App advice for a newbie?

ryublu · 07-31-2011, 08:04 AM

As it seems that I might be getting a tablet soon (don’t know at this point what it might be as it is a belated birthday gift) I thought I’d ask for advice on what would be good free apps to get for it.

Basically I intend to use it for reading and have already figured out that CoolReader will work fine for my needs, perhaps with something which reads Word-files as a backup as well, although I hear that CoolReader does a fair (it is apparently fifty/fifty whether it will display bold or italic text, but I can live with that) job of that anyway so it might not be needed.

What I would like some advice on is what would be a good (and, again, free) app to read comics and manga with, and also if there is something else that I’m overlooking and that might be good to have. For instance, does anyone know of one for Mahjong solitaire or some other fun and simple little game? And is there anything else I should keep in mind?

ebusinesstutor · 08-01-2011, 09:40 PM

Cool Reader is nice, but I find I prefer Aldiko for reading. For Comics, Comixology is my fave.

ryublu · 08-02-2011, 03:23 AM

Thank you for the advice ebusinesstutor, I'll add that to my little list then. I really don't have a clue what might and might not be needed, so any advice is greatly appreciated.

=X= · 08-02-2011, 09:43 AM

For readers I'm using Moon+ and kindle. There is a sticky on this fourm that has a good listing of readers their features and free listing vs paid.

There are a lot of games on the market. I recommend you go to http://market.android.com and have a look. I could not recommend a game since that is a complete personal opinion.

MmavisO · 08-02-2011, 07:50 PM

You might consider a file manager like Folder Organizer Lite, an uninstaller like Easy Uninstaller, or an app (or widget) to show your battery status and usage like Battery Dock Chart Widget or Dual Battery Widget. Also try some non-stock browsers like Dolphin, Opera Mini, or Skyfire. All of these are free and available on the marketplace link provided by =X=. And since you will likely have lots of room left over, just browse through the market and see what catches your eye. You can always uninstall, and Android devices never need to be defragged!

wodin · 08-02-2011, 08:45 PM

It's a very simple matter to install apps or multiple iterations of apps with similar functions (like CoolReader, FBReader, Aldiko, Nook4A, K4A, etc) and decide which one you like. Then delete the rest. Or if your like me, don't delete them until you run out of memory.

A little more research is required for paid apps, but they are usually so cheap, that even then, not much is lost if you don't like them.

ryublu · 08-05-2011, 07:07 AM

Wow, thank you very much everyone for your advice! I'll definitely check out the links provided by juxtapose and =X=, and I'll certainly keep in mind MmavisO and wodin's advice regarding apps. I had no clue about folder organizing or uninstaller things, and I suspect these are exactly the kind of things I needed to know about. (I've never dealt with android before, so this is all new to me)

For anyone that might be interested, I got my tablet the other day and it is an 8" Yarvik 310. Now that I've finally gotten my Internet connection back (after several days of downtime) I am quite eager to get started. Again, thank you.

FatDog · 08-05-2011, 01:25 PM

Not sure where you are but Amazon has a "Free Android App of the Day" where they take some inexpensive app and allow you to get it for free. Some of the apps are kind of lame like cooking or silly games. Others like "Find My Car" are only useful for phones with GPS's. But it's fun to look each day.

I highly recommend the Dolphin HD browser as it uses tabbed browsing so opening up sub pages and going back is a lot faster than single-screen browsers.

Angry Birds is a must-have.

Be aware that the Android Marketplace can 'see' what tablet you are using and will only show you apps that the developers say have been tested/approved for your device as an option. For instance - my Viewsonic tablet is NOT on the list for Netflix so I had to find a compatible version and "sideload" it rather than getting it from the Marketplace.

So you will see a difference in the number of apps if you browse the Marketplace from your PC vs your tablet.

Dropbox is a popular app. You install it on your PC and your tablet and it 'takes over' a folder in both. Copy a file to this folder on your PC - and it appears a few minutes later on your tablet. Delete the file on your tablet and the file disappears from the folder on your PC.

