My Top 40 Essential Android Apps

As an increasing number of my friends swap their iPhones & BlackBerry's for Android phones, I am frequently asked what the best Android apps are that they should download. I am also usually horrified when they tell me how few apps they have ever downloaded as they really aren't getting the most out of the capabilities the Android operating system offers.

So here is a list of my top 40 essential Android apps that are available through the Android Market. Some are paid-for apps but most are free.

*I have marked those that really are must-have apps with an asterisk.

1. Adobe Reader - View PDF documents on your phone
2. Advanced Task Killer - Release memory & reboot apps if your phone is running slow
3. Amazon Kindle - Sync with your Kindle device & read your ebooks on your phone
4. *Barcode Scanner - Essential app for scanning barcodes & QR codes into apps like Google Shopper
5. Car Locator - Very useful if you often forget where you have parked the car. Uses GPS to guide you to your destination
6. Compass - Accuracy very much depends on the quality of your handset, but does give a general sense of direction
7. ConvertDroid - Best best converter I have come across: includes weight, distance, area, volume, temperature, pressure, time, speed, density, energy, torque, angle and plenty more
8. Currency Converter - Very easy to use for converting between multiple currencies. Includes an historical graph of exchange rate fluctuations
9. Docs - Sync with your Google Docs documents on your phone
10. eBay - Official app enabling you to browse, bid & sell on your phone, fully synchronised with your online eBay account
11. *Facebook - Official app
12. *Gesture Search - One of the most useful apps you can get. Search your contacts by writing a name on the screen. Automatically learns who your favourite contacts are. The fastest way I have found to find a contact.
13. *Gmail - Manage multiple email accounts in one interface. Full online synchronisation
14. Goggles - Use your phone's camera to take a picture of something interesting, then let Goggles tell you what it is. Works well with landmarks, buildings, product labels, etc
15. *Google+ - Official app to manage your Google+ updates
16. Here I Am - Useful for those odd occasions when you need to tell someone exactly where you are. Uses GPS to send your position by email or text message; recipient clicks the link to see where you are on Google Maps
17. Kabbee - Find a mini-cab in your local area, get a quote for your journey, and book through your phone. I believe this only works in UK at the moment
18. Latitude - Let your friends see your location in real time for those chance encounters when you discover friends are nearby
19. LinkedIn - Official app to manage your LinkedIn profile & contacts
20. *Locale - One of my favourites: Set conditions for your phone (e.g. volume, ringtone) dependent upon time of day, day of week and/or location. I use this to automatically set my phone to a quiet ringtone during office hours, and to silent at nighttime. Never worry again about your phone playing your weekend ringtone at full volume in a client meeting!
21. London - Very simple but useful London underground map. Zoom & scroll the map or let it create a journey for you
22. *London Tube Status - Real-time service status dashboard for all London Underground lines. Includes real-time departure boards for most stations
23. *Maps - Google Maps on your phone. Essential.
24. Owner - Help your phone find its owner again if it gets lost. This app inserts your name & contact details onto the Android lock screen so it is easy to see who owns it if misplaced.
25. Phone Info - If your phone is lost, you will need to give your phone company the IMEI & SIM serial numbers for them to lockdown your handset. This app emails these important numbers to you so you have them recorded.
26. *QuickPic - A much better replacement for the Android Gallery app. Really fast and easy to select multiple photos for sharing with sites like Facebook.
27. Rainwatch - Map of the UK showing real-time rainfall and forecasted movement of rain clouds for the next 48 hours
28. *ReadItLater - The best offline webpage reader I have found. Click on a link and share with ReadItLater, which then downloads the page for offline viewing another time. Synchronises with your online account so you can read these articles on any device with a ReadItLater app, or from the ReadItLater website
29. Record It - View TV listings and set your Sky+ box to record programs when you're away from home. Easier to use than the official Sky+ app.
30. Ringdroid - Create your own ringtones by editing any piece of music or song
31. Shazam - Identifies (almost) any song with name & artist by recording 10 seconds of it & searching Shazam's massive archive of music
32. *SplashID - The best password database I have found. Records all your account numbers, userids and passwords so you don't have to worry about remembering them, and is itself protected by a secure password to prevent thieves from accessing the app. Easy wireless backup onto your desktop computer with the accompanying Windows software, so you don't lose all your passwords if your phone gets stolen
33. Stocks - Simple but easy-to-use stock price viewer
34. StopWatch & Timer - For those occasions when you need to time something or have a countdown clock
35. Sunrise Sunset - Find out what time you need to be at the beachside bar to watch the sun go down on holiday. Useful for photographers who want to know the best time to photograph a landscape
36. Time Machine - Set up the city locations of all your friends or work colleagues and this app will tell you what time it is in those cities
37. Translate - Google's fantastic Translate app. Enter using the keyboard or voice recorder and it will translate into most popular languages.
38. *TweetCaster Pro - The best Twitter app I have found
39. WebSharing - Easy to use app that connects your phone to your home computer through your wireless network, allowing you to transfer files between your phone & computer. Great for downloading photos taken on your phone
40. *YouTube - Official app providing native viewing experience on your phone