Best apps for a new android user...

[LIVEFRMNYC]

Everyone should have AppLock. It's that good.

 

[b166er]

Anyone out there able to offer some recommendations? Just bought a S4, and while I'm familiar with Android, this is my first Android phone.

-I'm looking for a nice SMS app to replace the default messages app. No need for it to be iMessage like, but something a little nicer and it would be cool if there is one out there that offers badges.

-Is there anyway to get an experience similar to WP8 in terms of having a widget for a contact? I know there are WP style launchers, I am not in to that. Just a widget for a specific contact that shows me the persons facebook, twitter, etc. Any way to do that?

-Any twitter apps that organize your feed by subject? I remember iOS having one, I think it was called slice or something like that.

-Is there anyway to sync a fitbit to the Android app directly? I can't seem to figure it out. The app will show me when my fitbit was last synced with my mac, but nothing else.

-I'm wondering what the best way to get rid of ATT bloatware is. I've heard a few different things on here, but I was just wondering if anyone has experience with it.

-Any way to stream stuff on my S4 to an Apple TV?

Thanks!

 

[sentinelsx]

Anyone out there able to offer some recommendations? Just bought a S4, and while I'm familiar with Android, this is my first Android phone.

-I'm looking for a nice SMS app to replace the default messages app. No need for it to be iMessage like, but something a little nicer and it would be cool if there is one out there that offers badges.

-Is there anyway to get an experience similar to WP8 in terms of having a widget for a contact? I know there are WP style launchers, I am not in to that. Just a widget for a specific contact that shows me the persons facebook, twitter, etc. Any way to do that?

-Any twitter apps that organize your feed by subject? I remember iOS having one, I think it was called slice or something like that.

-Is there anyway to sync a fitbit to the Android app directly? I can't seem to figure it out. The app will show me when my fitbit was last synced with my mac, but nothing else.

-I'm wondering what the best way to get rid of ATT bloatware is. I've heard a few different things on here, but I was just wondering if anyone has experience with it.

-Any way to stream stuff on my S4 to an Apple TV?

Thanks!

Wait a month and you can flash one of many tw based custom ROMs that will completely take out the bloat.

 

[KentuckyHouse]

Anyone out there able to offer some recommendations? Just bought a S4, and while I'm familiar with Android, this is my first Android phone.

-I'm looking for a nice SMS app to replace the default messages app. No need for it to be iMessage like, but something a little nicer and it would be cool if there is one out there that offers badges.

I prefer Handcent. You can download themes to make it your own, or you can customize just about everything about it without downloading anything else. It supports badges, as well.

-Is there anyway to get an experience similar to WP8 in terms of having a widget for a contact? I know there are WP style launchers, I am not in to that. Just a widget for a specific contact that shows me the persons facebook, twitter, etc. Any way to do that?

Long press on your home screen...tap "Shortcuts"...tap "Contact"...select which contact you want and an icon should appear on your home screen for that contact.

-Any twitter apps that organize your feed by subject? I remember iOS having one, I think it was called slice or something like that.

Slice is also available on Android, if that's the app you wanted. I prefer Falcon Pro for Twitter, but I'm not sure if it does what you want. Maybe check it out and see?

-Is there anyway to sync a fitbit to the Android app directly? I can't seem to figure it out. The app will show me when my fitbit was last synced with my mac, but nothing else.

I don't know about this one. I don't have any experience with a FitBit.

-I'm wondering what the best way to get rid of ATT bloatware is. I've heard a few different things on here, but I was just wondering if anyone has experience with it.

To completely get rid of it, you'd need to root and install a custom ROM (or root and use Titanium Backup to delete it...although you'd want to make a backup of the AT&T apps so you could reinstall them if an update came out...they need to be installed for an update to complete, IIRC). While I do root my phones, I typically will just freeze them (or disable them) with the built in way of doing it in the Applications list. However, I do sometimes use custom ROMs and that rids me of them as well.

-Any way to stream stuff on my S4 to an Apple TV?

I don't have any experience with this as well, so I can't help there.

Thanks!

See my replies above in bolded red.

 

[b166er]

See my replies above in bolded red.

Thanks! I even looked for slice and I didn't see it on the Play Store... I'll look again. Thanks for the tips! I did add a shortcut for a contact but it's not quite as informative as I was hoping for, it just has their picture, no feeds of any sort.

 

[jandas]

My must-have Android apps:

• Evernote - digital notepad / scrapbook where in which you can take notes, store images, PDFs, audio recordings, etc
• Google Drive - file storage and synchronization service provided by Google
• Any.do - intuitive, gesture-based to-do app
• Nova Launcher - highly customizable launcher for Android 4.0+
• Llama - app that can automatically perform actions based on your location
• MX Player- powerful multi-format video player

 

[AAPLinc]

Thanks for all the suggestions! For someone just starting out with android on my nexus 7, this sure helps!