Database Users

Recommended Apps / things?

Hey guys, first time android user, and been using my nexus for a couple weeks now..
Just wondering what are the best apps to have? I use the stocks app, ebuddy and Advanced Task manager..
Also, where do i get live wallpapers?
*please don't recommend stock apps *
Thanks

Search "Live Wallpapers" in the market to get more.
Recommended Apps:
Seesmic/Twidroid/TweetCaster
Places
Beautiful Widgets
Weather Widget - Donate
Taskiller
Astro
Wordmate
Audio Manager
AK Notepad
Amazon
Barcode Scanner
Movies (by Flixter)
Pandora
Radiant

This is my first android phone as well, but I've managed to find a couple of apps that I think are pretty good:
Spotify (need premium spotify account)
Dolphin Browser (even after the OTA)
Handcent SMS
RealCalc
Documents To Go (paid)
Linda Manager
Doggcatcher (paid)
Compass
Xe Currency converter
GPS status
Fluid Level
Unit Converter
Battery Indicator
OurGroceries
Weather Forecast
The easiest is to just spend a little time browsing the market and test out apps. If you have access to paid apps there are prolly some good ones there as well (I'm not in the right country and don't have it rooted).

Astrid (To Do List)
Weather Channel (weather from anywhere)
SportsTap (sports updates for most sporting events)
Advanced Task Killer (closes all programs and opens up available memory)
ASTRO (control the flow of files on your SD card)
Documents to Go free (open Word, PowerPoint, etc)
Pandora (music radio)
ShopSavvy (great shopping app)
Mobile Defense (low jack for your phone)
CarSafety (just in case while your driving...)

While it seems to be up for debate...
The BAD
Task Killers are unnecessary, the phone is not running windows, and it does not require 70% free ram in order to operate smoothly. Your apps will all be running again not long after you kill them so there's little point. The phone operates perfectly with 20-30mb free mem (even less) Android's mem management automatically ends app's as memory is needed, so 3rd party app's to kill are only for those OCD about their running apps. Btw, I currently have 109 hours of uptime, and I never kill apps (unless something specific gets out of line). The performance of my N1 is smooth and speedy all the time.
(Try "Quick System Info" if you're still curious, it will still let you end an app manually if its misbehaving. )
Battery monitors, widgets, etc are well known to drain battery.
The GOOD
ASTRO - best file manager I've used.
Seesmic - The best twitter app I've found, switched from twidroid as seesmic shows RT and @user public conversations. Supports multiple profiles, and is very fast and lightweight. The best part is, its FREE, and no ad's!
Shazam - Tells you what song you're listening to.
Radiant - one of the best games on android market - and looks fantastic on the N1's screen. Try also "Totemo" if you're into puzzles.
Noodles free - to do list: I like this as a fast and easy shopping list/to do list. I've used a number out there and this is one of the cleanest.
SMS Popup - popup display of your sms that is configurable so it doesn't interrupt or get in your way while you're using the phone.
Phonalyzr - call stats, most frequent called, call length. Can track your billing cycle to aid you if you're able to get away with a cheaper plan.
Ringdroid - One of the best apps on the market, Easy way to clip your mp3 tracks into ring tones, anywhere and any length you choose.
Sidenote:
All the Google apps are pretty solid.
The included gene widget weather app is extremely light weight, yet also provides great detail, stay away from weatherbug. I've tried both weather widget (Paid and own) and beautiful widget (paid and refunded) and found them both to be a little bloated, and/or take up too much screen real-estate. (I know BW has a 1x4 option, but I still found it to be laggy graphically)

I agree completely with what bofslime said regarding task killers... I've got over 180 hours of uptime without any performance slowdown whatsoever.
I also second Astro file manager, Shazam, Ringdroid, and Noodles free (definitely the cleanest to-do list out there). I'll also add Pandora, Movies by Flixster, and Yelp if you're going out a lot and need to improvise plans.

uansari1 said:
I agree completely with what bofslime said regarding task killers... I've got over 180 hours of uptime without any performance slowdown whatsoever.
I also second Astro file manager, Shazam, Ringdroid, and Noodles free (definitely the cleanest to-do list out there). I'll also add Pandora, Movies by Flixster, and Yelp if you're going out a lot and need to improvise plans.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed, Linux handles memory different than windows which people are so used to. I only use my task manager (taskiller) when an apparently starts acting up.

