Must Have Android Apps and Games?

killbillvol2

Alpha Dog 1 wrote: »

Cant beat the fotmob app for football scores/notifications.

Easily the best of them. And has fixtures too.

batistuta9

MonkstownHoop wrote: »

had championship, league 1 and setanta cup

not that obscure really, well maybe the setanta cup

where ever they use for the scores mustn't have them leagues in real time

batistuta9

killbillvol2 wrote: »

Easily the best of them. And has fixtures too.

does it give real time updates/scorers?

Cienciano

cullenswood wrote: »

The Met Eireann app gives a detailed forecast for the today and tomorrow. It also gives an outlook forecast for the next five days.

I am not sure what else you would need from a weather app. The ones that give 10, 15, 20 day forecasts are bullsh1t as it is impossible to predict that far ahead, and also, would other agencies not have to take their lead from the national weather agency?

Yeah, I use the met eireann mobile site every day, I've a shortcut to Dublin on the regional section and I find it great.

Cienciano

batistuta9 wrote: »

does it give real time updates/scorers?

I use Soccer Livescores
It does real time updates of LOI games definitely, not sure about setanta, never tried that.
Simple to use, so good I paid to remove ads from it.

s_carnage

Cienciano wrote: »

I use Soccer Livescores
It does real time updates of LOI games definitely, not sure about setanta, never tried that.
Simple to use, so good I paid to remove ads from it.

I use this one too and even though I try any new ones that comes out I always return. Seems to be the quickest at updating scores too.

Cienciano

s_carnage wrote: »

I use this one too and even though I try any new ones that comes out I always return. Seems to be the quickest at updating scores too.

Yeah, it's very quick. Sometimes the replay isn't even on tv, the player is still celebrating and the update comes in.

Alpha Dog 1

batistuta9 wrote: »

does it give real time updates/scorers?

Yes this does real time updates. It's very quick.
It lists the goalscorer and the assister.
It gives fixtures, tables, and statistics.
It also gives the starting line up and provides radio coverage of the big games.

Fantastic app.

natnifnolnacs

fxguru seems like a bit of fun

Thargor

Im looking for a better music player than the stock android one, something intelligent so I dont have to keep unlocking the phone if you know what I mean, it still locks after one minute even though it should know its being used if theres music playing. Although thinking about it I wouldnt want the phone screen on alll the time either, maybe give me some control with the volume keys or something? Or at least have it go straight to the music player if I press something not the lockscreen again.

Anyway Im sure a smarter app developer than me has already thought of a perfect solution, any ideas?

b318isp

Thargor wrote: »

Im looking for a better music player than the stock android one, something intelligent so I dont have to keep unlocking the phone if you know what I mean, it still locks after one minute even though it should know its being used if theres music playing. Although thinking about it I wouldnt want the phone screen on alll the time either, maybe give me some control with the volume keys or something? Or at least have it go straight to the music player if I press something not the lockscreen again.

Anyway Im sure a smarter app developer than me has already thought of a perfect solution, any ideas?

Player Pro...here's a free trial version...

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tbig.playerprotrial&feature=search_result

Thargor

Winamp does the job flawlessly, already had it installed just didnt tick lockscreen controls, also I like the way it treats folders as albums as a lot of my music is badly tagged samples and mixes, thanks though.

SuprSi

Poweramp - excellent player

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.maxmpz.audioplayer&hl=en

Has loads of options and the link above is for a trial so you can see whether you it does what you need.

Seedy Arling

SuprSi wrote: »

Poweramp - excellent player

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.maxmpz.audioplayer&hl=en

Has loads of options and the link above is for a trial so you can see whether you it does what you need.

I have it on my Nexus 7. It comes on automatically when i plug in headphones. Bit of a pain in the ass. Don't seem to be able to switch it off.

alanc2003

Seedy Arling wrote: »

I have it on my Nexus 7. It comes on automatically when i plug in headphones. Bit of a pain in the ass. Don't seem to be able to switch it off.

go into settings, headset, untick resume on headset connect

Seedy Arling

alanc2003 wrote: »

go into settings, headset, untick resume on headset connect

Ah thanks a million, that was doing my nut in.

Kenny Logins

natnifnolnacs wrote: »

fxguru seems like a bit of fun

T'is. ...but not for long, novelty wears very quickly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l01vwLxJaVA

:pac:

evolutionqy7

Kenny Logins wrote: »

T'is. ...but not for long, novelty wears very quickly.

:pac:

Thats a very robust keyboard I tried it too, pretty awesome, but as said, novelty wears of extremely quick. Not bothered with buying extra effects

AlmightyCushion

Dice Player. I normally use MX Player but on some videos it doesn't work right. One film worked right for about 10 minutes but after that it would mess up the video (audio still worked right though), another film had no audio at all. They both worked on Dice Player so I'll be sticking to that from now on.

threein99

Super Hexagon is taking over my life

evolutionqy7

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

Dice Player. I normally use MX Player but on some videos it doesn't work right. One film worked right for about 10 minutes but after that it would mess up the video (audio still worked right though), another film had no audio at all. They both worked on Dice Player so I'll be sticking to that from now on.

