Let me state this first:
I have a rooted phone and several of these apps will not work unless your rooted!
I have downloaded many market apps in an attempt to increase device usability or enhance current features. I thought I would compile a list of apps & my personal experiences of what I find to work very well. Here is a list of what I currently use and have installed:
Advanced Task Manager v3.9 - $
Cachemate v2.3.1 -
need root - Free
Curvefish Battery - Free
Lookout b4.4.1 Release 4289 - Free
iMusic - Free
iVideo - Free
MixZing lite - Free
Quick Settings - Free
SU File Explorer -
need root - $
RealCalc Scientific calculator - Free
MountUSB -
need root - Free
Pandor Radio - Free
Handcent - A terrific "enhancement" for maintaining your SMS/MMS messaging. However I cannot justify the increased load size since the stock application works fine.
Note* handcent has given me some issues regarding notifications, duplicates, etc.
Link:
http://www.handcent.com/
Dolphin Browser - I like this browser enough to have completely remove the stock browser from my phone. To enable wonderful flash viewing, you will need to set the User Agent to... um... "iPhone".
But this browser has gestures, multitouch, tabs, MANY other features
and you can download YouTube videos.
Link:
http://browser.mgeek.mobi/
Pandora Radio - Its been around for a while on WinMo & other platforms and has been well adopted for Android. At first I was skeptical over the interface and intuitiveness of the app but soon I realized that simplicity is a wonderful thing. It does exactly what it has always done; provide user defined music streamed from the internet! Its stable and I have not experienced a force close (FC) or other issue.
Link:
http://www.pandora.com/android
Advanced Task Manager (ATM)- I like this app for maintaining processes & app installations. However, Flipzmode's thread here:
http://geekfor.me/faq/you-shouldnt-b...-with-android/ has been tested and confirmed by me to be very true. I still have my task manager but I have excluded all of the
system ordained processes and have noticed significant difference in daily, continued use. With any tasking program, I recommend excluding these processes:
System Processes
com.smithmicro.DM - unknown
providers.htccdma - Reception service
app.vnotes - Voicemail, etc
com.htc - I believe is used for time & alarm functions
Apps
Lookout Mobile Security - Optional
Link:
http://arronla.com/
iMusic - Just about the nicest app to find & download music... for free. There is also a seperate downloadable widget to place a Google Search-similar widget on the desktop. There is a upgrade past the lite version but unfortunately it requires Android 1.6 or higher but the lite works wonders!
Link:
http://www.greencode.me/imusic.html
iVideo - A "sister" app to iMusic except for videos. These two apps are great and the selection of music is exceptional given the free status
Link:
http://www.androidzoom.com/android_a...ideo_bjlh.html
Lookout - A highly recommended app if your a constant app-downloader/text/email sender. This program also has a backup feature that allows you to make custom backups to Lookout's server plus a phone-finding/locating service. The website is super-easy to use and the location service is just great. I couldnt believe how involved the services are. I could track my phone within 1000 meters with a Google Maps image within a couple minutes... all for free! So now you can find and pound the guy that doesn't return your $200 investment back. (Not that I condone or encourage violence, but someone is likely to get a surprise beating for failure to comply with good samaritan outlines)
Link:
https://www.mylookout.com/
SU File Explorer - Personally, I have tried Root Explorer, Linda File Explorer, Astro and none are as full encompassing as SU File Explorer. It has root functions, plus a terminal. Of course it is not free but highly worth the $1.99.
Link:
http://www.androlib.com/android.appl...-fbs-jmwq.aspx
Quick Settings - This program will allow you to bring every on/off, brightness, and volume function available on your phone in just one simple widget. You can also pich what controls you want displayed and place the rest under a "hidden settings" tab. Terrific app.
Link:
http://beworx.com/bequick/index.html
Curvefish Battery Life - Who doesnt know about this battery metter? Customizable colors and allows for display of specific battery functions.
Link:
http://curvefish.com/widgets/batterylife.htm
HTC Battery life - I do like this widget. Its clean, animated and takes up only 1x1 spacing as opposed to Curvefish's 2x2. However its larger in size (1+mb) and doesnt display extra flashy battery content. So Curvefish wins.
link:
http://phandroid.com/2009/12/17/htc-...ets-on-market/
Cachemate - There is a lot of caching that goes on between emailing, internet browsing, music playing, etc. This app seeks and clears these hiding caches. It can also be customized to clear certain places and has settings for 150+ apps builtin. Between ATM & Cachemate, my Hero runs VERY smooth.
Link:
http://www.androidappcritic.com/index.php/cachemate/
Fantasy Lockscreen - Another Curvefish thought, it is a awesome & clean lockscreen alternative. If your familar with the dot-slide lock function similar to some WinMo apps, then you will like this. however for me, the idea of turning on my phone, sliding down the Android lockscreen and then sliding over the dots in a preset manner and THEN getting to the desktop just seems to take a little too long for me. But if security is a issue, then I do recommend it. I removed Htc.Lockscreen from my device (245kb+\-) and have the default screen seen below.
Link:
http://curvefish.com/widgets/fantasy-lockscreen.htm
RealCalc Scientific calculator - Its free, highly usable and has too many features to simply list. I removed the stock calculator app and replaced it with this one.
Link:
http://brain-overspill.blogspot.com/
MountUSB - If you connect to your desktop and transfer files to and from often, this simple widget app allows you to quickly mount & un-mount your SD card for quick transfer, etc.
Link:
http://www.bkmobility.com/index.php/apps.html
Spare Parts - I think just about everyone knows of this add-on for controlling hidden features & tweaking screen animations, etc. Its a small app (45kb-ish) and offers so sought after extras.
Link:
http://www.androidfreeware.net/downl...are-parts.html
MixZing lite - Again I replaced another stock app with another; this music player offers huge widgets, searches album art for your automatically and has large, easy to use features which makes music playing very enjoyable.
Link:
http://mixzing.com/
There are many other apps but I wanted to review the ones that I thought had more relevance. I will update this post as I continue to explore and add to my Android experience!
Please remember that this is merely a opinion-oriented thread and in no way reflects the vote of the people. With a fast growing market of Android apps, I thought a little more clarity & explanation would help others in deciding what best suits their needs.