# Smartphone Apps



## bvibert (Jul 13, 2010)

As a new Android user I've been having fun exploring the possibilities with the phone.  I've downloaded a few apps, Pandora being the most used so far.

I'm curious what other smartphone users are using for apps?

I apologize if this has been covered before, I didn't see a thread...


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## dmc (Jul 13, 2010)

Shazam, MLB, Tweetdeck, Facebook off the top of my head..


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## bvibert (Jul 13, 2010)

Shazam looks pretty cool, I'll have to check that one out.


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## dmc (Jul 13, 2010)

bvibert said:


> Shazam looks pretty cool, I'll have to check that one out.



there's a couple other ones floating around too..

We play Name That Tune at the bar with Shazam..


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## HD333 (Jul 13, 2010)

I use these on my Droid:

Runkeeper
Pandora
Slacker (pandora competitor)
Sportstap
Open Table
NY Times
craigsphone
GPS Status
The Weather Channel
Advanced Task Killer (saves battery)

And a whole bunch of kids apps, puzzles, Math, Finger Painting, etc.. to keep the kids busy in the car.


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## dmc (Jul 13, 2010)

Weather apps are great!
I use TWC, AccuWeather and WeatherBug.
Plus I have a few RADAR maps bookmarked to see in a browser..


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## Glenn (Jul 13, 2010)

Ones that haven't been mentioned:
CardStar
Poynt
Viigo
Google Maps (probably preloaded on a Driod...and most other Google apps as well)
Our Groceries


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## o3jeff (Jul 13, 2010)

If you can put briefly what they do that would be appreciated for us lazy people!


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## Grassi21 (Jul 13, 2010)

+1 on Poynt and Google Maps.

Google maps is well.... Google maps.  Poynt locates gas, restaurants, businesses, people etc based on your geographic location (GPS or nearest cell tower).  They have a cheapest gas feature in there as well.


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## HD333 (Jul 13, 2010)

HD333 said:


> I use these on my Droid:
> 
> Runkeeper - GPS tracks work out, different modes, MTB, hiking, running, etc.  Show route on a map when done
> Pandora - Tunes
> ...



See above for descriptions.  Fart Droid was also fun for the first week, I'll let you figure out what that is.....


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## severine (Jul 13, 2010)

That's the one downside to the Palm Pre Plus so far... not so many apps. I had some great ones on my iPod that there are no equivalent for the PPP.  I found a couple apps like the one Grassi mentioned but the info is horribly outdated...like restaurants that closed many years ago and restaurants that came after them in the same location (and also closed) are listed in town. Makes me wonder how accurate the rest of it is. *Where* seems to be the better of the two that I downloaded (*Citysearch* being the other) and *Where* has the gas prices (I haven't checked accuracy on that yet). I did get a nice *Drinking Trivia* app for the next time I'm out with people. :beer:


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## BackLoafRiver (Jul 13, 2010)

Congrats on the purchase of an android.  Here is a list of what I use. 

Runkeeper
Pandora
Sirius/ XM
Facebook
Mytracks - A Runkeeper alternative. I use it infrequently since getting Runkeeper but good to have
Google maps 
Craigs notification - a pretty cool craigslist app that you can specify what to have it update you on.  It has been great so far since I am looking for a new apartment and a Thule box
Factoid - a pretty fun app with random facts.
Mototorch LED - Turns the camera LED into a flashlight with some options.  Very helpful
Movies - Partners with rotten tomatoes to give reviews, previews and showtimes.  AWESOME app.
Picsay - a fun photo editor.  You can make some funny stuff with that.
Google Voice 
Advanced Task Killer (saves battery)

I have a few more. So many great things coming out too. I can't wait to try slingbox for android. It looks killer!


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## bvibert (Jul 13, 2010)

How does the Sirius XM app work?  There's a monthly fee for that, correct?  I've thinking of dropping my regular Sirius subscription.  I was thinking of getting it through the phone instead, but Pandora has been kicking ass so far.

I want to get a mount to mount the phone to the dash (or windshield) so I can use it with Google maps like a GPS, since I don't already have a GPS in my car.  I tried using it when I first got it, but I couldn't get it to get good enough satellite reception without holding it up near the windshield.  Which obviously made it more difficult to drive.


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## Grassi21 (Jul 13, 2010)

bvibert said:


> How does the Sirius XM app work?  There's a monthly fee for that, correct?  I've thinking of dropping my regular Sirius subscription.  I was thinking of getting it through the phone instead, but Pandora has been kicking ass so far.
> 
> I want to get a mount to mount the phone to the dash (or windshield) so I can use it with Google maps like a GPS, since I don't already have a GPS in my car.  I tried using it when I first got it, but I couldn't get it to get good enough satellite reception without holding it up near the windshield.  Which obviously made it more difficult to drive.



i am pretty sure there is a charge xm/serius app. and pandora does kick ass!


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## severine (Jul 13, 2010)

I <3 *Pandora*! I forget who on AZ told me about it (may have been Paul or herginicoop) but definitely a fave. Don't like *Slacker* as much.


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## bvibert (Jul 13, 2010)

Grassi21 said:


> i am pretty sure there is a charge xm/serius app. and pandora does kick ass!



Granted I've only been using it for a couple of days, but so far I like the music that Pandora picks out better than Sirius.  I've had it running (through the phone) all day today at work.


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## Grassi21 (Jul 13, 2010)

bvibert said:


> Granted I've only been using it for a couple of days, but so far I like the music that Pandora picks out better than Sirius.  I've had it running (through the phone) all day today at work.