Did you try to turn of HW decoding? I noticed that used to be the problem on my ex galaxy tab. Lag or won't play hw decoding but plays fine with sw

AlmightyCushion

evolutionqy7 wrote: »

Did you try to turn of HW decoding? I noticed that used to be the problem on my ex galaxy tab. Lag or won't play hw decoding but plays fine with sw

Neither was selected in the options. I turned on software decoding and both problems are fixed. Thanks.

Edit: Just tried it with hardware decoding and it also works fine. Weird one.

BenEadir

Seedy Arling wrote: »

I have it on my Nexus 7. It comes on automatically when i plug in headphones. Bit of a pain in the ass. Don't seem to be able to switch it off.

PowerAmp -> Settings -> Headset -> Resume on Headset Connect - Untick

Ben

Alpha Dog 1

Anyone having trouble with pocket casts since the last update?

Amalgam

I'm neither here nor there about Star Wars, but I'm partial to a detailed Pinball Table.



https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zenstudios.StarWarsPinball

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The default table (pictured above) works well, lots of animation and audio, extra tables are in app purchases, for the same price as the app. Not essential purchases.

There's an online component that's a tad clingy, plenty of reminders to sign up, Light/Dark side collective balance. You choose which side you want to influence.

Thankfully, if you just want to knock a ball about, you can sidestep all that.

Enjoyable. Not that deep, a quick distraction, pick up and play.

A Nexus 7, or any 7inch tablet, is the perfect size. App plays in portrait.

deco nate

Amalgam wrote: »

I'm neither here nor there about Star Wars, but I'm partial to a detailed Pinball Table.



https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zenstudios.StarWarsPinball

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The default table (pictured above) works well, lots of animation and audio, extra tables are in app purchases, for the same price as the app. Not essential purchases.

There's an online component that's a tad clingy, plenty of reminders to sign up, Light/Dark side collective balance. You choose which side you want to influence.

Thankfully, if you just want to knock a ball about, you can sidestep all that.

Enjoyable. Not that deep, a quick distraction, pick up and play.

A Nexus 7, or any 7inch tablet, is the perfect size. App plays in portrait.

i bought this yesterday on xbl
3 tables.great game if you like
pinball.not tried it on my phone

Amalgam

Pixel Dungeon



App: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.watabou.pixeldungeon

App website: http://pixeldungeon.watabou.ru/

A lovely roguelike. Turned up under search results for Delver.

You can play with one finger\stylus.

I love Roguelikes and Dungeon Crawlers. The graphics are pixelated and just about perfect for the gameplay. Games are short and varied. You don't get an easy time, either because of the need to feed yourself, or some downright unlucky enemy placement.

Development on the app is moving along quite quickly, sound and various aspects of the game fleshed out in the last month alone.

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Gatling

Real Racing 3 via play store super racer from EA great graphics and track selection

dulpit

Gatling wrote: »

Real Racing 3 via play store super racer from EA great graphics and track selection

Is it good? The verge came down hard against it because of in-app purchases...

http://www.theverge.com/2013/3/1/4042704/real-racing-3-available-in-the-us-for-free

Thargor

Im getting so sick of how everything is requiring in-app purchases these days.

Amalgam

Thargor wrote: »

Im getting so sick of how everything is requiring in-app purchases these days.

The biggest steamer so far has been The Simpsons game, utter contempt. More or less a giant in app bait and hook with the flimsiest game* wrapped around it.

(*interactive screen saver..)

Genghiz Cohen

Thargor wrote: »

Im getting so sick of how everything is requiring in-app purchases these days.

It's how games are making money these days.
Give the game away and sell additional, non critical content.

Amalgam

Genghiz Cohen wrote: »

Give the game away and sell additional, non critical content.

It isn't the way the market is moving.. the 'time stalling' tactic used in Real Racing 3 and The Simpsons is a relatively new trend. That isn't a passive way of going about things.

Nintendo never stopped you half-way through a game of Tetris and pimped you for L shapes..

Thargor

In the last week Ive had free games go to a black screen then start buffering a 30 second video ad for Lynx! Using my data connection aswell not the wi-fi, its gone a bit mad...

Gatling

dulpit wrote: »

Is it good? The verge came down hard against it because of in-app purchases...

http://www.theverge.com/2013/3/1/4042704/real-racing-3-available-in-the-us-for-free

I'm finding it pretty good not really bothered by in game purchases at this stage ,graphics are top notch especially on the nexus 7 ,got a good selection on racing types ,standard 1-2 lap sprints ,elimination racing ,drags ,endurance, plenty to see for the price of nothing

killbillvol2

Amalgam wrote: »

The biggest steamer so far has been The Simpsons game, utter contempt. More or less a giant in app bait and hook with the flimsiest game* wrapped around it.