You should also learn how to hook up a USB cable to transfer files even if you wont do it much.

ryublu · 08-05-2011, 01:38 PM

FatDog, that's a lot of useful information there, thank you. As I didn't have wireless - and the Yarvik comes with this really nifty little adapter box for both USB ports and the cable for the router (ethernet... something? The name escapes me), I figured I was set in that respect. Turns out though that I might be getting wireless after all, so your advice regarding Dropbox is surely appreciated. It goes up on my list!

Something I noticed right away regarding my Yarvik is how horribly dirty the screen gets (oh yes, I'll be using that stylus thank-you-very-much), anyone have any good advice for what works best for cleaning purposes? I haven't had much luck cleaning it, but then again I'm a bit paranoid about damaging the screen so maybe I'm just being too careful?

anabolina · 08-05-2011, 04:41 PM

Congrats on your new tablet :-) It's good to be careful. You don;t want to have a device for a week and break it. Still your screen should be able to deal with normal stresses. I looked it up on xda to see if there's any development going for it, but didn't find anything :-( That 800 mhz processor should be fine for all but the really graphics intensive games.

I hope you enjoy whichever ebook program works best for you. I really like Aldiko on my phone, but prefer Moon+ on the tablet because Aldiko has some tablet issues with Honeycomb(I'm assuming yours runs some flavor of Froyo or Gingerbread?).

I echo the Amazon App of the Day thing. You don't even need to access it from your tablet every day. Once you get it set up, you can log on from a computer and 'purchase' the app of the day.

For simple games, I love Sudoku Free. If you want a game with more elaborate graphics and gameplay, Game Dev Story costs money, but kept me interested for hours. I also like Wordzup as a word game and Fruit Ninja for keeping kids and friends amused. Also, I just downloaded Blookid and Alchemy and both are my latest obsessions.

ryublu · 08-05-2011, 05:12 PM

Indeed my tablet runs Froyo, anabolina, and as for graphic intensive games... erm... well, I was thinking of something along the lines of a nice Mahjong solitaire, Skip bo, or maybe some puzzle or align-three-of-the-same-to-pop type game as I'm not much of a gamer but I _am_ a sucker for those. That would be reasonable, right?

I have yet another question regarding android apps for you kind people helping the clueless newbie, or more precisely regarding Android Market. Someone just told me that the apps there won't work for tablets, that they either simply weren't made for tablet use or that they can't be downloaded onto one. If indeed there are apps that can't be used on my tablet, how will I be able to tell?

FatDog · 08-05-2011, 06:23 PM

Quote:

If indeed there are apps that can't be used on my tablet, how will I be able to tell?

You down load them, try them and if they abort/dont run, you un-install them.

Most of the applications created for Android phones will work fine on an Android tablet. But the screens and layout are ment for a hand-held so will be HUGE and cartoonish on a tablet. So the gripes are usually about Screen formats - not that the apps wont run.

You should download one of the many "Task Killer" applications. There is controversy over the use of these as you can have 10 apps running but they dont hurt anything besides using up a bit of memory. People that are too-aggressive with app killers sometimes stop critical programs. But an app killer is one of the tools you should have. I use one called "Advanced Task Killer" on my phone (but to be honest I have not installed it on my tablet yet.)

CLEANING

Quote:

I haven't had much luck cleaning it

The best thing to clean a laptop screen, TV screen or a tablet is a 50:50 alcohol:water mix using DeIonized water (the stuff they sell in the grocery store for ironing) and a Blue Micro-Fiber cloth. Spritz with the liquid onto a cool screen and let it sit for a minute. Then gently wipe in one direction with the micro-fiber cloth. Repeat if needed. Wash the micro-fiber cloth in the washer but dry on a line and store in plastic for repeat uses.

Do not rub or you could polish the screen or rub-off protective coatings.

VIDEOS

Yes - we will all want to play some videos on our tablets and the stock media player works ... OK. But I tried a suite of different extensions at different resolutions and the stock player could not handle some of them.