They do grab a good mix of music.  I started listening to Slightly Stupid after it popped up on my Sublime station.  Great stuff.  I play a Bob Marley station a lot around my son.  He now requests to listen to Bob Marley by name and anytime he hears a reggae sound in any song he asks if its Bob.  That kid is cool as a fan.


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## Glenn (Jul 13, 2010)

Edit with descriptions

Ones that haven't been mentioned:
CardStar: Store all your discount cards and barcodes. Lightens the ol wallet. 
Poynt: Mentioned above. Think of it as yelp, but way more useful. 
Viigo: RSS reader. This may be BlackBerry only now since RIM bought them. A good solid RSS reader with podcasts as well. I like it. It's a bit heavy, so it may not work so well on pre 5.0 OS BB's
Google Maps (probably preloaded on a Driod...and most other Google apps as well)
Our Groceries: A very simple app that lets my wife and I share a common shopping list. As we think of stuff, put it on the list. It updates on both phones. Whoever is at the store, has the current list. As you shop, allows you to cross items off the list...and you can see what's crossed off. 

Slacker: I think it has a better interface, but losing "next artist" in the free version is a bummer. 

Pandora: It's a bit more work for custom stations, but you can really zero in on what you like. I think it sometimes plays some deeper cuts. No audio ads ether. Well, not that I've heard as of late.


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## BackLoafRiver (Jul 13, 2010)

bvibert said:


> How does the Sirius XM app work?  There's a monthly fee for that, correct?  I've thinking of dropping my regular Sirius subscription.  I was thinking of getting it through the phone instead, but Pandora has been kicking ass so far.
> 
> I want to get a mount to mount the phone to the dash (or windshield) so I can use it with Google maps like a GPS, since I don't already have a GPS in my car.  I tried using it when I first got it, but I couldn't get it to get good enough satellite reception without holding it up near the windshield.  Which obviously made it more difficult to drive.



Yeah, there is a $3 a month fee on top of your regular sirius subscription.  It's kind of a nab since Pandora is mostly superior.  I use it to catch my favorite talk shows on 108 and for some Octane.  I need to find a decent artist to put into my Pandora rotation.

As for a mount, I highly recommend it! The car dock for the droid makes a huge difference and really allows you to utilize the Google Maps Navigation.  Do they make one for the Ally?


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## bvibert (Jul 13, 2010)

BackLoafRiver said:


> As for a mount, I highly recommend it! The car dock for the droid makes a huge difference and really allows you to utilize the Google Maps Navigation.  Do they make one for the Ally?



I think they do.  Trying to figure out what would work best, on the windshield would put it too far away to use it I think.  I may have to make something up to mount it to the top of the dash somehow.  I'm also working on hacking my car stereo to use the unused CD changer input as an aux input, so that I can play music from the phone right through the cars speakers.


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## Glenn (Jul 14, 2010)

bvibert said:


> I think they do.  Trying to figure out what would work best, on the windshield would put it too far away to use it I think.  I may have to make something up to mount it to the top of the dash somehow.  I'm also working on hacking my car stereo to use the unused CD changer input as an aux input, so that I can play music from the phone right through the cars speakers.



We just picked up vent brackets for our vehicles over the weekend. I'm thinking it will work well in your German auto if the vents are at the top of the center stack...near the dash. 

It's a Bracketron:


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## bvibert (Jul 14, 2010)

Glenn said:


> We just picked up vent brackets for our vehicles over the weekend. I'm thinking it will work well in your German auto if the vents are at the top of the center stack...near the dash.
> 
> It's a Bracketron:



How well does the universal type mount work?  I've been leery of them.


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## o3jeff (Jul 14, 2010)

Glenn said:


> We just picked up vent brackets for our vehicles over the weekend. I'm thinking it will work well in your German auto if the vents are at the top of the center stack...near the dash.
> 
> It's a Bracketron:



Also how easy is it to spin so the phone is horizontal? Mine phone has some TV on it, but only plays when sideways!


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## Glenn (Jul 14, 2010)

bvib,
Pretty darn easily. It fit easily in the Grand and easily in the A6. I was actually surprised. 

Jeff,
Rotates no problem at all. 

We actually grabbed these at TJ Maxx over the weekend. They were at the Keene, NH location. For $12, we figured it was worth the gamble. 

I feel like a dork because I have the windsheild mount and the vent mount. I like the windsheild mount, my wife (DJ when we drive to VT) puts her BB in the vent holder and takes care of the tunes.


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## bvibert (Jul 14, 2010)

Glenn said:


> bvib,
> Pretty darn easily. It fit easily in the Grand and easily in the A6. I was actually surprised.



I was more wondering how well it held the phones.  I'm assuming you haven't had any problems or you would have mentioned it...


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## Glenn (Jul 15, 2010)

bvibert said:


> I was more wondering how well it held the phones.  I'm assuming you haven't had any problems or you would have mentioned it...



Very snuggly. I actually have to be careful. If I snug it down too much, it'll activate the camera or mess with the volume control (keys for each are on oposite sides of the phone).


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## Marc (Jul 15, 2010)

Thinking about getting a Droid X when they're out soon, but I'm always a little skeeved about new model releases.

I wish Grooveshark had an iphone or droid app.  I use that on my computer at work now instead of Pandora.


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## Greg (Jul 16, 2010)

Anyone have any luck syncing up to an Exchange server on their droid? I'm due for a new phone in September, and the droids look pretty awesome, but if there is no OWA support, it's a deal breaker for me.


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## dmc (Jul 16, 2010)

Greg said:


> Anyone have any luck syncing up to an Exchange server on their droid? I'm due for a new phone in September, and the droids look pretty awesome, but if there is no OWA support, it's a deal breaker for me.



A friend of mine uses Outlook on the Droid..  I don't think it's an issue..  

but yeah... deal breaker for sure...


