Samsung BlackJack 1 came out.

The Sidekicks are garbage. Why people buy them is beyond me. They have no internal memory, everything is stored on the cloud. They are huge and the keyboards on them are shit. The hinges also fall apart quite a bit as well.

[Buddha]

Dude, are you made out of money?

Ever since I've had a cell phone I've only had four.

[theredpepperofdoom]

I was going to get an Android phone, but then I saw this. YES.

[HerosPlayDumb]

Dude, are you made out of money?

Ever since I've had a cell phone I've only had four.

For the last year I've been making $17/hour so I have a good amount of money. Before that I was working minimum wage in fast food. I worked my fucking ass off for phones and would save up for them for months before they were released so I could get them ASAP. In the last 8 months I've probably had 5 phones.

[HerosPlayDumb]

I was going to get an Android phone, but then I saw this. YES.

It still has a subpar 600mHz processor. Most android phones come with the 1GHz Snapdragon processor, currently the best cellphone processor available. The iPhone is extremely underpreforming for what you pay for it. I'd buy a Nexus One, EVO 4G, Desire, or even a Droid. All of those have better specs than the iPhone. The can also be used as an MP3 player with SD cards up to 32gig. The Nexus One and I believe the Desire also have better screens than the iPhone. The EVO will as well, but that hasn't been released yet.

[theredpepperofdoom]

It still has a subpar 600mHz processor. Most android phones come with the 1GHz Snapdragon processor, currently the best cellphone processor available. The iPhone is extremely underpreforming for what you pay for it. I'd buy a Nexus One, EVO 4G, Desire, or even a Droid. All of those have better specs than the iPhone. The can also be used as an MP3 player with SD cards up to 32gig.

Yeah, but I just got an iPhone so I can't really weasel out of my contract and I don't want to pay $500 for a phone because I can't afford that.
I know it's not the best experience for an Android phone, but it's still kind of cool.

[HerosPlayDumb]

Yeah, but I just got an iPhone so I can't really weasel out of my contract and I don't want to pay $500 for a phone because I can't afford that.
I know it's not the best experience for an Android phone, but it's still kind of cool.

Ah, that's understandable then. The Nexus One can't be bought with a contract, you have to pay the $550 from Google to get it unless you get the subsidized plan with T-Mo, but their network is shittier than AT&T's. You'd probably be better off just running a jailbroken iPhone with Cydia than you would to jailbreak it and throwing android on it.

[Andrew Kauz]

Drop 7 is a cool little puzzle game. Highly recommended...but the file size is fuckin huge. Just a warning.

There are some stupid casual exp-based games that you can waste time on too, like World War and iMobsters. They're stupid, but a decent way to waste time.

Seconded on the Replica island--probably the "best" game in terms of quality. But sadly, for really quality games, there's very, very little right now.

[Sexualchocolate]

It still has a subpar 600mHz processor. Most android phones come with the 1GHz Snapdragon processor, currently the best cellphone processor available. The iPhone is extremely underpreforming for what you pay for it. I'd buy a Nexus One, EVO 4G, Desire, or even a Droid. All of those have better specs than the iPhone. The can also be used as an MP3 player with SD cards up to 32gig. The Nexus One and I believe the Desire also have better screens than the iPhone. The EVO will as well, but that hasn't been released yet.

THIS^

My buddy has a Nexus 1 and I have a Desire, the AMOLED Screen and snapdragon processors blow the Iphone's 600mHz processor and TFT out of the water. I looked at my Desire next to my Dad's Iphone 3GS at the weekend, and WOW, my desire's brightness is turned down and it still looks like HD vs SD. Not to mention the whole Iphone being a fuck ugly pile of apps whereas the Desire/Nexus are widget masters and super customizable. I rarely go into my app list because everything I use regularly is on one of my home pages, nicely sorted, along side photo frames of my son and RSS widgets and stuff.

It's just so damn pretty.

Apparently the Iphone 4G will have an AMOLED screen, but I await the list of features it will no doubt be missing as all Iphone's are.

I've got the "sense" interface on my Desire and it's fucking gorgeous, I prefer the desire to the Nexus 1, rather have the sense interface than the iffy voice recognition on the Nexus, and the noise cancelling mic that doesn't really make any difference.

Desire also has slightly more RAM than the Nexus, not that makes much of a difference, they're both lightening fast!

Reckon they'll bring Sense to the Nexus? Because my buddy is way jealous. It's pure sexy.

Currently rocking the Gameboy Advance emulator on my Desire, resurgance of my Pokemon Addiction! Playing Emerald right now, loving every minute. Got to love the open source OS, none of that controlled and owned by Apple bullshit.

I've pretty much got all the apps you guys suggested now, except a couple of the games, usually my PSP does all my portable gaming but it's taken a back seat to the GBA emulator - you just can't beat a bit of Pokemon.

Love having a destructoid RSS feed on one of my homepages!

Shame dtoid videos don't play though. They "tried" to play on my old Nokia N97, but they would more often than not freeze on the first frame and play the sound, but the Desire doesn't even try to play them, perhaps Opera mini will have better luck, will try. Also, dtoid forums required....

[HerosPlayDumb]

THIS^




I've got the "sense" interface on my Desire and it's fucking gorgeous, I prefer the desire to the Nexus 1, rather have the sense interface than the iffy voice recognition on the Nexus, and the noise cancelling mic that doesn't really make any difference.

Desire also has slightly more RAM than the Nexus, not that makes much of a difference, they're both lightening fast!

Reckon they'll bring Sense to the Nexus? Because my buddy is way jealous. It's pure sexy.

Officially, no. Is there a ROM out there you can use to put it on there, yes. I thought about putting it on there, but I had Sense on my HTC Fuze and while nice, I wasn't a big fan of it.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=636795

[Sexualchocolate]

Officially, no. Is there a ROM out there you can use to put it on there, yes. I thought about putting it on there, but I had Sense on my HTC Fuze and while nice, I wasn't a big fan of it.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=636795

Thanks, was kinda hoping for an official sense update, as he imported his Nexus from the US, without contract, for a pile of cash (my Desire was free on a fairly cheap contract, teehee) There's no way he'd go the "root", uh, route.

Only thing that's a bit of a bummer on Android is the lack of "proper" games, I mean, like we don't mind paying, but where are The Sims and Metal Gear Solid type mobile spinoffs like the Iphone gets?

It's the one and only thing I'm jealous of the Iphone for are the proper games.

Not that Android games are bad, their just more homebrewey.

Still, loving the Gameboy Advance emulator and Pokemon Emerald too much for it to really bother me.