(*interactive screen saver..)

It started shouting at me to play it! In the middle of a meeting. Uninstalled and one star rating.

thebman

Try this instead.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gameloft.android.ANMP.GloftGTFM&hl=en

evolutionqy7

killbillvol2 wrote: »

It started shouting at me to play it! In the middle of a meeting. Uninstalled and one star rating.

Should have your phone on silent on meetings :-)

I don't get it with people complaining a lot freemium games. Their free to play. Don't like it. Uninsta it

nedd

I just uninstalled Simpsons because of the annoying notifications. No way to turn them off.

Real Racing 3 is great fun so far. graphics are amazing.

Thargor

evolutionqy7 wrote: »

Should have your phone on silent on meetings :-)

I don't get it with people complaining a lot freemium games. Their free to play. Don't like it. Uninsta it

Because when I look back over the great gaming moments of my life like collecting all the Materia in Final Fantasy 7 or victories in the Civilizations/Total Wars I wont include the time I spent €1.50 on buying enough gameloft points to make a game go from completely impossible to piss easy, it doesnt really carry the same level of satisfaction, either let people play it properly for the first couple of levels and then pay if they want to carry on or display ads to make the game viable and fully playable, the direction they're heading in now for a lot of the new stuff is "Insert €2 to win game".

RangeR

Thargor wrote: »

Because when I look back over the great gaming moments of my life like collecting all the Materia in Final Fantasy 7 or victories in the Civilizations/Total Wars I wont include the time I spent €1.50 on buying enough gameloft points to make a game go from completely impossible to piss easy, it doesnt really carry the same level of satisfaction, either let people play it properly for the first couple of levels and then pay if they want to carry on or display ads to make the game viable and fully playable, the direction they're heading in now for a lot of the new stuff is "Insert €2 to win game".

The problem is, these companies are trying a few different business models to see what get's people handing over their hard earned [The other problem is that the great unwashed want everything but not willing to pay for the pleasure]. Currently, most people don't want to "buy" apps for their phones. So there's a little carrot and stick in the freemium approach.

Some of these business models are now making their way over to the console market. It's a sad day. Some of these business models will kick the bucket soon. Some won't. In reality, a lot of people seem to be handing over money for the freemium apps. They wouldn't exist if there was no market.

If people stopped paying for micro transactions [where did that come from, there is nothing micro about them] then companies will stop using them.

However, people being people, they will ALWAYS choose something that is too good to be true, regardless of the realities. It's a fact of life.

evolutionqy7

Thargor wrote: »

Because when I look back over the great gaming moments of my life like collecting all the Materia in Final Fantasy 7 or victories in the Civilizations/Total Wars I wont include the time I spent €1.50 on buying enough gameloft points to make a game go from completely impossible to piss easy, it doesnt really carry the same level of satisfaction, either let people play it properly for the first couple of levels and then pay if they want to carry on or display ads to make the game viable and fully playable, the direction they're heading in now for a lot of the new stuff is "Insert €2 to win game".

I think the majority of that has to do with Piracy and Trial Play. Dead Trigger is a great example, brilliant game, developers couldn't make money of a paid version cause it was pirated so much, so with little tweaking they turned it into a freemium and make money that way. Make money of game play and not the actual game.

Squeaky the Squirrel

Thargor wrote: »

Because when I look back over the great gaming moments of my life like collecting all the Materia in Final Fantasy 7

deco nate

can anyone point me to a facebook app that works,free app..the stock app is ****e..cheers guys an gals

KERSPLAT!

What's shîte about it?

AlmightyCushion

Princess Petulia Pissy Pants wrote: »

What's shîte about it?

Have you used it? It's slow (although that has improved somewhat). Some images or videos don't load the preview or take some time to load it. When use the search box, it sometimes doesn't refine the search based on what you are typing. The infinite scroll thing gets stuck loading additional content and will just sit there for ever.

That's all I've got off the top of my head. It really is crap.

Kiith

Its probably been mentioned before, but Vector is a fantastic parkour type game. Been having a lot of fun with it these last few days, and since the last update, it's not been getting anywhere near as much slowdown.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nekki.vector

tallus

deco nate wrote: »

can anyone point me to a facebook app that works,free app..the stock app is ****e..cheers guys an gals

Friendcaster works pretty well.

EGriff

The official Facebook app works great on my phone. It used to be totally rubbish for a long time but they fixed it up nicely.

Maybe its not optimised properly for different phones or android versions.

evolutionqy7

EGriff wrote: »

The official Facebook app works great on my phone. It used to be totally rubbish for a long time but they fixed it up nicely.

Maybe its not optimised properly for different phones or android versions.

It's still pretty crap, it's slow to refresh timeliness, slow to load pictures. Generally going on the web version is faster. It was the same on s3 and note 2 for me.

Its nowhere near as bad as it used to be, but still pretty slow compares to other apps.