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## HD333 (Jul 16, 2010)

My wife uses her company Outlook on her Droid, no issues.


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## bvibert (Jul 16, 2010)

Greg said:


> Anyone have any luck syncing up to an Exchange server on their droid? I'm due for a new phone in September, and the droids look pretty awesome, but if there is no OWA support, it's a deal breaker for me.



I haven't done it, but I see the option for Exchange when setting up new email accounts on my phone.  I don't think it will be much of an issue.


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## BackLoafRiver (Jul 16, 2010)

bvibert said:


> I haven't done it, but I see the option for Exchange when setting up new email accounts on my phone.  I don't think it will be much of an issue.



For VZW customers, Outlook sync is another couple dollars a month.  $10 maybe?  On my Droid, the setup is super easy and they play well together.  I would like to see how it works on the Droid X with only a virtual keyboard.


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## bvibert (Jul 16, 2010)

BackLoafRiver said:


> For VZW customers, Outlook sync is another couple dollars a month.  $10 maybe?  On my Droid, the setup is super easy and they play well together.  I would like to see how it works on the Droid X with only a virtual keyboard.



Guess it's a good thing I don't need to sync to Outlook then.  I can read my work email from the webmail interface if I need to.  I have a neat little application on my desktop that syncs my outlook calendar with my google calendar, so all my work meetings and what not show up on my phone's calendar.  That's more important to me than having the emails synced up.


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## BackLoafRiver (Jul 16, 2010)

bvibert said:


> Guess it's a good thing I don't need to sync to Outlook then.  I can read my work email from the webmail interface if I need to.  I have a neat little application on my desktop that syncs my outlook calendar with my google calendar, so all my work meetings and what not show up on my phone's calendar.  That's more important to me than having the emails synced up.



Yeah, I decided against keeping it since our school department has an exchange address so I can check stuff using the browser.  I didn't see the need for the extra $10.  I put all my calendar stuff on Google Calendar which is syncd with my phone.


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## bvibert (Jul 16, 2010)

BackLoafRiver said:


> Yeah, I decided against keeping it since our school department has an exchange address so I can check stuff using the browser.  I didn't see the need for the extra $10.  I put all my calendar stuff on Google Calendar which is syncd with my phone.



Are you sure that they still charge extra to sync to Exchange.  I didn't see anything about it on their website??


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## FRITOLAYGUY (Jul 17, 2010)

BVI what phone do u have?  Look into the weather apps they are real good, i have weatherbug and i know you spend alot of time outdoors, the free version updates the weather ever 2hours, however u can update it as often as u want by hitting the button, the radar is spot on, really helpful if your out biking, kayaking, golfing etc.  Only problem with the droid phones the battery is just sucked, defidently as someone said before get the task killer, also the main reason the battery life sucks is SMS text msgs the phone never sleeps, get a alternative sms text msg app instead of using the one that cmae wiht the phone and the phone will actually sleep and save alot of juice, lower the screen brightness to 10percent, u will hardly notice a difference,turn off gps unless u actuallly need it, thats the #1 battery drainer, hope this helps..


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## bvibert (Jul 17, 2010)

FRITOLAYGUY said:


> BVI what phone do u have?  Look into the weather apps they are real good, i have weatherbug and i know you spend alot of time outdoors, the free version updates the weather ever 2hours, however u can update it as often as u want by hitting the button, the radar is spot on, really helpful if your out biking, kayaking, golfing etc.  Only problem with the droid phones the battery is just sucked, defidently as someone said before get the task killer, also the main reason the battery life sucks is SMS text msgs the phone never sleeps, get a alternative sms text msg app instead of using the one that cmae wiht the phone and the phone will actually sleep and save alot of juice, lower the screen brightness to 10percent, u will hardly notice a difference,turn off gps unless u actuallly need it, thats the #1 battery drainer, hope this helps..



Thanks for all the advice.  I have a LG Ally.  Right now I have the weather channel app installed, it's been okay, but keeps sending weather alert notifications which is annoying sometimes.  I'll look at the other ones too.  I have noticed that the battery doesn't last an especially long time, but I haven't had much trouble getting through the day with it yet.  I'll definitely be using your suggestions though to get a little extra life out of the battery.


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## BeanoNYC (Jul 17, 2010)

Games:  Air Control and Homerun Battle 3D

Communication:  

Fring (Video chat between cell phones)
Chomp SMS

Other:

TrailMaps Pro:  (Every Skier should have this app)
Bic Concert Lighter
c:geo (if you geocache)
cardstar (not impressed)
craigsphone (for craigsbook)
Flight Track (excellent for travel)
Frequently Called Remover
Kindle App
Google Sky Map (everyone should have this app)
Mablio Ring Tones
Mint.com
Ringdroid (turn mp3s into ringtone)
Google Voice (must have for voicemail)
Zillow
Shazzam


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## mlctvt (Jul 19, 2010)

Greg said:


> Anyone have any luck syncing up to an Exchange server on their droid? I'm due for a new phone in September, and the droids look pretty awesome, but if there is no OWA support, it's a deal breaker for me.



Some people have issues and some don't. There seams to be a few more issues with Exchange Server 2003 than with 2007 or 2010. 
Supposedly according to google and Motorola many issues will be fixed with the new operating system update to Android 2.2 (Froyo) due in the next month or two. 

Either way nobody is reporting problems if you use the touchdown app from Nitrodesk. This seems to be the most trouble free method.. 

I'm going to wait for ver2.2 to link up my new Droid X to our company's server.

By the way the Droid X is awesome!!


