Android is a great operating system for mobile devices and the number of different smartphones running it available on the market means you won’t have any problems picking one that suits your need best. If you’re a mobile professional whose work depends on documents and getting things done fast, you’ll definitely want to pick a phone that has a QWERTY keyboard and a big screen, while being small enough itself.
But the hardware and main OS is just half of the question. You’ll also need to get the right apps that would make your phone do exactly what you want. Without them, you might as well get a cheaper phone without a full blown operating system. So, here are the best apps that will turn your smartphone into a truly mobile powerhouse.
Documents to Go. Documents to Go is the premier mobile office package for Android. It allows you to do anything that has to do with documents. It supports most of the document formats on the market, including docx, xls, pdf, txt and others. You can edit, view and create documents just like you would on a big screen in the comfort of your home or office.
Google Voice Actions. Voice actions doesn’t seem to be very useful at first. But if you look closer, you’ll see the amazing possibilities that it brings to a mobile device. With Voice Actions, which comes preinstalled on some of the newest smartphones and can be manually installed on older versions of Android, you can control your phone with your voice, and more importantly, you can dictate anything you want. This means you can write long documents and email messages without even touching your phone’s hardware or software keyboards. Voice recognition is pretty damn good, which makes it usable, unlike some of the older voice dictation software you might’ve seen.
Dolphin HD browser. The Dolphin HD browser is one of the best browsers for Android. I can actually go as far as saying it’s the best browser, period. Not only is it fast, but it also renders the pages very well and has a lot of features and add-ons, which further extend its functionality. The smart resizing of text and information blocks allows you to quickly read any forum or site without having to scroll around or zoom in and out. Dolphin also supports Flash sites and Flash on sites (like Youtube), and is excellent at navigating through links by touch, as it seems to know exactly what you wanted to tap. You simply must try it out to see what I mean.
Astrid. Astrid is the best task and time management utility for Android. It lets you create and manage short term projects, daily tasks and schedules, take notes and do many other things. Best of all, it’s also completely free!
Dropbox. If you need to sync your files between a desktop computer and your phone and keep backups on an online service, there is no better app for Android than Dropbox. With it, you can upload and download the files you need from the online storage space and keep them in sync at all times.
Of course, there are tons of other great apps that can do the same things. But the above were voted to be the best by the users, and there’s no actual better test for an app than a practical, real-life everyday use. Just install and try any of the above apps, and you’ll be blown away by the possibilities of your Android phone.