Maker of Noodles Free here
Thank you guys for recommending my app!
I just released new update with drag and drop and a new UI, let me know what you guys think.
New features should be coming to the paid version soon

This is what I use
CorCal <- Corporate Calendar from work Exchange Calendar
Seesmic <- Serves my twitter needs beautifully
Twidgit Lite <- I just use this as Seesmic doesn't have a widgit yet
Hancent <- Great SMS/MMS replacement app
Phonalyzr <- Just started using this to keep upto date with my usage
ShopSavvy <- used this on a couple of occaisons for comparing prices on the go
F1 <- seems to be the only F1 app available at the moment
OperaMini <- just playing with this shame you can't make it default browser though
Advanced Task Manager Free <- good for killing processes, services etc. and also uninstalls apps too
Astro <- file management
Battery Graph <- does what it says, graphically see your battery usage
System Profiles <- setting profiles for work and home etc.
QuickSettings <- installed but not using so much at the moment
gTasks <- for hooking into my google tasks
Movies
RAC Traffic <- not used it yet but wanted it any way
Speed Test <- just for testing connection speed
Mini Info Widget <- shows battery percentage, space on system and sd card.
Tweaks/hacks
Maps (brut)
Desire notification bar
Logcat Live Wallpaper
NexusMod Live Wallpaper
N1 Torch
I think that's everything I would like to hear other peoples suggestions

Tools
Handycalc - Hands down the best calculator for android. It does graphing and much more
Car Locator - Helped my find my car a few Several times
Craigsnotification - Notifies you of new posts on craigslist of any item you want and it allows you to set a price range. This app has saved me SOOOO much money
cVolume - Volume manager since android method of managing volume sucks ass..especially when youre in class and you think the volumes all the way down because you held the volume button all the way down then you go play a game and its on full blast because you didnt turn down the media volume only the ringer
Easymoney - perfect for managing bills, bank accounts, and all your money
Findmyphone - helps you find your lost phone by emailing you its coordinates (haven't had to use this yet"
Movies by Flixter - best for movie times
N1 Torch - turns your nexus one into a flash light with its led flash (really bright!)
Shazam - when youre listening to a song on the radio, or at store and you want to know what its called, just open up the app and your phone will analyze the song and tell you who its by and who sings it
Shopsavy - great barcode scanner (also saved me a ton of money)
Taskos - a task switcher/killer that implements the palm pres card ui to switch and end applications..just hold the search buttton to switch apps..android already shows you the last 6 apps open by holding the home button but this is nice too
Games
Raging Thunder 2 - This game has the best graphics out of any game on android. It is a full 3d racing game with tons of tracks and cars. It has online multiplayer mode so you can race your friends, or random people all over the world even people with iphones. Best game ever
Gameboid - A gameboy advance emulator for android. It has multitouch and plays your gameboy advance games at full FPS with sound
Toonwarz - A fun little first person shooter game that also has online multiplayer mode to play with friends and people around the world
Exzeus - Also has amazing graphics and it is a shooter game as well.. i dont really like it but lots of people do

Best Third Party apps

Hello,
Being a newbie to the android community (just moved from my iphone) i wanted to see if there is any best place where we can find best 3rd party apps.
Thanks
Srikanth

ditto. i've been wondering what the best reasons to add third-party apps and to root my Aria. if it's worth risking voiding warranty and all that mess.
i can't seem to find the answer (via Google) except that it gives you all this access you can't get without it being rooted. i'm fine with the factory settings and setup. yeah i'm stuck with ATT's bloatware, but nothing Advanced Task Killer can't kill.

