Android

My Home Screens

"I love that I can see my personal tastes and personality reflected in my phone. My background, the way my apps are laid out? They are things that I chose. The shifting paper landscape flowing smoothly across my tablet screen? It makes me smile, so I put it in front and center. You may not like it, and the beauty of android is that you don't have to - customize your device. Personalize it, make it your own. This is my android. There are many like it, but this one is mine."

- Tavares Ford [1]

I use GO Launcher EX instead of the launcher that came with my phone. The middle (i.e. third) screen is my home screen. Click on any image to enlarge.

Custom ROMs

On the devices which I own that support it, I am running CyanogenMod. Links are available at the bottom of this page for more information. If you need help and are local, just holler. :-)

Favorite Apps

• Games
  • Bag It!
  • Boggle
  • Drisk
  • Elemental
  • Grabatron - This one is just hilarious. Fun, too!
  • GYRO - Maddeningly addictive.
  • Jetpack Joyride - Painfully addictive little platform game.
  • Mahjong and Friends
  • Osmos
  • Pyramid Rising
  • Refraction
  • SongPop Free - I have to admit, this one is pretty addictive. Name That Tune Home Edition! :-)
  • Super Sudoku
• Launcher ("Home Screen") Replacements
  • GO Launcher EX - So much better (and with more ability to customize) than the stock launchers provided by the manufacturers. Highly recommended.
• Maps and Star Charts
  • Google Maps and Navigation
  • SkEye Planetarium
  • Sky Map
• Music
  • Last.fm
  • Old Time Radio Player
  • Pandora
  • Scanner Radio - Listen to your local police and fire departments
  • Shazam
  • Stitcher Radio - "Listen to over 10,000 radio shows, live stations, and podcasts on demand."
  • TuneIn Radio = "TuneIn is a free way to listen to music, sports and news from every corner of the earth, with over 70,000 radio stations and 2 million on-demand programs."
• News
  • BBC News
  • Google Currents
  • ScoreCenter
  • theCHIVE
• Reference
  • Dictionary.com
  • First Aid (American Red Cross)
  • How to Tie a Tie
  • Wikipedia
• Shopping
  • Amazon Mobile
  • Amazon PriceCheck - How cool is this? Check prices on Amazon for an item that you see in a store.
  • Best Buy
  • eBay
  • Movie Tickets - See local movie times and purchase tickets with your phone.
  • Newegg
  • OfficeMax
  • Starbucks - The ability to reload your cards and use them through your phone = really convenient.
• Social
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • justWink - Greeting cards meet mobile devices.
• Travel
  • GasBuddy
• Utilities
  • avast! Mobile Security
  • Battery Solo Widget - Although I have since switched to using the HD Widgets battery switch instead, I really liked this widget.
  • DiskUsage
  • Epson iPrint - Print to Epson printers on your wireless network. EXCELLENT!
  • ES File Explorer
  • FoxFi - Phone becomes wifi hotspot.
  • GO Backup - Backup SMS/MMS messages and much more.
  • Google Voice - Use this instead of your provider's voice mail. Stop paying for transcribed messages ("visual voicemail")!
  • HD Widgets
  • Microsoft Tag - Yes, it is a Microsoft product. It also is the best QR code scanner.
  • Simple Calendar Widget - Nicer and a bit more flexible than most built-in calendar widgets.
  • SkyDrive - Yes, it is a Microsoft product. It still is the best cloud storage product with the best tools across platforms.
  • Tasker - Got a great review on CNet and looks really intriguing. Haven't bought it yet though.
  • Thunderstorm Live Wallpaper - Love thunderstorms like I do? Get this.
  • Tiny Flashlight and LED
  • Wifi Syncr - Sync files on a network path with your phone. Surprisingly useful.
  • WiFi Finder - Find free and paid WiFi access wherever you are.
• Video
  • DirecTV - Got DirecTV? Now you have DirecTV programming streaming to your phone!
  • Flixster
  • Free Cartoons
  • WatchESPN - Like ESPN? Watch it live, anytime, right on your phone. All four major channels: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, and ESPNU.
  • YouTube
• Weather
  • My-Cast Weather
  • Weather Underground
• Web Browser
  • Google Chrome - Ice Cream Sandwich or higher required
  • Opera Mobile - NOT Opera Mini, which is really fast but a bit too limited. Definitely use this on pre-4.0 Android devices where you cannot use Google Chrome. It is way better than your built-in browser, I assure you.

Links

• CyanogenMod
• CyanogenMod Wiki
• Setting up ADB and Fastboot (from xda-developers)