Top 10 "Must-Have" Android Apps

I recently switched toAndroidand was wondering with what applications should I get started, which led me to dozens of posts on the web claiming their own "must-haves" and this made me install lots of them. So now that I am reasonably well-experienced with Android and its apps, I'm encouraged to list my own set of top 10 Android apps. All free!

This list is my personal opinion, which I have prepared keeping in mind the magnitude of utility of each app. But according to me, they're the perfect ones to get started off with. Irrespective of you being a newbie or a developer, the following are a must have in your arsenal.

1.Google Music

You have several options to choose from when it comes to online music streaming service. But this one I found, has an edge over all the others, yes even Spotify. Having used Spotify for more than 2 years now, I've recently switched to Google Music, which currently is in its beta phase. The current changes in Spotify's User Agreement have made Spotify incapable of fulfilling my music requirements. Also listening to music on Spotify from a mobile device has never been free, while Google Music lets you synchronize your local music tracks across all the devices.

You simply have to download theGoogle Music Manageron your computer which lets you upload all your local tracks to your Google Music Account and these can then be listened to from your internet-enable Android phone with the Google Music app installed.

Note that Google Music is available in the U.S. by invitation only and is free for a limited time.

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.google.android.music

2.Gowalla

With "cut-throat" competition amongst the recently emerged geo-location based check-in services, Gowalla seems to be the better one, according to me, out of other available options such as Facebook Places, Yelp, and yes even Foursquare, which are also very popular ones.

The Gowalla App for Android is extremely user-friendly with an appealing user interface that lets you easily check-in to any place or even add a new place. It also lets you effortlessly attach a photo with a single click, and then share your activity with your friends on Gowalla, Facebook and Twitter as well!

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.gowalla

3.Google Voice

Google Voice is a service offered byGooglethat lets you make phone calls and SMS to any US or Canada number for absolutely no cost, and at very affordable rates to numbers outside the United State or Canada. Though I'm not based in either of the two countries, I still use Google Voice to communicate with my relatives and my web hosting service Provider in the US.

I simply love the way it push-notifies me about and when there's a missed call, SMS or a new voicemail (along with its transcript) and then lets me reply to the SMS and play the voicemail with a single click.

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.google.android.apps.googlevoice

4.CSipSimple

CSipSimple according to me, is undoubtedly the best SIP soft-phone for Android that lets you add and configure your SIP account from any of the many SIP service providers listed and make free SIP calls over it. I personally use a SIPGate account as the primary one, to which I forward my Google Voice calls.

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.csipsimple

5.TweetDeck

Your Android device can be yourmobilesocialhub, and TweetDeck is what can act as an enhancement to it. With a very fine interface, TweetDeck gets you the updates of your friends distributed acrossFacebook,Twitter, Foursquare and Google Buzz, all into a single integrated stream. It also lets you share updates and post them over multiple networks at once!

TweetDeck's "Live Geodata" feature shows you the tweets and checkins around you. Signing in with your TweetDeck account allows you to effortlessly access all of your identities instantly and synchronize them across all your devices with TweetDeck installed.

http://market.android.com/details?id=com.thedeck.android.app

6.SMS Backup

If you're like me, and do not pay much attention to SMS beeps and neither give them a read, but use email primarily for communication or if your phone has limited capacity to store text messages and is running out of space, you might have to delete some old text messages but at the same time you don't want to loose them either, here's SMS Backup an Android app, that automatically copies and saves all your incoming and outgoing SMS messages from the phone to your Gmail account in the background, without you having to do anything.

https://market.android.com/details?id=tv.studer.smssync

7.DropBox

Dropbox is a free service that lets you synchronize all your files across all your devices with the Dropbox app installed desktop, laptop, phone and evenweb. Once you install the Dropbox app for Android, you can take all your photos, documents, music and videos along with you, on the go, safely stored on Dropbox's cloud servers.

One primary reason why I heavily recommend using it is that with the Dropbox app installed on your Android device, you can share and transfer files across your desktop/laptop and your Android phone, without the need of USB or bluetooth connectivity by simply placing those files into a Dropbox folder, which is synced across your desktop/laptop and Android phone.

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.dropbox.android

8.Torrent Remote

The Torrent Remote Android app lets you remotely add, remove, start, stop torrents and check your download progress by securely connecting to your home computer from anywhere you have an internet connection.

It also lets you check your RSS feeds and start downloads on the go. Use your mobile browser to find torrents and they will automatically be added to your home Torrent! Completed downloads can even be shifted directly back to your Android device for local playback.

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.utorrent.web

9.Read It Later

Read It Later allows you to have a reading list accessible everywhere you are, synchronized across all your devices. When you come across an article or a webpage you'd like to read but can't at that time, add it to your Read It Later list with a single click. You can then read it whenever you have a moment from anywhere.

This allows you to eliminate the cluttering of bookmarks and inboxes with links that are merely of a one-time interest. You save webpages to read later, even without an internet connection. Read It Later downloads all of your articles for offline reading. So you can view your articles even when away from an internet connection.

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.bitdefender.security

10.BitDefender Mobile Security

BitDefender Mobile Security is what I found to be the lightest and effectivesecuritysolution for Android, after having used some others as well. It hardly impacts battery and relies fully on cloud technology and keeps you safe against the risks that you are exposed to while navigating on the Internet. It is integrated seamlessly into the Android defaultbrowser.

The Security Audit screen grants you the possibility to have an overview on what applications match various permissions and scans each application in real-time once downloaded, before letting it continue with the installation.

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.bitdefender.security

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