Favorite Things: My Top 20 Apps

Well, as promised, this is the first in a series of "favorite things" posts, which I hope will bring a little light-heartedness to what can be a sometimes serious, heavy blog. I thought it appropriate to begin a list of my favorite things with a list of my favorite apps, a gentle nod to the consummate e-nerd that I am. When you have cancer, you think twice about using the phrase "cannot live without," but just shy of that, these are simply must-have apps that I use throughout the day, everyday. And if you're like me, you're always looking for new, trendy apps to liven up your digital life. Just an upfront disclaimer: these are all for Android. If you're using that "fruity" brand, the availability and nature of these apps might be different. Enjoy...









THE MISCELLANY HOOTENANNY'S TOP 20 APPS

1. GO LAUNCHER EX: Every phone has a home screen launcher... it's the app that runs when you press the home button. You could never change it and just use the factory-installed version, and probably be fine. But why just be fine? There are several really fantastic home screen launchers out there that allow you to customize virtually every aspect of your mobile experience, and in my (and several million others') opinion, GO Launcher EX is just the best out there. Seriously, give it a try, and if you don't like it, you can always uninstall.
2. FIREFOX FOR ANDROID: Honestly, and although I use Firefox on every one of my other computers, I never thought to change the Internet browser on my phone. I did recently, just out of curiosity, and I am SO happy I did. Enough said.
3. FACEBOOK MOBILE: I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that Facebook mobile is probably better than the full Internet version. The interface is streamlined and easy to use, without sacrificing any (from what I can tell) of the features you get using the full Internet version. If you haven't tried it, you really should.
4. AVG ANTIVIRUS FREE: You probably didn't think about getting an antivirus program for your phone, but an antivirus is probably more essential for your phone nowadays than it is for your computer. I've been using AVG Free for years, and it's simply the best, comprehensive, all-free antivirus program out there. And if you're partial to paranoia (like me), you can cheaply upgrade to the full version for not a lot of dough. 
5. BANKING APP: For privacy reasons, I'm not going to divulge exactly which banking app I use, but if you bank with any reasonably large, or otherwise reputable, bank, it is likely to have an app. And as long as you change your password frequently, I HIGHLY recommend downloading it. The financial world is definitely trending this way, and, frankly, I don't know how I managed my finances before. Mobile banking is where it's at.
6. GOOGLE KEEP: FINALLY! An app for the yellow-sticky-note-obsessed! Everything and more you ever wanted for the chronic list-maker. (Also on my top widgets list.)
7. POCKET: I just found this little gem of an app recently, and boy am I glad I did. Ever wish you could just take that recipe or that article from a newspaper, or whatever, and just stick it in your pocket? Well, now you can. This app interfaces with the "Share" function in every other app, and downloads anything and everything you can imagine into a beautifully crisp, yet simple, interface. With the option to add labels and organize your downloads, you'll never read anything right away again... you'll stick it in your Pocket and read it later!
8. ALLTHECOOKS: For the foodies out there, this is just the best recipe exchange app out there. The simple, logical interface is what first attracted me to it, but with the option to add your own recipes in a REALLY easy UI, I'm now using this app to digitize my endless collection of recipes from God-knows-how-many books and collections. You'll never wonder what's for dinner again.
9. DOUBLETWIST: This is, in my opinion, the best among the dozens of music players out there, and considering that the "fruit" brand does music better than anyone else, having this app on your phone equalizes things a little bit. Did I mention that it allows you to snyc your iTunes library with your phone, for free! Seriously, download it NOW.
10. GMAIL: This app literally changed my life. Since downloading it, I honestly can't remember the last time I checked or sent e-mail from a computer. I'd say that's an endorsement. 
11. FLIPBOARD: This is probably the coolest little app I've ever found, and to be honest, I don't really remember how I found it, although it is safe to say it was likely during one of my prednisone-induced-Play-store "shopping" sessions. Flipboard is news app meets Pinterest meets online magazine browser. You select from tons of various topics and tons of various outlets within those topics (e.g. NPR under the News tab, or Kitchn under the Food tab). Once you have your own little mix of feeds in place, you can view them from the app's home screen in an easy "flippable" interface, or have them scroll in intervals with the app's widget (yes, this is on my favorite widgets list too, coming soon). No account is necessary, but if you want to customize the experience a bit more, you can log in using Facebook or even Twitter. And to top it all off, you can "flip" favorite articles or pieces into your very own "magazines," which also have the option to be made public... making you an instant publisher! Could it get any cooler?
12. gREADER PRO: Okay. There are a LOT of readers out there. Pocket definitely tops my list, but for certain things you may want to retain the option of using a basic RSS reader than does RSS feeds very well and not much of anything else. For me, I like to use an RSS reader for my statistics subscriptions, and the one I go with is gReader Pro. It syncs with your Google account, if you want, and provides a very clean, limited (yet customizable) interface that lets you git-r-done, if you will, with your RSS feeds. The widget is also really sweet and a must-have, and on my top widgets list. :) (Coming Soon, I promise.)
13. GOOGLE DRIVE: If you haven't quite figured it out yet, I'm a Google man. I'm not naive, and I have my justified concerns about privacy and whatnot. But frankly, this is just the world we live in, and as long as you take reasonable and recommended precautions, you may as well just jump into the (or UP into) the Cloud and never look back. As a student and academic, the ability to access one or all of my many, many papers, exams, research articles, etc... is a necessity. And considering that Google Drive syncs with your Gmail and other Google apps, I think it's a notch above Dropbox, or similar Cloud-based storage services.
14. ESFILEEXPLORER: Once again, phones are basically small computers. What lacks on many phones is the ability to explore their contents much in the same way you would a computer's hard drive. This is starting to get a bit more advanced/nerdy than most people would need out of their phone, but if you are so inclined, a decent file explorer is a must-have, and ESFileExplorer is the best out there, giving you all the functionality and ease-of-interface that you would get using Windows File Explorer, for example.
15. ZEDGE: If you like ringtones, and who doesn't, download this. It's totally free and has virtually every possible song/notification tone you could ever imagine. 
16. PICSPEED: Just the best (and largest I might add) wallpaper app out there. 
17. AMAZON MOBILE: If you're hooked on Amazon (like I am), you just gotta download the app.
18. MYHABIT: This is posh, up-scale companion to Amazon that features really swanky big name brands at ridiculously low prices. A must-have for the fashionistas out there.
19. ULTIMATE CALL SCREEN: Bet you never thought to change your call screen, did you? Neither did I, then I found this app. It lets you sync your contacts photos with Facebook, change the appearance of the answer/reject buttons, and more. Really, really cool, and interfaces remarkably well with Android.
20. WORDS WITH FRIENDS: Need I say more?