So I did some research on media apps and decided on MoboPlayer. It actually played everything. Some videos would not play using the built-in decoder chip so MoboPlayer lets you choose a "Software Decoding" option that would play troublesome files. The only down side is some 1080 videos in HD taking 2-3 Gigs would stutter and over-whelm my GTablet. The the 720 and lower resolution videos would play fine.

I put the details in this post:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...=142327&page=2

If you are going to be moving files around your tablet the stock "File Manager" will work. But ES File Explorer seems better.

SCREEN PROTECTOR

I bought a $20 Carbon Fiber kit from Amazon by a company called Skintomi. There are YouTube videos on how to apply the screen protector and skins on the back. Instead of clean plastic, my GTab now has a stippled, plastic back that actually provides grip and looks kind of evil.

A good fourm for Android specific issues is: http://androidforums.com/

Shopping list:

Advanced Task Killer - to see what is running and stop some things
MoboPlayer - To play video files
Dolphin Browser HD - Get the version for tablets
Skintomi Skins.

FatDog · 08-05-2011, 06:51 PM

eBusinessTutor - you said:

Quote:

For Comics, Comixology is my fave

Can it read .cbr and .jpg files from a SD card? The description on Android Market mainly says it ties into purchasing comics so this feature is not clear. I've got some old .cbr files floating around and some comics as a series of .jpg files.

Ideally - I could zip up all the individual .jpg files into a zip file and the reader would open it up and display the pages in file-name order.

"Droid Comic Viewer" specifically calls out that it can take .cbr and .zip, .rar and .jpg files. Is this just not in the description for Comixology?

ryublu · 08-06-2011, 06:58 AM

Wow, FatDog, that was a lot of very needed information, thank you very much. The blue microfibre cloth just made the top of my shopping list, and I think I'll try to find some kind of ready-made alcohol solution for cleaning since, well, I don't think I have ever seen deionized water - or any kind of water - sold for ironing (I live in Sweden, I suppose there might not be a market for it here or something)... I may have to ask someone at the store about that. In the same vein though, since it is a matter of alcohol mixture, would the kind of wet-wipes I generally buy for my glasses work for a casual cleaning until I get the rest together, or is that a no-no?
I discovered yesterday while poking around at my tablet that some kind of file management app would be very helpful, and I'm sure the app killer will be too... though I imagine I'll be a bit hesitant to use it much. Scaredy-cat, that is me.

Can hardly wait until the weekend is over and my microSD-card arrives, when I can finally start using my tablet and not just poke at it and squeal.

Stormchild · 08-07-2011, 05:33 AM

As far as file managers go, ES File Manager has proven to be the best by far for me and they also do a good App Killer. I have found most Apps look fine on my tablet with only the odd one or two either not resizing to the tablet screen or looking a bit grainy, in fact I wonder how some of these apps look on a tiny phone screen. More and more are being made/optimized for tablets.

07-31-2011, 08:04 AM	#1
ryublu Member Posts: 20 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2011 Device: Yarvik 310	App advice for a newbie? As it seems that I might be getting a tablet soon (don’t know at this point what it might be as it is a belated birthday gift) I thought I’d ask for advice on what would be good free apps to get for it. Basically I intend to use it for reading and have already figured out that CoolReader will work fine for my needs, perhaps with something which reads Word-files as a backup as well, although I hear that CoolReader does a fair (it is apparently fifty/fifty whether it will display bold or italic text, but I can live with that) job of that anyway so it might not be needed. What I would like some advice on is what would be a good (and, again, free) app to read comics and manga with, and also if there is something else that I’m overlooking and that might be good to have. For instance, does anyone know of one for Mahjong solitaire or some other fun and simple little game? And is there anything else I should keep in mind?

08-02-2011, 09:43 AM	#4
=X= Wizard Posts: 3,671 Karma: 12205348 Join Date: Mar 2008 Device: Galaxy S, Nook w/CM7	For readers I'm using Moon+ and kindle. There is a sticky on this fourm that has a good listing of readers their features and free listing vs paid. There are a lot of games on the market. I recommend you go to http://market.android.com and have a look. I could not recommend a game since that is a complete personal opinion. Last edited by =X=; 08-02-2011 at 07:51 PM.