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## bvibert (Jul 19, 2010)

mlctvt said:


> Some people have issues and some don't. There seams to be a few more issues with Exchange Server 2003 than with 2007 or 2010.
> Supposedly according to google and Motorola many issues will be fixed with the new operating system update to Android 2.2 (Froyo) due in the next month or two.
> 
> Either way nobody is reporting problems if you use the touchdown app from Nitrodesk. This seems to be the most trouble free mehtod.
> ...



I guess there's some security settings that won't work with Android.  I tried to link up to our server at work and it told me that it required security settings that aren't supported by my phone.  I wasn't surprised based on the level of security they try to have here.


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## MR. evil (Jul 19, 2010)

Greg said:


> Anyone have any luck syncing up to an Exchange server on their droid? I'm due for a new phone in September, and the droids look pretty awesome, but if there is no OWA support, it's a deal breaker for me.



No experience with the Driod, but we have iPhones in the office and they are all sync'd to our exchange server. Works great! I would imagine the Driod would work just as well.


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## Greg (Jul 19, 2010)

mlctvt said:


> Some people have issues and some don't. There seams to be a few more issues with Exchange Server 2003 than with 2007 or 2010.
> Supposedly according to google and Motorola many issues will be fixed with the new operating system update to Android 2.2 (Froyo) due in the next month or two.
> 
> Either way nobody is reporting problems if you use the touchdown app from Nitrodesk. This seems to be the most trouble free method..
> ...



Hmm. Weird thing is that Windows Mobile just uses OWA settings to get to Exchange which is basically Webmail for Exchange. I have to imagine that Android can do the same given the prevalence of Exchange. We'll find out in September when I'm due for a phone upgrade. Any recommendations (AT&T) for phones? HTC has a nice touch screen/slide out keyboard model which is what I would want.


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## WJenness (Jul 30, 2010)

Bvibert,

Saw your post earlier in the thread about windshield / vent mounts...

I went with the verizon mount and put it here:







It fits really well, works for GPS usage / answering the phone... It's close enough that I can reach it with my left hand by reaching about 2" past the steering wheel.

My buddy has a similar mount in a similar location for his Blackberry Storm.

What he did (that I'm going to do as well) is he installed an additional power (cigarette) outlet BEHIND the fuses and knee bolster, and ran his charger down the A-Pillar and behind the fuse access panel, plugged it in, and zip tied it down. Hidden wire, clean install, and it always powers the phone.

What I'm going to do in addition to that is to run a 3.5mm headphone cable from the mount (has a nice clip on the back where you can plug it into the headphone jack on the phone) over into my glove box. I'm not sure how I'm going to route it over there yet so that it's hidden, but I'll find a way.

In my glove box, I have an iPod adapter from neocaraudio.com. It's pretty sweet, plugs into the CD changer port (previously unused) on the back of the factory radio, and then the iPod emulates a CD changer, allowing me to skip tracks with the steering wheel / Head Unit buttons, and it doesn't lock out the screen either, so I can find specific albums, playlists, etc... However, the bonus feature on this device is that it has an aux input (3.5mm), so I can plug my phone into that, and run Pandora or slacker on my phone into the radio.

The last piece of the puzzle is a Parrot Bluetooth Cellphone interface. I'm going to install that and pair it with my phone. It pipes the audio from the phone into the car stereo through the phone input and there's a mic that you mount at the top of the driver's a-pillar...

Additionally, I picked up one of the audi XM receivers on closeout last fall that I might hook up as well, giving me insane amounts of options and integration.

-w


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## bvibert (Jul 30, 2010)

Nice looking mount, I like how the charger plug is integrated!  They don't make a mount quite that nice for my phone, I'd have to run my own charger cable and plug it into the phone.  I plan on doing something similar to what your friend did, though I may hard wire it instead.  I did that with the power for my Sirius radio (which blocks the cigarette lighter in my car anyway).  

I'm also doing something similar to what you're going to do for music, except I'm cheap (and poor) so I'm building the circuit to interface with the CD changer port on my radio instead of spending the $90+ to buy one.  I don't have an iPod, so I don't need to worry about the steering wheel controls working with one (with my car's radio you can only get rudimentary controls anyway from what I understand).  Once I get all that working then I'll probably dump Sirius to save some dough.  Pandora works well for me, and if I drive through an area with poor coverage then I can switch to playing MP3s.

I'd love to do one of those bluetooth/radio interfaces, but I just can't justify that for the amount of calls I get in the car...


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## mlctvt (Jul 30, 2010)

Pandora works well for me said:
			
		

> Slacker solves this by caching music to the memory in the phone. You can cache several stations or customer stations. No need for phone access to play music. I like this for uninterrupted music on my way to Vermont through the route 112 section of little or no cell phone service.


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## bvibert (Jul 30, 2010)

mlctvt said:


> Slacker solves this by caching music to the memory in the phone. You can cache several stations or customer stations. No need for phone access to play music. I like this for uninterrupted music on my way to Vermont through the route 112 section of little or no cell phone service.



Good to know, I'll have to check it out, thanks!


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## Glenn (Jul 30, 2010)

I think Slacker caching is good for 7 days on the free version, then it's only available in the paid version.


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## o3jeff (Aug 7, 2010)

I ended up getting this mount for the Jeep. Comes with suction cup and vent clip mounts and is pretty sturdy. They didn't have it specific for my phone but I ordered the one for the iPhone and it fits fine! Also it was cheaper last week with free shipping when I ordered mine.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0031U1AT6/ref=oss_product

B, if you remember tomorrow morning you can take a peek at it to see if it fits what you are looking for.


