Best Android Apps |  | Authors: Mike Hendrickson, Brian Sawyer
Publisher: O'Reilly Media
Category: Book
List Price: $19.99
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Rating:  6 reviews
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Pages: 240
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Dimensions (in): 8 x 6 x 0.4
ISBN: 144938255X
Dewey Decimal Number: 794
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Product Description
You can choose from thousands of apps to make your Android device do just about anything you can think of -- and probably a few things you'd never imagine. There are so many Android apps available, in fact, that it's been difficult to find the best of the bunch -- until now. Best Android Apps leads you beyond the titles in Android Market's "Top Paid" and "Top Free" bins to showcase apps that will truly delight, empower, and entertain you. The authors have tested and handpicked more than 200 apps and games, each listed with a description and details highlighting the app's valuable tips and special features. Flip through the book to browse their suggestions, or head directly to the category of your choice to find the best apps to use at work, on the town, at play, at home, or on the road. Discover great Android apps to help you: - Juggle tasks
- Connect with friends
- Play games
- Organize documents
- Explore what's nearby
- Get in shape
- Travel the world
- Find new music
- Dine out
- Manage your money
...and much more!
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 6
 200 of the world's best apps, at your fingertips September 2, 2010
Sacramento Book Review (Sacramento, CA)
Ever wanted to identify the title and artist of a song you hear playing on someone else's radio? What about finding your car in the parking lot after a long day of shopping? Android downloadable applications (Shazam and Car Locator, in this case) enable you to do both. There's even an app that helps you locate the nearest bathroom and an app that helps you compose guitar music. With more than 25,000 apps ready to download at the touch of a finger, //Best Android Apps// is an invaluable resource. Authors Mike Hendrickson and Brian Sawyer have done the app research work for you, scouring thousands of apps to bring you only the very best and most unique in their categories.
The authors arranged the apps in the book into functional areas: business, communication, lifestyle, entertainment, games, utilities and tools, and reference. There is also a chapter at the beginning of the book that displays the 32 winners of Google's 2009 Android Developers Challenge. Several of the apps are smart phone versions of Web sites and tools you already use (Facebook, to-do lists, Weather Bug, Zagat, stock market watching, package tracking, etc.), but most are innovations that are sure to impress. One of the best features of the book is the QR code index for instantly downloading your favorite of Henderson and Sawyer's apps.
Reviewed by Megan Just
Great overview of useful apps for the Android Platform June 28, 2010
K. Eckert (Minneapolis, MN)
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
I got an advanced e-copy of this book through netgalley (dot) com. I was excited to see which apps they picked for best apps. I have been using the Android platform since the first G1 phone was released through T-mobile. I now use a Nexus One. I go through new apps/games every couple months to see what is out there and, as I said, was curious to see how they went through the massive amount of apps. They do a pretty darn good job and the every day user should be pleased with this guide.
This is an interesting book and starts out by going through the best overall apps for the Android platform. After that the book is broken down into sections (business, communications, lifestyle, entertainment, games, utility/tool, and reference apps) and they go through the best apps for each thing.
At the end of the book the QR Codes are listed in alphabetical order for all of the apps that were presented in the book. If would have been nice to have the QR code right at the bottom of the app after it is discussed, but the page it is on is referenced so it's not a big deal.
This book goes through a broad range of apps. We are talking any thing from sky maps to server access, to app organization to clothing organization. Some of them you will never need, some of them you already use, and some of them will be extremely useful to you. The authors do a pretty good job of providing free alternatives as runners up to the apps that cost something.
The format is basically the app name, cost, developer, version, a quick description of the app, and then many screenshots of the how the app works. There are a ton of screen shots in this book and it is a very effective way to see the apps.
A couple of the apps that they mention that I totally agree with as being awesome are:
- Newsrob (RSS feed reader)
- MyCloset (clothing organization)
- Astrid (task manager)
- Pandora (internet radio)
- Weatherbug (weather app)
- Many Others
There are a couple that I was disappointed that they didn't include. They also didn't mention Hungry! which is an awesome grocery shopping app that I use all the time. I frequently use Calorie Counter which allows you to keep both food and exercise diaries. But that is a pretty short list and I definitely did find some apps in this book that I will find useful in the future that I didn't know existed.
Now the question is, is it worth spending the money to buy this book? That depends on the type of person you are. If you are like me and already spend a lot of time going through apps as they become available then this guide may not tell anything you don't know. The other thing to consider is that there are a number of websites that list the top Android Apps for this or that and those are free (if possibly biased or skewed to a certain demographic group). If you are the type of person who doesn't want to spend a ton of time looking for apps but wants to get the most out of your Android phone then this book could be very useful to you.