I too would like to hear some recommendations. The only app I've installed was Swype.
Sent from my HTC Liberty using XDA App

I find Uninstaller a must have app for a rooted Aria with the liberated rom so I do not have to connect to a machine to delete apps. Along with Swype and App Killer are the apps I would consider must haves.

Live wallpapers apk, and the mario live wallpaper apk.

Troggie said:
I find Uninstaller a must have app for a rooted Aria with the liberated rom so I do not have to connect to a machine to delete apps. Along with Swype and App Killer are the apps I would consider must haves.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could you link me to the App Killer?

Sorry not App killer.. Advanced Task Killer.. the Uninstaller is the app killer

Troggie said:
Sorry not App killer.. Advanced Task Killer.. the Uninstaller is the app killer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol, I figured because I'm going crazy looking for app killer and couldn't find it. I found something else which does the job. I'll try out Advanced Task Killer. Thanks.

Some of the apps listed below were found when reading a thread over at androidforums.com ...seems their forums are down for maint right now.
AroundME - Find things around your current location...Banks, Bars, etc.
Astro - File Manager + Process killer...and a few more bits.
Dolphin Browser HD - Very nice web browser.
Gesture Search - Draw letters...search your phone...contacts, music w/e.
Handcent MMS - Very customizable MMS application...including per contact notification sounds.
Pandora - Customizable Internet radio.
Save MMS - Allows you to save MMS attachments.
Where's My Droid - Helps you find your phone.
White Noise Lite - Comforting sounds...nice for sleep time.

M1m3R said:
Some of the apps listed below were found when reading a thread over at androidforums.com ...seems their forums are down for maint right now.
AroundME - Find things around your current location...Banks, Bars, etc.
Astro - File Manager + Process killer...and a few more bits.
Dolphin Browser HD - Very nice web browser.
Gesture Search - Draw letters...search your phone...contacts, music w/e.
Handcent MMS - Very customizable MMS application...including per contact notification sounds.
Pandora - Customizable Internet radio.
Save MMS - Allows you to save MMS attachments.
Where's My Droid - Helps you find your phone.
White Noise Lite - Comforting sounds...nice for sleep time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My personal favorites:
AppOrganizer - This takes placing folders on your pages to the next level with custom icons to represent the function (like "internet" or "utilities")
AndroidMate - file browser that has system utilities
Android System Information quick access to status of phone (mem/storage/apps/battery)
AudioManager Pro - Gives access to all sound levels with 2 skinable widgets
Aurora - file search widget which checks your phone (contacts/files) and/or the internet with type or speech
Bambuser - Livecasting
CherryRplayer - (internet radio)
Extended Controls - a great addition to Power Controls widget for a unified look
HandcentMMS - mms/sms
Mabilo Wallpapers - thousands of cool wallpapers to choose from
More Icons Widget - fit 8 icons in the spot of 2 (if you have the pro version ... 7 otherwise)
My Location - no nonsense widget for sharing your current location
Smoothe Calendar - great widget for keepin up on calendar events
Weather Widget - paid app with the sense flipclock and weather popup add-on if you're using a replacement launcher
xScope Browser - very nice and simple browser with one touch pin to zoom feature ... I hate pinching

Must have/needed apps for our Android HTC HD2?

Now we have some what of a stable build running on our HTC HD2's. I would say it's great enough for everyday use.
What are the apps that we must need/have?
List them here! I'm new to Android so I don't know the apps like that. I would love to know what you guys have or can't go without.
Thanks!

HeavyComponent said:
Now we have some what of a stable build running on our HTC HD2's. I would say it's great enough for everyday use.
What are the apps that we must need/have?
List them here! I'm new to Android so I don't know the apps like that. I would love to know what you guys have or can't go without.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Advanced Task Killer -> Task manager, must have.
Any Cut -> Add any shortcut/action to homescreen
Launcher Pro -> Advanced homescreen options and smoother interface (a few of the Andriod build the devs are putting together already have this cooked in)
Sense Analog Clock Widget -> HTC Sense style homescreen clock (if you're not running sense already, obviously)
XDA-Developers -> Complete forum app, must have!!!
Lots more great ones depending on your needs/interests, these are some apps that pretty much everyone should have, IMO.
Enjoy!