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## Glenn (Sep 22, 2010)

Here's a cool one I found for BalckBerry users: http://www.yesterberry.com/

It's not really an app, but a shortcut icon that takes you to that URL. The guy has set up a bunch of streaming TV stations and converted them so they'll stream live on your blackberry. It's pretty slick. He's got a bunch of different channels, sports, news, international ect. I was able to stream some cable news, and checked out Speed TV. I imagine this uses a good amount of data, so I'd stick to wifi for using it. 

Can someone with a Driod or iPhone see if it works? If you hit the URL on your PC, you get a "incompatible" message. I'm thinking he may have it set up to work with the blackberry browser...but who knows, maybe it'll work with the other mobile devices.


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## SKIQUATTRO (Sep 22, 2010)

PROCLIP.com has alot of mounting options..


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## mlctvt (Sep 22, 2010)

Glenn said:


> Here's a cool one I found for BalckBerry users: http://www.yesterberry.com/
> 
> It's not really an app, but a shortcut icon that takes you to that URL. The guy has set up a bunch of streaming TV stations and converted them so they'll stream live on your blackberry. It's pretty slick. He's got a bunch of different channels, sports, news, international ect. I was able to stream some cable news, and checked out Speed TV. I imagine this uses a good amount of data, so I'd stick to wifi for using it.
> 
> Can someone with a Driod or iPhone see if it works? If you hit the URL on your PC, you get a "incompatible" message. I'm thinking he may have it set up to work with the blackberry browser...but who knows, maybe it'll work with the other mobile devices.



Hi Glenn- I have a Motorola Droid X. I can hit the site but I get an error message that this site was designed for Blackberry devices and you must have a RIM account.


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## Glenn (Sep 22, 2010)

Thanks mlctvt! Guess it only works on the BlackBerry.


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## wa-loaf (Sep 22, 2010)

There's an SAC app for the iPhone now. I've noticed it pushes out the notice slightly faster than the SAC tracker for firefox.


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## SKIQUATTRO (Sep 22, 2010)

getting iphone thursday...


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## snowmonster (Sep 22, 2010)

If any of you are finance types, I recommend The Book of Jargon app.


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## Yesterberry (Sep 23, 2010)

mlctvt said:


> Hi Glenn- I have a Motorola Droid X. I can hit the site but I get an error message that this site was designed for Blackberry devices and you must have a RIM account.



I (hopefully) just opened up Yesterberry to work on Android devices. Feel free to check it out and let me know how it works for you; from looking over the specs, most Android devices should be able to play all our content, both live and on-demand. Keep in mind that the layout will probably be very odd since it was intended for BlackBerry phones. I can adjust this if you care to send me some screenshots of how it looks on your Droid.


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## dmc (Sep 23, 2010)

SKIQUATTRO said:


> getting iphone thursday...



COOL! 

My new favorite app is Star Walk..  It's sick..
http://vitotechnology.com/star-walk.html


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## Glenn (Sep 23, 2010)

Yesterberry said:


> I (hopefully) just opened up Yesterberry to work on Android devices. Feel free to check it out and let me know how it works for you; from looking over the specs, most Android devices should be able to play all our content, both live and on-demand. Keep in mind that the layout will probably be very odd since it was intended for BlackBerry phones. I can adjust this if you care to send me some screenshots of how it looks on your Droid.



Cool! And welcome aboard!


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## Greg (Sep 28, 2010)

Greg said:


> Hmm. Weird thing is that Windows Mobile just uses OWA settings to get to Exchange which is basically Webmail for Exchange. I have to imagine that Android can do the same given the prevalence of Exchange. We'll find out in September when I'm due for a phone upgrade. Any recommendations (AT&T) for phones? HTC has a nice touch screen/slide out keyboard model which is what I would want.



Well, I upgraded to a Motorola Backflip yesterday for a whopping *zero *dollars. Pretty cool. I finally got all my Email accounts working and Corporate Sync works well with Exchange. At first I didn't like Motoblur, but it's actually a nice way to manage all Email, texts. Once I figured out how to get rid of everyone's Facebook updates clogging the home screen...

I'm in search of the absolute best radar app there is. I'm a big fan of Intellicast's pan and zoom on desktop computers so I'd like something similar. Suggestions?


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## roark (Sep 28, 2010)

Greg said:


> I'm in search of the absolute best radar app there is. I'm a big fan of Intellicast's pan and zoom on desktop computers so I'd like something similar. Suggestions?


 
Interested in this as well, so far I just have the weather channel's free app... but there's gotta be something better!


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## bvibert (Sep 28, 2010)

Greg said:


> Well, I upgraded to a Motorola Backflip yesterday for a whopping *zero *dollars. Pretty cool. I finally got all my Email accounts working and Corporate Sync works well with Exchange. At first I didn't like Motoblur, but it's actually a nice way to manage all Email, texts. Once I figured out how to get rid of everyone's Facebook updates clogging the home screen...
> 
> I'm in search of the absolute best radar app there is. I'm a big fan of Intellicast's pan and zoom on desktop computers so I'd like something similar. Suggestions?



I've been using Weather Bug for weather.  The map seems pretty good to me, they use Google maps with a weather overlay.  You can pan and zoom (I can see your house with it).  Plus it will mark your current location on the map (or an approximation if you don't the GPS on).  In addition to the map it has the ability to send weather alert notifications for whatever area you're in.  Of course it will give you the forecast for where you are, or whatever location you want.  It also streams local weather cameras and apparently has a national weather video that you can play.

I'm not as into following the weather as some, but I like this app.  Plus you can't beat the price.


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## WJenness (Sep 28, 2010)

bvibert said:


> I've been using Weather Bug for weather.  The map seems pretty good to me, they use Google maps with a weather overlay.  You can pan and zoom (I can see your house with it).  Plus it will mark your current location on the map (or an approximation if you don't the GPS on).  In addition to the map it has the ability to send weather alert notifications for whatever area you're in.  Of course it will give you the forecast for where you are, or whatever location you want.  It also streams local weather cameras and apparently has a national weather video that you can play.
> 
> I'm not as into following the weather as some, but I like this app.  Plus you can't beat the price.



