The Month's Best Android Apps [Android Apps]

[Geek]

It's been a pretty wild month (or so, since it's been a while guys) for Android apps. Donuts and music and people and Heroes and space cars are flying all over the place:

The Best

Pandora: Pandora the music streaming service comes to Android, finally. There's really no reason not to know what Pandora is at this point, but for the uninitiated, when you enter a song or artist, it'll create a playlist of similar stuff that you'll (probably) like too.

Foursquare: Foursquare's a location-based social networking service (yawn, 'cause there's a million of 'em, right?), BUT you get points for going places and checking in, and there are Xbox Live-style achievements, so it gives you an excuse to go out a lot, and to pull out your phone instead of actually talking to the people you're there with. "Hold on, I just need to check in." "Didn't you check in 20 minutes ago?" "Uh..."

Facebook: Another "at last" app, an official Facebook app is one of those little symbols that Android's legit. While it's not nearly as visually impressive or feature-packed as the latest iPhone version, you can actually get a constant stream of updates, so you always feel connected, anyway.

OpenTable: OpenTable is favorite way to grab a restaurant resys without actually resorting to picking up the phone and talking to a real human being. In New York anyway, a ton of restaurants participate, so the service is pretty excellent, especially since you can see real-time availability for tables at particular times.

Amazon: It came out back in early August, but we haven't highlighted it yet, so I'm talking about it anyway. Why? Because it's the easiest way to impulse buy crap you don't need from a phone, or to talk yourself out of paying a full brick-and-mortar store's price for something, since you can see right there it's cheaper on Amazon. Plus, it's got barcode scanning for finding stuff on Amazon. If Newegg releases an app like this, I'm pretty much screwed. Image via Lifehacker

Ustream: Not the first live streaming video app for Android (that'd be Qik), but this one obviously uses Ustream's service, with its integrated Twitter and chat powers, and it has a few features Qik doesn't, like the ability to seamlessly switch your stream's source to the phone and back.

Twidroid Pro: Our favorite Android Twitter app goes pro. What's that entail? Well, besides costing real money now ($5), it's got a better UI, themes, multiple account support, native bit.ly support and video posting. The free version's got a better user interface too, but it's missing some crucial powers from the paid app, like the ability to see a list of followers and who you're following (which really, should be in the free version). Still, Twidroid's about as good as it gets on Android.

Remember the Milk: Everybody's favorite iPhone to-do list and task manager app, Remember the Milk's Android debut doesn't disappoint, and should be pretty much everything you need in a task manager app. It's got online syncing, location awareness for tasks and it integrates with Gmail and Gcal. Plus, it's not a bad looking little app.


Speed Forge 3D: The best-looking Android game yet is 3D space racer that makes me want to play F-Zero 64. But it's got mines and homing rockets, two things you don't have in F-Zero. Only 6 tracks and 3 vehicles, and it's accelerometer controlled (not my favorite way to play) but still well worth $3 to see what your phone can really do.


Other Android App News

• Moto Blur on the G1
• Google Voice Will Go Untouched on Verizon Android Phones
• Full Flash Coming to Android, Not iPhone
• T-Mobile Pushed Out Donut 1.6
• Cyanogen's Awesome Mods Will Live On, Sans Google Apps

This list is in no way definitive. If you've spotted a great app that hit the store this week, give us a heads up or, better yet, your firsthand impressions in the comments. And for even more apps, see our previous roundups here. Have a great rest of the weekend, everybody!