ColorNotes - A colour coded notepad app. Can place individual notes on the home screen.
3 (pronounced "cubed") - nice player, can scroll through music or jump by letter. So far I seem to like it better than the other ones out there.
HistoryEraser - Erases Android Marketplace search history among other things. Great if you don't have a rooted rom or don't feel like mucking about with a file mananger/adb.
Taskpanel - task killer with ignore lists and auto kills when low on memory also has a widget. Not sure how it compares to advanced task killer. I think ATK is more automated/simpler so probably the one to go with.
MailDroid - Email app for hotmail, gmail, yahoo, etc. Couldn't get hotmail added to the default mail app.
Tricorder- Hand-held thing from Star Trek. Displays compass/GPS, microphone sound input, 3g/wifi connectivity data.
Frozen Bubble - fun puzzle-ish game from linux.
I'll second Launcher Pro, although I don't think I've ever been able to install it onto a rom that didn't have it built in (using the eclair desire v5 rom). Theres also Linda file manager (installed by default), not sure how it compares to the ASTRO? one.
EDIT: For a file explorer try Open Mananger instead of Linda. Its open source and free, available from the marketplace. It's pretty good.

Dropbox - for storage off your phones memory and can be used on your pc.
XDA Forums App - A Must have.
Setcpu - CPU overclocking or downclocking(saves some battery)

i have a few of the above, i also like
mp3 downloader(download songs)
ringdroid(make ringtones out of any music on your device)
mobile banking
craigspro
ebay

Advanced task killer
XDA Forums App
Sense, could not find any other way to use contact groups. Can anyone give me alternative, Just sense does not make any sense to use

Mobile Banking? To bad that's only for BoA. Is there one for Chase?
BTW: XDA app is great! Not going to the web anymore unless I need to download something.
Sent from HTC HD2 using XDA app.

Game:
Armored Strike Online
Its a tight game, like Worms, and you can play online using Wi-Fi or your mobile network.
Sent from my HTC HD2 running DarkStone HD2Froyo v1

Do most of the games work well on android on hd2, or is it a bit hit and miss at the moment?

Great android market!
Droidbox for dropbox
Goggles
Layar 3d browser
Network monitor
Officesuite
Post it desk
Shazam
Whereismoney (finance)
System panel (great for task manager, backup, sys monitor)
Google translator
Battery status widget
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App

HeavyComponent said:
Mobile Banking? To bad that's only for BoA. Is there one for Chase?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haven't found a chase app.
Page Once personal Assistant is awesome! Consolidates bank accounts, credit cards, bills and more in one app and it has push notifications. Must have for financial!

Just Downloaded this free game called Replica Island. I have to say, i'm very impressed. It's like a pseudo-action/RPG type game. You control a little android around.

My must have apps are:
Handcent - SMS
StarContact
SetCPU
Euchre
Cribbage
Wish there was a WobbleHD app...

tgtoys said:
Haven't found a chase app.
Page Once personal Assistant is awesome! Consolidates bank accounts, credit cards, bills and more in one app and it has push notifications. Must have for financial!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I downloaded that earlier today. Yes It's a great app.
Sent from HTC HD2 using XDA app.

All the apps I need.
Beautiful widgets (gets you sense clock and some other handy widgets)
SetCPU (saves tons of battery by underclocking the processor when screen is off (create profile))
juiceplotter (shows you a graph of everything your battery does)
Mabilo Wallpaper (amazing, it changes your wallpaper every X minutes and it lets you go through 10000s of wallpapers and download them straight from the app)
eBuddy (best messenger for msn facebook chat and everythign in one)
Action Potato (quality game. )
SMSPopUp (when you recieve a text it pops up ontop of what youre doing for you to delete or answer it quickly, a-la iphone)
Mario Block (a widget that does nothign but spit mushrooms coins and fireflowers.)
Lovin android lately, been using it as a daily build for a couple days.