I put weatherbug on my phone a couple of times.

It seemed to keep the phone from sleeping, resulting in my battery dying very quickly... so I've banished it from my phone until they resolve it.

Radar Now! is a decent radar app, but I'm on the hunt for something better.

-w


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## bvibert (Sep 28, 2010)

WJenness said:


> I put weatherbug on my phone a couple of times.
> 
> It seemed to keep the phone from sleeping, resulting in my battery dying very quickly... so I've banished it from my phone until they resolve it.
> 
> ...



Really?  Doesn't seem to affect my phone.  I get great battery life, most days it's not down past 70-80% at the end of the day.  Only slightly more when I use a GPS tracking app (I normally keep the GPS, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi off unless I need to use them).


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## WJenness (Sep 28, 2010)

bvibert said:


> Really?  Doesn't seem to affect my phone.  I get great battery life, most days it's not down past 70-80% at the end of the day.  Only slightly more when I use a GPS tracking app (I normally keep the GPS, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi off unless I need to use them).



Yeah... it seemed to be isolated to the droid X from what I can tell... don't know though.

Maybe I should give it another shot now that I've upgraded my OS to froyo.

-w


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## bvibert (Sep 28, 2010)

WJenness said:


> Yeah... it seemed to be isolated to the droid X from what I can tell... don't know though.
> 
> Maybe I should give it another shot now that I've upgraded my OS to froyo.
> 
> -w



Still waiting to see if my phone will get upgraded to froyo... :-?


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## o3jeff (Sep 28, 2010)

bvibert said:


> Still waiting to see if my phone will get upgraded to froyo... :-?



Get with the times!, Mine upgraded to it last month.


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## bvibert (Sep 28, 2010)

bvibert said:


> In addition to the map it has the ability to send weather alert notifications for whatever area you're in.



Case in point; my phone just alerted me that there is a Tornado watch in effect for my area..


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## bvibert (Sep 28, 2010)

o3jeff said:


> Get with the times!, Mine upgraded to it last month.



If I could upgrade without hacking my phone I would.   Stoopid Verizon...


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## Greg (Sep 28, 2010)

Has anyone else noticed that the built-in Android Email app, doesn't have great IMAP support? Specifically, if you delete a message on the phone, it doesn't really get deleted from the IMAP mail server. That's a major PIA for me. I think it's because you can't specify a root folder path. I'm trying K-9 as a work around.


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## o3jeff (Sep 28, 2010)

Greg said:


> Has anyone else noticed that the built-in Android Email app, doesn't have great IMAP support? Specifically, if you delete a message on the phone, it doesn't really get deleted from the IMAP mail server. That's a major PIA for me. I think it's because you can't specify a root folder path. I'm trying K-9 as a work around.



Is that all fancy talk about when you delete an email on the phone you want it to delete on the server too? If so on my HTC phone under the email setting I have an option that allows me to do that.


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## bvibert (Sep 28, 2010)

I don't use the default email app since most of my personal email is through Gmail, which unsurprisingly works really well.  I also have a Yahoo/ATT account, which there's a separate app for, but it sucks since it rarely tells me if I have new email (which isn't too often anyway).  My phone doesn't meet the security requirements for work (ie; it's not a blackberry) so I'm not allowed to connect to the exchange server.  Which isn't that big of a deal since I don't need (or want) to be connected to the office anyway.  I can still access work email through the web interface if needed (which times out and requires re-login on a somewhat frequent basis to cover the security requirements I guess..).

K9 looks to have some good reviews.  Let us know how it works out for you!


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## Greg (Sep 28, 2010)

Got K-9 all configured. Pretty nice, lots of features, although sometime I prefer simple. But at the end of the day, I got it working the way I want.

Re: Radar - I think I'm going to have to stick with Weatherbug for now. I didn't like Radar Now at all.


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## Glenn (Sep 29, 2010)

WetherBug has worked out well on my Berry. The only thing I wish it had was a radar loop. But I only have the free version; maybe you get that if you upgrade. I also noticed the radar info is just a bit behind what's actualy happening. I saw that a few times this summer with small local thunderstorm cells. It's free though...can't complain.


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## roark (Sep 29, 2010)

Glenn said:


> WetherBug has worked out well on my Berry. The only thing I wish it had was a radar loop.



This is exactly why I stuck with the Weather Channel app.


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## bvibert (Sep 29, 2010)

Glenn said:


> WetherBug has worked out well on my Berry. The only thing I wish it had was a radar loop. But I only have the free version; maybe you get that if you upgrade. I also noticed the radar info is just a bit behind what's actualy happening. I saw that a few times this summer with small local thunderstorm cells. It's free though...can't complain.





roark said:


> This is exactly why I stuck with the Weather Channel app.



WeatherBug for Android has a radar loop now, it was added in the last update a couple months back.  Maybe check to see if there's updates to the BB version?

WeatherBug kicks the Weather Channel app's ass IMHO.


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## dmc (Sep 29, 2010)

bvibert said:


> WeatherBug for Android has a radar loop now, it was added in the last update a couple months back.  Maybe check to see if there's updates to the BB version?
> 
> WeatherBug kicks the Weather Channel app's ass IMHO.



It does on Iphone/IPad too...


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## Greg (Sep 29, 2010)

Weather Channel app radar was rough. Weatherbug is much better. Advanced Task Killer is a must have. I like how you can select certain apps NOTto be killed, currently K-9 and Weatherbug for me.


