Android Fan Network’s Weekly App Picks

Here are this week’s app picks from the AFN staff. They may be apps we can’t live without or apps we just discovered; but, either way, we think they are worth sharing with you. If there is an app that you think we may enjoy, send it on so we can take a look.

Pocket Casts

- Gavin

Pocket Casts
Pocket Casts
Pocket Casts
Pocket Casts

My cell phone serves many purposes, one of which is entertainment. The most important form of entertainment for me is podcasts. I am not a big fan of FM radio, and I do not stream music often in order to minimize data usage. I subscribe to 18 podcasts and listen to them daily. I also switch devices or flash ROMs on an almost weekly basis. The most tedious part of flashing a ROM or switching devices is setting up the new device. Trying to remember where I am on 18 different podcasts is just ridiculous. Enter Pocket Casts by Shifty Jelly. They not only offer multi-device syncing, but they also offer cross platform syncing with iOS devices. Now when I switch devices, I just enter my account info, and it picks up exactly where I left off. It also allows variable speed playback without having to use plug-ins. There are also settings to allow you to chose when to sync, download over cellular/Wi-Fi, and to download when charging. I have tried several podcast apps, and this one is the most refined, in my personal opinion. The developers respond to feedback quickly and push out frequent updates, so you can spend your $3.99 knowing you will not be abandoned.

Get it on Google Play

 

 

Star Chart Infinite

- Sean


My app pick of the week, is one I did a full review of before.  I use this app on an almost daily basis, primarily now for entertainment for my 2 year old daughter.  From time to time, I still keep glaring at my screen in the sheer wonderment and excitement of our universe.  By simply moving the phone around you can make things appear on the screen like the constellations, exo-planets, our Solar system, meteor showers, nebulae, and so on.  Some of the features to this app, such as AR mode, are just amazing.  AR mode is augmented reality mode, where you can move your device around, and the app will display what’s in the night sky above you.  Normally it is a static view where you can move the screen images with your finger.  Other features, like the Hubble gallery, make this even more astonishing.  The Hubble gallery scrolls through images taken with the Hubble telescope.

Have sensitive eyes?  There is a night mode option as well.  All text and images (constellations) are shown in white, but at night that can be a little hard on the eyes.  Turn on night mode, and all images and text turn red – much easier viewing for you at night.  This app is currently on the Play Store; why not give them a try?

Get it on Google Play

 

 

Dream of Pixels

- Derek


Have you ever wanted to play Tetris in reverse? Well, this is the game for you! The object of the game, as stated by the developer, is to unpack tetrimono blocks. This is instead of packing them, which, when you play the game, you’ll completely understand what that means. It is fairly simple, yet deceptively hard. You get the usual blocks (L-shaped, I-shaped, squares, Z-shaped, etc..), and you use those to take away from a giant grid of blocks. It has 5 modes to play. There are 4 standard modes (Classic, Pro, Nightmare, Shattered Dream) which are the games I described. There is also a Puzzle mode which gives you several shapes that you have to get the blocks to fit in properly. The game also has incredible visuals. The design is absolutely stunning on a tablet, but it’s a complete joy on your phone as well.

The game is a free download but is ad supported with the option to remove them for $2.90 USD. I would say it is well worth the money and time to check Dream of Pixels out.

Get it on Google Play

 

 

 

Roundr

- Praneeth

Getting bored of viewing the screen on your Android device with rectangular corners? Then you need to try Roundr once. It is an open source application that that rounds the corners of your screen.

Tapping Roundr app after installing gives you a menu listing both General and Roundr settings.  General settings include options to enable Roundr, start on boot, and remove foreground notifications (requires root access). Roundr settings include options which allow you to choose from various corner designs (via Roundr extensions), app opacity, enabling/disabling corners, blacklisting apps from Roundr, corner radius, enable on lock screen, and overlap status bar.

ss (2013-08-31 at 04.32.03)

Roundr is a free app downloadable from Google Play Store. However if you want to try different corner styles,you need to install Roundr Extensions for $0.99 USD. This extension pack gives you 10 new corner styles and the ability to blacklist apps and set corner opacity. You can follow the Roundr project work here at XDA-Developers.


Get it on Google Play

500 Firepaper 

- Kevin

This gem is perfect for those of us too lazy to theme our phones but still want to change it up a bit. 500 Firepaper from SuperSU developer Chainfire is a live wallpaper that pulls images from 500px. You can adjust the frequency and categories displayed to get a fresh wallpaper every time you look at your phone or when it goes into Daydream mode.


The images are very high quality and can be somewhat memory intensive. Chainfire has already released a few bug fixes to help lower end phones.  If you want to be amazed every time you turn on your phone, grab 500 Firepaper as a free download from the Google Play Store.

Get it on Google Play

 

 

Vonage 

- David

wpid-vonagelogo_101326243909_640x360.jpeg

I’m one of those guys who likes to tinker with my Android gadgets and get them to do fun stuff that they weren’t exactly made to do, such as making phone calls from my Android tablets. With the Vonage app, there are very few steps to get you up and making phone calls from your tablet with your cell phone number showing up on the other person’s caller ID. Take a peak at our Vonage app review with full instructions if you need any clarification. This is hardly a must have app for tablet owners but rather a fun way to make phone calls from your tablet (make sure your friends and family are around when you do this…  you look really cool! Trust me). What are you waiting for? Grab that Nexus 10, download Vonage, and hold that sucker up to your head, and make some phone calls. Again, make sure your friends and family are around when you’re holding that big slab against your head making phone calls!

Get it on Google Play