Seeing all of you with a smile on your face, testing so many great apps running perfectly on our Hd2 ... It wasn't imaginable 3 mouths ago.
- Men, We opened the pandora box !!!
There is no way we go back to windows mobile now
Ps : All my apps are mentioned here so i bring a tip :
- Did you know that it is so easy to uninstall an app ? - Just drag and drop the icon into the dustbin but wait 2 seconds before release it.

AdvanceTaskKiller
SetCpu
FotMob
ToggleSwiches
FancyWidget
DolphinBrowserHD
LauncherPro
PeopleWidget
Games:Asphalt5(brilliant stuff),SpeedX
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App

Not really an app, but massive online flash games for our beloved [email protected]:
www.kongregate.com -> starts with a mobile optimized page when opened from within Android browser and shows games especcially designed or great working on small screens and touch input.

My apps list
BatteryLife - widget
FBReader/Kindle?Ereader - ebook readers
xda-developers -of course
Evernote
rock player - plays most video formats
BeyondPod - podcsts
google earth
Swype http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=687056
MoreLocale 2 - coz New Zealand is not in the locale list
Nexus 1 torch - can add a torch widget onto the home page
Dolphin browser
Barcode scanner
IMDB
Logmein Ignition
twitter
xkcd

die_Leuchte said:
Not really an app, but massive online flash games for our beloved [email protected]:
www.kongregate.com -> starts with a mobile optimized page when opened from within Android browser and shows games especcially designed or great working on small screens and touch input.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So does 10.1 run on the browser now? I hit the search and nothing popped up. I would think that would be the main app everyone wanted. Adobe flash 10.1.

Must have apps for samsung vibrant?

Hey,
Got this phone a few days ago, and I wanted to ask, what are the must have apps for samsung vibrant?
Thanks.

Depends on what you're into.
Like music? Check out Slacker Radio, Pandora, Sound Hound, and any of the alternative media players in the market.
Like games? Cleck out Doodle Jump or any of the other games in market.
Like fitness? Check out LiftPro, or many of the interval timers in the market.
Basically... hit up the Market and search for things that are relevant to your interests.

handcent, launcher pro

Keyring - use it the most of any apps.

Watchdog i use and place the home widget right on my homescreen. Don't get all caught up in taskmanagers because android deals with tasks/programs differently than Windoz.
I paid for Launcherpro, but my home launcher of choice is Touchwiz. See Samsung but into your Vibrant a taskkiller, and it recognizes every home launcher out there as a task, so when you simply kill all tasks, your default home launcher has ti re-draw itself. Except for Touchwiz! Some reason the engineers as Samsung made Touchwiz invisible to the task killer.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

lawalty said:
Watchdog i use and place the home widget right on my homescreen. Don't get all caught up in taskmanagers because android deals with tasks/programs differently than Windoz.
I paid for Launcherpro, but my home launcher of choice is Touchwiz. See Samsung but into your Vibrant a taskkiller, and it recognizes every home launcher out there as a task, so when you simply kill all tasks, your default home launcher has ti re-draw itself. Except for Touchwiz! Some reason the engineers as Samsung made Touchwiz invisible to the task killer.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because its a system and default launcher.
Its like all thee, bloatware u can't uninstall them without rooting
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

You aught to go ahead and download OCLF (one click lag fix), use that to root.
once rooted
1. Ad free (blocks easily 95 percent of ads on unpaid aps)
2. Titanium Backup (best for uninstaling bloatware, and general uninstaling, but best feature is it backs up all your aps and ap data, i have restored 4 times and it saves SOOO much time)
3. Rom Manager (backups your phones rom, basically everything but aps, plus it is amazing for flashing modifications to your phone and new better roms, if your into that)
4. astrid tasks (great task list, reminder)
5. Dolphin HD (much better browser than stock)
6. Gas Buddy (list of current gas prices around town)
7. Jet VD (app for downloading or just viewing youtube videos)
8. movie fone ( Shows movie times, buy tickets, view trailers)
9. Shoot Me (with a shake you take a screenshot of your phone)
10. Unified Remote ( turns your cell into a rmote for your pc, media remote, browser remote, or just a mouse)
11. wall Switch (automatic wallpaper switcher, every "x" minutes)
And if you really want your phone to fly, root your phone (NO lag fix), download rom manager, and to go teamwhiskey.com and instal their custom rom Nero 3 with voodoo lagfix. it changed my phones life