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## WJenness (Sep 29, 2010)

Greg said:


> Advanced Task Killer is a must have.



If you have it set to auto-kill anything, I highly suggest reading this: http://geekfor.me/faq/you-shouldnt-be-using-a-task-killer-with-android/

Task Killers are a bit of snake oil... Though they have their uses.

-w


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## Greg (Sep 29, 2010)

WJenness said:


> If you have it set to auto-kill anything, I highly suggest reading this: http://geekfor.me/faq/you-shouldnt-be-using-a-task-killer-with-android/
> 
> Task Killers are a bit of snake oil... Though they have their uses.
> 
> -w



Interesting. My main use of the task killer is to preserve battery, more than better performance. Read through the comments on that article. A lot of debate. Perhaps the best point, was someone that suggested to try running for a week without a task killer. I suspect I'm going to have major battery drain (Pandora and Google Maps user). So far performance isn't an issue so until it is, I'll probably continue whacking tasks.


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## dmc (Sep 29, 2010)

Greg said:


> Interesting. My main use of the task killer is to preserve battery, more than better performance. Read through the comments on that article. A lot of debate. Perhaps the best point, was someone that suggested to try running for a week without a task killer. I suspect I'm going to have major battery drain (Pandora and Google Maps user). So far performance isn't an issue so until it is, I'll probably continue whacking tasks.



Doesn't Droid come with an app to kill/shutdown co-resident apps?


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## Greg (Sep 29, 2010)

dmc said:


> Doesn't Droid come with an app to kill/shutdown co-resident apps?



Not that I'm aware of. Some apps have a Quit command, but most don't. As that article explains, the OS does its own sort of memory management as needed, but that doesn't address battery-draining apps.

This is a geeky thread. :dunce:


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## dmc (Sep 29, 2010)

Greg said:


> Not that I'm aware of. Some apps have a Quit command, but most don't. As that article explains, the OS does its own sort of memory management as needed, but that doesn't address battery-draining apps.
> 
> This is a geeky thread. :dunce:



That's a problem..  Vampire apps...  Sucking the life out of your device..  

I can see why you'd want a kill app.

Is the Droid OS a unix flavor?


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## Greg (Sep 29, 2010)

dmc said:


> That's a problem..  Vampire apps...  Sucking the life out of your device..
> 
> I can see why you'd want a kill app.
> 
> Is the Droid OS a unix flavor?



Yes, it's based on a Linux kernel which means nothing to me, a Windows guy... :lol:


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## dmc (Sep 29, 2010)

Greg said:


> Yes, it's based on a Linux kernel which means nothing to me, a Windows guy... :lol:



If you could open a terminal you could do a "ps -ef" the kill the processes.... 

You should really try to get on the linux wagon...   Windows as we know it is dying.   haha


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## WJenness (Sep 29, 2010)

It does have a way to kill tasks.

It's a but buried in the settings window, but you can force close things from there...

The task killer apps are a more elegant interface.

The biggest battery drain issue for me have been apps that keep the phone from sleeping... Some you can configure not to do that, some you can not (depends on how the app was written).

-w


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## bvibert (Sep 29, 2010)

WJenness said:


> If you have it set to auto-kill anything, I highly suggest reading this: http://geekfor.me/faq/you-shouldnt-be-using-a-task-killer-with-android/
> 
> Task Killers are a bit of snake oil... Though they have their uses.
> 
> -w



Thanks for linking that.  I've had ATK installed and running for a while now, mostly because it seemed very popular.  I'm going to see if the phone runs any differently without it running for a while.


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## Glenn (Sep 29, 2010)

Interesting that the same app (WeatherBug) has different features on different phone platforms. To those with animated radar...are you using the free version?


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## bvibert (Sep 29, 2010)

Glenn said:


> Interesting that the same app (WeatherBug) has different features on different phone platforms. To those with animated radar...are you using the free version?



Yes, the free version, 2.4.449 for Android is what I'm running


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## WJenness (Sep 29, 2010)

Huh, leave it to lifehacker to be topical:

http://lifehacker.com/5650894/andro...ed-what-they-do-and-why-you-shouldnt-use-them

-w


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## dmc (Sep 29, 2010)

IPad WeatherBug...  Love it...


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## Glenn (Sep 29, 2010)

bvibert said:


> Yes, the free version, 2.4.449 for Android is what I'm running



Wild...guess it varies by platform. I know BB is usually low man on the totum pole due to the lower volume of apps. It may have something to do with how apps are written for the BB. That's a bit over my head though. 

That's fraggin' slick on the iPad!

One think I really like about WeatherBug...whenever the NWS issues a warning, my LED will blink and I'll get a "!" icon over my WeatherBug icon on my home screen. It happens pretty much right as the warning happens. It's fun in the winter. 8)


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## bvibert (Sep 29, 2010)

Glenn said:


> Wild...guess it varies by platform. I know BB is usually low man on the totum pole due to the lower volume of apps. It may have something to do with how apps are written for the BB. That's a bit over my head though.
> 
> That's fraggin' slick on the iPad!
> 
> One think I really like about WeatherBug...whenever the NWS issues a warning, my LED will blink and I'll get a "!" icon over my WeatherBug icon on my home screen. It happens pretty much right as the warning happens. It's fun in the winter. 8)



Yup, as I mentioned above I get the warning in my notification bar, and it'll play an audible alert too.  I haven't had the phone through the winter yet, but it's actually kind of annoying when it's a warning for the high heat index (or whatever it's called) in the summer...

Hopefully the BB WeatherBug gets updated for you soon.  The loop is invaluable for me.