This is a book that will be outdated quickly as the app market is constantly changing, so that is something to consider. The screen shots are great and will really help you decide if an app is for you, especially if it is one you have to pay for. Having the QR codes in the back is convenient and saves you the time of searching for them in Android Market.
Overall I think this a great book for people who want an overview of the apps provided in Android Market and who want to be pointed at apps that are reliable and useful.
Useful for both Newbies and Long-time Owners August 9, 2010
Ana Mardoll (United States)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Best Android Apps / 978-1-449-38255-1
My husband has had an Android phone for over a year now, and he follows the available apps pretty closely; I, on the other hand, am about to move from a Blackberry to a Android, so I was delighted to have the chance to review this book on behalf of the publisher.
I'm first delighted to announce that even though my husband predicted that he'd already have or know about all these "best" Android apps, we found quite a few even in the first chapter that he didn't know about - and was intrigued enough to read more. Of course, with this sort of book, time marches on and threatens to make the material "out of date" quickly, but we were pleased to note that several of the apps mentioned as being the best in their category were ones that he already has been using and enjoys immensely - such as the ones for email management, task tracking, and application killing - so there was some nice validation there, knowing that the book knew what it was talking about.
For the newbies, such as myself and my parents (who are also moving to Android phones), there is a wonderful amount of information here. The authors have gone to a lot of trouble to pick the best apps in various categories - such as security and app scheduling and phone ring customization - and they careful explain the pros and limitations of each app, along with helpful screenshots. One way in which this book stood out as being more valuable than, say, just doing the research yourself was in the way that many apps performed functions that I would not have even thought of myself, but which I immediately wanted - for instance, an app to store all your reward cards' barcodes so you don't have to lug them all in your wallet all the time!
If I have any complaints about this book, it would be that perhaps the organization of the material is not entirely perfect. Several reviewers have already mentioned that the app-codes in the back of the book would make more sense placed with the app description; I also noted that once or twice an app in a later category (like "Business Management") would gently overlap with an earlier app (like "Overall Best in Category") and I'd wish the two apps were grouped together to better compare the pros and cons. Indeed, maybe a big table of what app does what would have been valuable, but that might have been too ambitious.
Overall, we found this book to be extremely helpful. Between my parents and I and my husband, we wrote a list of apps we wanted from this book, and the list ended up being several pages long, with several of the apps being things that we would not have thought of on our own. I do recommend this book heartily, and I hope that they continue to update the edition as more apps are released on the marketplace.
Note: I received a free Advance Review Copy of this book from the publishing company via NetGalley.
~ Ana Mardoll
Good overview of the Android apps market August 1, 2010
Rob Huddleston (Sacramento, CA USA)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
With an ever-increasing number of apps available for Android devices, a book like this can potentially be invaluable. In reading through it, I found several apps that I didn't know existed but that are very cool, and several better alternates to some apps I was already using. The review of each app is concise and most are well written, and the screen shots and other details of the app are useful.
That said, I do have a couple of specific issues with the book:
1. A few critical details are missing on the apps. First, many apps are available only for specific devices or for specific versions of the Android OS, and it would have been helpful had the book pointed this out. The very first app I tried to download after having read its description in the book wasn't available for my G1, so that was disappointing. In addition, for apps that have limited or trial versions available, it would be helpful to explain the difference. This happens in a few cases, but most of the time the availability of a free "lite" version or trial is noted but not explained. In one case, there's only a notation in the price section that the app is available as a 14-day trial, but the full price isn't mentioned at all.
2. The index at the back of the book provides the barcode that enables you to download the app directly, but I didn't discover this until I had finished the book. It's possible it was mentioned in the introductory section, but really, who reads that stuff? I should note that I wouldn't blame the authors for this one, but rather O'Reilly: in designing the layout for the book, it would have been much more helpful had the pages been designed to provide room for the barcode directly on the app page, rather than in an index. (At the very least, a cross-reference from the app description page to the index page on which the barcode is listed would have helped.)
In the end, I would agree with the other reviewers. If you're a bet compulsive, this is a good book to have around to help you select apps. If not, though, you'd likely be happier reading any of the many Android-focused blogs online and instead spending the $20 on a few new apps for your phone.
Okay Book August 8, 2010
R. Nielsen
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Okay book, found a few good apps, but due to the number of new apps coming out all the time, it was dated pretty quickly. Also need to read what app reviewers are saying for the specific Android device before trying.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 6
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