08-05-2011, 01:38 PM	#9
ryublu Member Posts: 20 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2011 Device: Yarvik 310	FatDog, that's a lot of useful information there, thank you. As I didn't have wireless - and the Yarvik comes with this really nifty little adapter box for both USB ports and the cable for the router (ethernet... something? The name escapes me), I figured I was set in that respect. Turns out though that I might be getting wireless after all, so your advice regarding Dropbox is surely appreciated. It goes up on my list! Something I noticed right away regarding my Yarvik is how horribly dirty the screen gets (oh yes, I'll be using that stylus thank-you-very-much), anyone have any good advice for what works best for cleaning purposes? I haven't had much luck cleaning it, but then again I'm a bit paranoid about damaging the screen so maybe I'm just being too careful? Last edited by ryublu; 08-05-2011 at 01:43 PM.

08-05-2011, 04:41 PM	#10
anabolina Groupie Posts: 155 Karma: 429002 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Great State of Texas Device: Current: tablet, kindle paperwhite, onyx boox t68. Past: Sony, nook	Congrats on your new tablet :-) It's good to be careful. You don;t want to have a device for a week and break it. Still your screen should be able to deal with normal stresses. I looked it up on xda to see if there's any development going for it, but didn't find anything :-( That 800 mhz processor should be fine for all but the really graphics intensive games. I hope you enjoy whichever ebook program works best for you. I really like Aldiko on my phone, but prefer Moon+ on the tablet because Aldiko has some tablet issues with Honeycomb(I'm assuming yours runs some flavor of Froyo or Gingerbread?). I echo the Amazon App of the Day thing. You don't even need to access it from your tablet every day. Once you get it set up, you can log on from a computer and 'purchase' the app of the day. For simple games, I love Sudoku Free. If you want a game with more elaborate graphics and gameplay, Game Dev Story costs money, but kept me interested for hours. I also like Wordzup as a word game and Fruit Ninja for keeping kids and friends amused. Also, I just downloaded Blookid and Alchemy and both are my latest obsessions. Last edited by anabolina; 08-05-2011 at 04:45 PM.

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08-01-2011, 09:40 PM	#2
ebusinesstutor Star Gawker Posts: 526 Karma: 6944314 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Spruce Grove, AB Canada Device: Kindle Paperwhite	Cool Reader is nice, but I find I prefer Aldiko for reading. For Comics, Comixology is my fave.

08-02-2011, 03:23 AM	#3
ryublu Member Posts: 20 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2011 Device: Yarvik 310	Thank you for the advice ebusinesstutor, I'll add that to my little list then. I really don't have a clue what might and might not be needed, so any advice is greatly appreciated.

08-02-2011, 07:50 PM	#5
MmavisO Seeker Posts: 349 Karma: 479648 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Liberty, MO USA Device: Asus TF, PB 360, Jetbook Lite	You might consider a file manager like Folder Organizer Lite, an uninstaller like Easy Uninstaller, or an app (or widget) to show your battery status and usage like Battery Dock Chart Widget or Dual Battery Widget. Also try some non-stock browsers like Dolphin, Opera Mini, or Skyfire. All of these are free and available on the marketplace link provided by =X=. And since you will likely have lots of room left over, just browse through the market and see what catches your eye. You can always uninstall, and Android devices never need to be defragged!

08-02-2011, 08:45 PM	#6
wodin Illiterate Posts: 10,279 Karma: 37848716 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: The Sandwich Isles Device: Samsung Galaxy S10+, Microsoft Surface Pro	It's a very simple matter to install apps or multiple iterations of apps with similar functions (like CoolReader, FBReader, Aldiko, Nook4A, K4A, etc) and decide which one you like. Then delete the rest. Or if your like me, don't delete them until you run out of memory. A little more research is required for paid apps, but they are usually so cheap, that even then, not much is lost if you don't like them.