^ Thank you! I am considering some of the things on your list.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

Thx for wall switch suggestion.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

GTasks (automatically sync your tasks with google tasks online)
barcode scanner (to scan labels for prices, shipping status etc)
dropbox (to keep ur files in sync with multiple pcs and phone--- this app is a life saver in true sense of the word and its absolutely free) -------->> click my signature, if you like hehe, link to sign up and we can both get 250 mb additional space free
GPS Restore samsung (app made by samsung for vibrant to fix its gps issues --- this app helps but doesnt fix the issues in its entirety ....doesnt hurt to try)
RingDroid (to make ringtones ,right from your phone, from any audio file )
titanium backup (to back up ur sytem settings plus apps, only if ur rooted)
pandora (for streaming music --- caveat: uses alot of data)
stitcher radio ( if ur into podcasts.... you can find almost all podcasts of most of the tv/radio programs/news etc) data heavy
car home ( to use ur vibrant in car on a dock)

This thread is a great idea to get some new programs that you've never heard about before. Someone should sticky this, and just keep adding programs not already listed.
Angry Birds - awesome game where you launch birds to destroy stuff.
audiomanager console- lets you adjust each individual volume (phone, system, etc)
beautiful widgets - widget for your home screen where you can customize the clock, weather, etc
convertpad - lets you convert from any type of measurement (ft to inches etc)
coupons - shows local coupons for stores near you
color flashlight - turns your screen to full brightness (ie flashlight)
ninjump - fun ninja jumping game
out of milk - program to make lists for the grocery store w/ built in barcode scanner
pocket racing - awesome racing game
smooth calendar - adds home widget showing upcoming calendar events
weatherbug - weather program
zedge - browse and install tons of wallpapers and ring tones
xfinity mobile - allows comcast users to setup dvr and watch some vids (not many though)

A couple programs that I don't believe were mentioned that I'm a big fan of:
- Speed Test - allows you to test the speed of your data connection
- Pulse - gathers RSS feeds for your favorite sites
- PlayerPro - an amazing music player
- No Signal Alert - points out when you've lost signal, the paid version even maps it for you so you can remember deadzones
- Quadrant - tells you the speed of your phone and compares it to other droids
- Score Mobile - find the latest scores of your favorite sport teams
- Opera Mini - I love this browser, it's fast and responsive (note: only 1 zoom level, no pinch zooming)

I just learned about the VLC Stream app. I don't have it going yet, but it sounds sweet! Makes your phone into a server...

-radiant HD (awesome game)
-Chompsms (better messaging app)
-remote for itunes
-XDA app (access to forums to check up on rom updates etc.)
-battery indicator pro
-adobe reader (allows pdf files to be viewed)
-adb wireless (for those who are rooted and know what they are doing)
-google sky map (shows constellations)
-frozen bubble, gem miner, jewels (other fun games)
-AIM
-shazam
-where's my droid (let's you find your phone when you lose it)
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

thanks for everyone, please share more if you know of more apps

awaisuk said:
thanks for everyone, please share more if you know of more apps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
More um ok let me know if any of these is what your looking for
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=928213

dougstoner said:
weatherbug - weather program
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I never liked weatherbug. Probably because it's tendency to be included with junk programs.
I have the Weather Channel app.
I have Meebo for IM, but it drains the battery like crazy.

