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As 2013 is coming to a close, I figure I'd write my list of favorite Android apps that I use while driving. These aren't apps that are specific to driving a car, but can be used whenever you're on the go. Here are my four:1. Pandora – This internet radio station has been a favorite of mine for a while. I did get tired of the ads that were played every few songs, so I ended up paying the $36/year to eliminate them, and it also gave me higher quality sound and the ability to skip songs more frequently. I can also listen to Pandora on my desktop and stereo (via the Roku), and so I make use of it almost every day.2. Google Maps – While this app is no secret, it's still become a relied upon tool for me for navigating roads and finding stores/restaurants near my location.3. Podkicker Podcast Player – I enjoy listening to podcasts, and this is the best free one that I have found for my purposes. It may not have an extreme number of features, and the interface could be improved, but it serves its purpose well. Some of my favorite podcasts come from the Quick and Dirty Tips lineup, which are about six-minute discussions on topics from nutrition to workouts to tech to grammar.4. Umano – It may be premature putting this app on my list since I only downloaded it yesterday, but I'm already a fan. Quite simply, this app lets you listen to a narrator speaking the words of news stories. I suppose this isn't much different from listening to radio news, but at least with Umano you can see the titles of the articles before you listen to them.
The best app I have on my phone and use is the one to check my bank account. It has come in handy over the past few months as I have more actively traded on the markets.I also have one that has topo maps for navigation while hiking. We use that quite a bit in the spring and summer.
You must have good cell phone towers for it to help you while you're hiking, right? I did see an app for runners which tracks where you go, and so I'm guessing there's an app for hikers which does the same thing. Later on you can see your exact route plotted on a map, which is kind of neat.
My phone has a built in GPS and it downloads the maps to local memory. I have a micro-SD card that has nothing but maps on it.
Oh, yeah, so it uses GPS rather than cell towers. Mine has the same thing, but I didn't think of that at first.
Heck, I find it amazing because 20 years ago only the military had GPS' and they were fairly large, only gave grid coordinates, and we had to use external antennas attached to the unit by a cable. They were called SLGRs or “sluggers” as we said at the time. Everything was input with the toggle switches on the right side.