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## dmc (Sep 29, 2010)

Glenn said:


> That's fraggin' slick on the iPad!
> )



Im diggin the IPad..  I did my first IPad only business trip this week..  Other then some deep into work intranet connectivity issues it work great - and saved my back from carting it around...  and it became a tax writeoff...  haha


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## roark (Sep 29, 2010)

yup newer free weatherbug >>>> TWC app.


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## severine (Sep 29, 2010)

Glenn said:


> I know BB is usually low man on the totum pole due to the lower volume of apps. It may have something to do with how apps are written for the BB. That's a bit over my head though.


You think BB is low on app totem pole--you should try Palm (web OS)! A lot less apps and the only Weatherbug version available on it is $1.99. A lot of apps that are available free on other platforms are only available for a fee on web OS (or just plain not available at all).


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## Glenn (Sep 30, 2010)

That is true...Palm is certainly in an interesting position right now. That's crazy that they charge for most apps. That's kind of a bad business model. 

The alerts can get annoying with the heat indexes and whatnot. It's a PITA when they keep updating the alert hourly. Although, the other side of the coin is the Winter Storm Warnings...and upgrading the snow totals. Wooo!  :beer:

dmc,
Check out this Mossberg article on the iPad being a laptop replacement. It sounds like it does really well. As long as you stay away from heavy Excel work. Pretty cool: http://ptech.allthingsd.com/20100922/an-american-in-paris-says-au-revoir-to-his-laptop/


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## dmc (Sep 30, 2010)

Glenn said:


> dmc,
> Check out this Mossberg article on the iPad being a laptop replacement. It sounds like it does really well. As long as you stay away from heavy Excel work. Pretty cool: http://ptech.allthingsd.com/20100922/an-american-in-paris-says-au-revoir-to-his-laptop/



Cool... yes...
I chokes on advance excel...  which does suck a bit...

But I've done word docs and powerpoints not problem..
In fact I presented with it using a projector the other day..  cool..


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## SKIQUATTRO (Sep 30, 2010)

Free weatherbug on iphone4 has radar loop


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## Glenn (Oct 5, 2010)

Oddly enough, WeatherBug just updated for my BlackBerry. The new version has animated radar...sweet. That really helps; especially today since the rain is tracking West. It's also got a new home screen icon, bigger font in the program and a few more options(pointing to your location on the map with an icon and current temp, overview section, and more detailed current conditions). Overall, a really really cool update.


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## Nick (Jul 7, 2011)

*Your favorite mobile apps*

What are some of your favorite mobile apps? 

I use (on Android)


Google Maps
Google Reader
Cardio Trainer
Kindle
Google Voice
Evernote
Amazon MP3
Tapatalk (for AZ browsing!)
Seesmic (twitter)
YouTube
Wireless Tether (free tethering!)
Key Ring (no more carrying 100 store loyalty cards)
Weather Channel

I was trying to find some good Skiing ones but other than My Tracks (which I use for GPS logging of location) I haven't found anything all that great ... something with ski maps would be good, although touch screens + ski gloves don't work that well.


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## bvibert (Jul 7, 2011)

Some of the guys here use Phresheez for tracking their ski day.  I downloaded it last season, but then failed to try it all season.  I had a trail map app that I downloaded when I first got the phone.  It had a lot of the ski areas around here, though some of the maps weren't the best quality (basically whatever image they could get off of the area's website).  I never used it though, so I installed it.


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## bvibert (Jul 7, 2011)

Currently I use:

Pandora
Google Maps (for navigation)
My Tracks
Dolphin Browser
Angry Birds
Movies (finds nearby theaters and their show times, plus it's linked to Rotten Tomato's reviews)
Weatherbug

I have a few other apps installed that I hardly ever use (or don't use at all, despite thinking I would).
Also, you may want to check out this thread from last summer... http://forums.alpinezone.com/showthread.php?t=79657


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## Nick (Jul 7, 2011)

Oh thanks... haha I will merge these threads. Makes more sense


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## bvibert (Jul 7, 2011)

Nick, is your phone rooted?


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## Nick (Jul 7, 2011)

Yup!


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## Glenn (Jul 8, 2011)

Phresheez is great for skiing. My wife and I used it a lot this season. We liked how we were able to see speed, number of runs, verticle...stuff like that. However, when viewing the stats, we'd do so on the iPad. The interface on the BB's is "meh". 

I think I'm one of 6 people in the US who liked the BB FaceBook app. It's clean, simple and uncluttered. I visit facebook on the PC maybe once a month; daily on the BB.


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## thetrailboss (Sep 12, 2011)

Ski related:  I downloaded Snowbird's App and love it.  All the info on the resort in one place.  Web cams, Twitter Streams, photos, maps, conditions, and weather report for the area.  Great app.  Any other good ski area apps?


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## Glenn (Sep 12, 2011)

I bet you'll start to see more areas come out with their own specific app. I'm thinking smartphone ownership is pretty high among skiers and boarders. Of course, their's always that bitter old dude still skiing on Olin  Mark IV's who's perfectly happy with his StarTac sans texting plan.


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## snowmonster (Sep 12, 2011)

I have the following on my IPhone:

- North Face Snow Report
- REI Snow Report
- Ski Utah
- Colorado Snow REport
- On the Snow Gear Guide 
- Phresheez

Never used Phresheez because I'm not into tracking runs. The Gear Guide is cute but ultimately not useful for my needs. The North Face app gets the most use. I actually type up my trip reports on it then download them to AZ or other forums. The app even gives the conditions report as part of the TR.


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## Nick (Sep 12, 2011)

snowmonster said:


> I have the following on my IPhone:
> 
> - North Face Snow Report
> - REI Snow Report
> ...



Cool, thanks snowmonster, gonna check that out

Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk


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