08-05-2011, 07:07 AM	#7
ryublu Member Posts: 20 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2011 Device: Yarvik 310	Wow, thank you very much everyone for your advice! I'll definitely check out the links provided by juxtapose and =X=, and I'll certainly keep in mind MmavisO and wodin's advice regarding apps. I had no clue about folder organizing or uninstaller things, and I suspect these are exactly the kind of things I needed to know about. (I've never dealt with android before, so this is all new to me) For anyone that might be interested, I got my tablet the other day and it is an 8" Yarvik 310. Now that I've finally gotten my Internet connection back (after several days of downtime) I am quite eager to get started. Again, thank you.

08-05-2011, 01:25 PM	#8
FatDog Witless protection Agent Posts: 290 Karma: 1002898 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Los Angeles Device: Kindle	Not sure where you are but Amazon has a "Free Android App of the Day" where they take some inexpensive app and allow you to get it for free. Some of the apps are kind of lame like cooking or silly games. Others like "Find My Car" are only useful for phones with GPS's. But it's fun to look each day. I highly recommend the Dolphin HD browser as it uses tabbed browsing so opening up sub pages and going back is a lot faster than single-screen browsers. Angry Birds is a must-have. Be aware that the Android Marketplace can 'see' what tablet you are using and will only show you apps that the developers say have been tested/approved for your device as an option. For instance - my Viewsonic tablet is NOT on the list for Netflix so I had to find a compatible version and "sideload" it rather than getting it from the Marketplace. So you will see a difference in the number of apps if you browse the Marketplace from your PC vs your tablet. Dropbox is a popular app. You install it on your PC and your tablet and it 'takes over' a folder in both. Copy a file to this folder on your PC - and it appears a few minutes later on your tablet. Delete the file on your tablet and the file disappears from the folder on your PC. You should also learn how to hook up a USB cable to transfer files even if you wont do it much.

08-05-2011, 05:12 PM	#11
ryublu Member Posts: 20 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2011 Device: Yarvik 310	Indeed my tablet runs Froyo, anabolina, and as for graphic intensive games... erm... well, I was thinking of something along the lines of a nice Mahjong solitaire, Skip bo, or maybe some puzzle or align-three-of-the-same-to-pop type game as I'm not much of a gamer but I _am_ a sucker for those. That would be reasonable, right? I have yet another question regarding android apps for you kind people helping the clueless newbie, or more precisely regarding Android Market. Someone just told me that the apps there won't work for tablets, that they either simply weren't made for tablet use or that they can't be downloaded onto one. If indeed there are apps that can't be used on my tablet, how will I be able to tell?

08-06-2011, 06:58 AM	#14
ryublu Member Posts: 20 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2011 Device: Yarvik 310	Wow, FatDog, that was a lot of very needed information, thank you very much. The blue microfibre cloth just made the top of my shopping list, and I think I'll try to find some kind of ready-made alcohol solution for cleaning since, well, I don't think I have ever seen deionized water - or any kind of water - sold for ironing (I live in Sweden, I suppose there might not be a market for it here or something)... I may have to ask someone at the store about that. In the same vein though, since it is a matter of alcohol mixture, would the kind of wet-wipes I generally buy for my glasses work for a casual cleaning until I get the rest together, or is that a no-no? I discovered yesterday while poking around at my tablet that some kind of file management app would be very helpful, and I'm sure the app killer will be too... though I imagine I'll be a bit hesitant to use it much. Scaredy-cat, that is me. Can hardly wait until the weekend is over and my microSD-card arrives, when I can finally start using my tablet and not just poke at it and squeal.

08-07-2011, 05:33 AM	#15
Stormchild Evangelist Posts: 466 Karma: 878943 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Cornwall UK Device: BeBook 1. BeBook Mini. BeBook Neo and Club. BeBook Live. BeeBook Pure.	As far as file managers go, ES File Manager has proven to be the best by far for me and they also do a good App Killer. I have found most Apps look fine on my tablet with only the odd one or two either not resizing to the tablet screen or looking a bit grainy, in fact I wonder how some of these apps look on a tiny phone screen. More and more are being made/optimized for tablets.

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