I’ve been tooling around the Android OS Market and have been finding some extremely handy apps that haven’t been getting enough attention (in my personal geeky opinion).  So, I decided to pick a few that I find useful or just plain fun and go through them.  What makes them even better is that they are all free!

1) WiFi File Manager (a.k.a Apache File Server)

There is a reason I have put this one as number one.  This little puppy here starts and Apache Web Server on your Android phone and provides you with a URL.  Your Wifi does have to be turned on and connected but once you start this puppy, you can access the files from any computer that is connected to the same network just by using the provided URL.  You can even upload!!!!!

I don’t know about you, but I really enjoy NOT having to plug in a cord to get things from my phone.

2) Calvin & Hobbes Comic

I don’t think this one needs any explanation.

3) ShootMe

This handy little thing lets you simply shake your phone to take a screen shot of what is on your phone’s screen.  It then saves that image automatically in a directory for you to snag later.  The images come out crisp and clear.  The size of the image will depend on what the resolution of your phone’s screen is.

Why would I use this you ask?  I don’t know?!  For my purposes, when I’m troubleshooting something, I can show the person exactly what I am seeing really easily.  It’s also how I grabbed the icons you’re seeing on this page.

4) Solo Lite

If you play guitar at all, this is a pretty sweet app.  What I like best about it is the chord library it has.  It will show you multiple variations of chords, the best fingering etc.  It doesn’t show different positionings for the fretboard which I would be interested in if someone knows of an app for that.

5) Chuck Norris Facts

Pass the time by educating yourself on his awesomeness.

6) Bible by Lifechurch.tv

Now, there are a lot of Bible programs out there, but the one by Lifechurch.tv (among having multiple bible versions and a simple menu to navigate) has one cool feature that stands out among the rest…Low Light. All it does it change the text color to gray and the background to black. Now, the reason I like this feature so much is because I do most of my bible reading before I go to sleep. So, I’m sitting on my bed with just a lamp on and if my phone is lit up, it is usually brighter than my bedside lamp and kills my eyes. You may think I’m crazy but don’t dis it till you’ve tried it.

It does have a Sign-In feature…but I have yet to find a benefit to it. I created an account thinking it would save my bookmarks…but this is not the case.

7) xda by TapTalk

This one may not be useful to you but if there is a forum that you are constantly on, they may have an android app for you!

I am constantly checking out XDA-Developers to find out what new tricks they have up their sleeves.  How else would I have Android running on my Windows mobile phone in the first place?  The developers at XDA are extremely knowledgeable and usually more than willing to help you out and answer questions.  If you have any questions on what your phone can do, feel free to drop them a line!

Now, there are plenty of other handy and fun Android apps out on the market, but I just thought these were worthy of mention.  If you have some that you would like known, post a comment!