Aesthetics - Battstat, Tajm, One Seven, Desktop Visualizer, Digital Clock Widget Music Mod, Switchpro
Games - Retro Tower Defense, Angry Birds (obviously), Need for Speed, Words With Friends, Snesoid/Nesoid/ataroid/etc.
Tools/utilities - HandyCalc (great graphic calculator), Speedtest, Google Goggles, SetCPU, Quadrant, Rom Manager, Wifi Analyzer, System Panel, Titanium Backup, Tricorder
Handiness - Handcent, Vlingo, Chrome to Phone, Tasker, bubble, Stopwatch and Timer
Eye Candy - Iamoscope, Fractoid, Fractal Explorer, Strobe Light, Spiral
Musical generation/processing - Micdroid, Ethereal Dialpad, Chordbot, Electrum Drum, Ringdroid, Rehearsal Assistant, RD3
Mindfuck - Hypnotoad

Utilities:
Brightness Control Widget (Curvefish)
Screen Timeout Widget
Audio Manager
Galaxy S Tuner
Quickdesk (awesome!)

mattchew008 said:
- Quadrant - tells you the speed of your phone and compares it to other droids
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't be fooled -- Quadrant scores have little to do with actual speed. You can have a low Quadrant score and still have an incredibly fast phone, and a high score with a slow phone. The quadrant rates on other factors as well. Just thought I'd clear that up..
Some of my favorites that have yet to be mentioned:
Google Books - I think it's the best overall, especially since it syncs with Google, so you'll have your collection wherever there is internet to be had.
Button Remapper - I just use this to soft key the Search button. I usually turn it into a Camera, just for convenience. (Requires root)
Gameboid - It's a GBA emulator. Need I say more?
SetCPU - This app makes overclocking/underclocking incredibly easy (although the app can be a bit of a pain to understand if/when you're just getting started.) You can set up profiles, scenarios, etc. (Requires root.)
SMS Backup - You can use this to automatically back up your text messages to your Google account. I don't know about you, but I flash a new ROM just about every week. it'd be annoying if I couldn't look back on my texts.
SGS Tools - This app is amazing. It replaces many of the stock programs your phone comes with, in addition to having a GPS Fix, Android Market Fix, Secret Codes (that Samsung doesn't want you to know,) as well as a slew of other things. I'd suggest this app for ANYONE with a Galaxy S series device.
SiMi Folder/Clock - I like making things look pretty. To keep it short and sweet, these two help you do that.
Twicca - I like to tweet and I wholeheartedly believe that this is the best overall app to do that. It's still in it's beta stages, but I find it to be a more complete package than any other in the Market.
Hope this helps.

Getting to love AOSP?

I am a proud owner of an HTC Desire Z, which I absolutely love. I also like Sense, but I don't like the memory usage of it.
I am trying to get to love AOSP, but I am having a hard time.
I would use ICS, but there are still a few bugs remaining, and I need a stable ROM because my exams are coming and I don't want to be caught fiddling with my phone when I need something urgent.
I played around a bit with the CyanogenMod 7.2 RC and I must say, I am amazed at the speed (240 MB of free RAM? Are you friggin' kidding me??)
It's super fast and I can run every app I can think of with no stutter whatsoever.
Currently, though, I am running Android Revolution. Although it's MUCH smoother than other Sense 3.5 ROMs of yestermonths, I must say that 80-100 MB of RAM is kind of max. And memory intensive apps, such as some games, have times when they quit suddenly.
Also, I own a LiveView watch. It's impossible to keep a connection for more than 15 minutes on this ROM, even with the LiveView Manager installed. On Cyanogen, it's actually *hard* to kill it!
So, I am looking for replacement apps to make AOSP not so bland and dull, and add a bit of fuctionality. The Dialer is alright, with T9 dialling in and whatnot. The launcher - I found that Regina Launcher is a great alternative to Rosie.
What remains, though, are the following:
Music player - the default one is really sucky. PowerAmp looks good but costs a fortune!
Evernote app - I *hate* the default Evernote way of handling things. The way HTC Notes works seems to me much more nice
Clock app - The HTC one has everything built in - Stopwatch, timer, alarm, world clock. As I see it now, on Cyanogen I need to have separate apps for each and every one
Keyboard - I tried the HTC IME keyboard thing, and it works perfectly fabulous with one caveat - Romanian is not supported. The one thing I hate about Swype and other keyboards such as MultiLing which do include support for Romanian is that they separate special characters (ș,ț,ă) and it's very annoying to type like that. GO Keyboard doesn't do that but it also takes over the hardware keyboard. Z-Arrow is not really a great workaround for me
So... any idea to replace these? Apart from these, I'd use AOSP as a Daily Driver. Sense 3.5 is loveable but it's killing me! At least until 4.0 is feature complete. That thing is smooth!

I have bought ubermusic to use instead of all the stock music players. Currently have 2 stock music apps (CM9 and ICS) that came with my current rom. Neither are as good for my uses as uber. Its has swipe control between titles and also for skipping tracks etc. Looks nice too.
As for the other things you need. Take a look at launcher7 for something a bit different.
Sent from my HTC Vision using xda premium

Well, try MIUI. It support custom skins, has CM like performance, no info about supporting your keyboard but you can give it a try, I'm unsure, but probalby it has stopwatch etc.
And btw. u can use another music player, I love TTPod, this player was best on Symbian phones and it's still best IMO for Android and it's free.
Can't remember name but I also used one player that had red plane as icon, and name was CloudSkipper or similiar like this, that one was good too.

I have played around MIUI, and though I like it, still these problems remain.
The keyboard I've found is alright, but it doesn't support Romanian. Romanian prediction is a biggie for me, as I talk to corporate guys and e-mail-ing them a message without diacritics is making me look childish.
As for the launcher, I tried Launcher7, but I can't wrap my head around the Windows Phone style of working (e.g. I need my wallpaper and widgets! )
I will try the music players mentioned. TTPod is decided ”by the powers that be” to be incompatible with my Desire Z. But I will get an apk and try it, it looks awesome

I know what you mean by AOSP requiring apps to do things better. These are my personal recommendations:
Dialer: exDialer gives you T9 dialing that you've probably come to love from Sense, and works really fast and elegantly. There are themes to customize the look, and the developer responds to user feedback and suggestions on this thread
Music: Google Play Music is pretty nice in my opinion. I bought UberMusic but still prefer the free Google Play Music.
Alarm Clocks/Stopwatch: I personally find it is better to find each app that does each one perfectly than find an all-in-one that does each just decently. I like these:
-Alarm: Alarm Clock Plus
-Stopwatch/timer: UltraChron Stopwatch Lite
Keyboard: After trying a lot, I settled on Smart Keyboard Pro. It has all the options found in HTC IME mod, but has a LOT of skins available, including HTC.

c00ller said:
I know what you mean by AOSP requiring apps to do things better. These are my personal recommendations:
Dialer: exDialer gives you T9 dialing that you've probably come to love from Sense, and works really fast and elegantly. There are themes to customize the look, and the developer responds to user feedback and suggestions on this thread
Music: Google Play Music is pretty nice in my opinion. I bought UberMusic but still prefer the free Google Play Music.
Alarm Clocks/Stopwatch: I personally find it is better to find each app that does each one perfectly than find an all-in-one that does each just decently. I like these:
-Alarm: Alarm Clock Plus
-Stopwatch/timer: UltraChron Stopwatch Lite
Keyboard: After trying a lot, I settled on Smart Keyboard Pro. It has all the options found in HTC IME mod, but has a LOT of skins available, including HTC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just found out about Smart Keyboard Pro, looks interesting. Will try tomorrow.
exDialer is awesome. Feels like the MIUI dialer. Thanks!
Alarm and stopwatch.. hmm. I will try. Do you think that if I remove the stock Clock app in CM7, will that cause any harm whatsoever?

I'm pretty sure that removing the stock clock app will have no bad consequences, but leaving it there with the alarms disabled pretty much makes it nonexistent; you won't really gain anything by removing it.