Wireless file transfer apps for your android device

Today I'm going to present you 2 wireless transfer apps that I use on my android phone. They are both very popular.

The first one is for Cloud service, and I use this for long range file transfers. That means store your files on an online server, and retrieve them later on any device. It's a dead simple and effective app named: Dropbox.
An example of how this cloud service works:
When you install Dropbox on your PC, a folder named "Dropbox" will appear on your desktop. Now everything that you copy in this folder will be uploaded to your dropbox account. After you install dropbox on any other device (android in our case) you will see the content of your Dropbox folder, and can navigate, view, share and download those files (to your current device).
Once you install Dropbox on your android device, the option "send to -> Dropbox" will appear. So if you want to share some pictures or simply store them in the cloud for safety, simply select the picture and send it to your dropbox. Once you do that it will appear in your PC's dropbox folder too. So it's pretty cool and useful.

Dropbox is free to use, and when you register you get 2GB of storage (you can get extra space for money). After you register and complete a few tasks (install dropbox, transfer 1 file, and so on) you get an extra 250MB. Also for every friend who joins and installs Dropbox, they will give you 250 MB of bonus space (up to a limit of 8GB). Here is a video of "What is Dropbox?".

So if you want to join (and I don't see why not :D ) here is my link: http://db.tt/OY5tS3JR  <-- register here and you will start with 2.5GB space (2GB for the free account + 250MB for clicking on my link + 250MB for completing a few basic steps).

The other app is for short range file transfer using WiFi. It's called: WiFi File Explorer (Pro).
With this app you can browse, download and upload files to your android device from your PC's browser.

First you need a PC with WiFi. Then you connect the phone to the PC's WiFi and start the app on your phone. If everything is ok, the app should give you an IP adress (takes just a few seconds to appear). Then type that IP adress in your PC's browser (Opera, Firefox, Chrome, etc.) and you will see everything that's on your phone.

 

And that's it. Now you can download, upload, explore, delete and rename files from your phone. Very simple and very fast. No need for cables and drivers. Just an app on your phone and a PC with WiFi.

There are many negative reviews about this app on the market, but do not trust those people. I have been uning this app for quite some time now, and had 0 problems with it, and I transfered both small and large (few GB) files.

Now the "bad" news is that this app is not free (there is a free version, but that is limited), it costs 1$. But trust me, it's a dollar well spent.

I'm still experimenting with wireless file transfer apps, so this post may get edited if I find something better. I am not sure that Dropbox is the best cloud service for me, but at the moment it is good (very simple to use).

Missed Call Reminder for Android

I just came across this simple, small and cool app. It simply reminds you of missed calls, SMS and/or MMS. Very useful in so many cases.

It's customizable, so you can select the ringtone for missed call reminding, and set a separate ringtone for missed SMS. You can also set it to vibrate, and if you have a LED on your phone (my Galaxy S2 has no LED :( ) you can set it to blink in a specific color for SMS and another color for missed calls - or simply use the "screen on when reminding" feature of the app.

You can set the reminder interval (I've set it to 1 minute, so it will remind me every minute) and the duaration of the remider (Max time - I've set it to 10 minutes, that means it won't notify me about missed calls or SMS older that 10 minutes).

It is very light, does not consume battery (I have it installed since I got my new phone, and I have monitored the app with System Panel). I recommend this app because it's simple, easy to use and does exactly what it says.
I reall don't know what this app would need to be better. Maybe the option to set a custom vibration pattern for missed calls and SMS. Other than that, it has everything a reminder app needs. And of course, it's FREE.

AppMonster - Backup and organize your Android apps

Another must have app for android users. AppMonster backs up all your applications that you installed on your phone, to your SD card. 

This is helpful in so many ways... It happens quite often that after I updated a particular app, it eighter stops working on my phone, or has some annoying bug (or bugs). But if you have this app, you can restore to an earlier version of that app (assuming you made a backup or have left auto backup on). Then there are the times when you jump from one ROM to another (or do updates of your ROM). Simply press restore after you installed the ROM you want, and you are done.

It also comes very handy when you change your device. Simply install AppMonster on your new device, pop in the SD with the backed up apps, and batch install (the only downside about batch install is that you have to press "Install" before every app, and "Done" after every install)

But this app can only back up user installed applications. So you can't back up system apps. For that, you need to use Titanium Backup. But I don't really back up any system apps, so this simple and small app is perfect for me. AppMonster requires no root access.

It has the option to automatically back up newly installed apps (but I unchecked that feature, because I do a lot of app testing, and I don't want to back up every junk I install on my phone), send backed up files (over dropbox, email, BT, etc.) and can be even used to uninstall apps (you know, the annoying live wallpapers that you install to test, and then you realize it's ugly and you want to uninstall it but you can't find it in the app drawer), and if you have android 2.2 you can also use it to move apps to SD (app2SD).

So give this app a chance. Recently I saw so many negative reviews about appMonster... I don't know what people expect from this application. It does exactly what it sais, and it does that perfectly for me, without any bugs.

If you are a Gamer, you need to have this on your phone - Chainfire3D review

Chainfire3D is an OpenGL driver that sits between your apps and the graphics drivers. So this cool app can intercept and/or change commands between the two. It has some nice  built-in functions, and can be further extended with plugins to provide extra functionality.

Some phones don't support som of the games that are out there. Let's take the Samsung Galaxy S2 for an example. It has a pretty powerful Mali 400 MP GPU, but few 3D games are available for it. So this app emulates (if that is the right word for it) other GPUs. Normally when you install a game that is made for Nvidia Tegra phones you will get eighter a force close or the game will start, but you will see missing shaders, textures, etc.

But with this app (and the plugins installed) you can play them without any problems.
There are 2 versions of this app out there, the Free version and the Pro version. While the free version works as fine as the pro one, the pro has some nice features that make it worth the 5$.

In the free version you can only select 1 plugin at a time (eighter nVidia plugin, Qualcomm or PowerVR). So when you are done playing the game, you need to switch back to default OpenGL driver. But the pro version has the "Per-app" function that allows you to set a separate driver for each game you play. That way you don't need to switch around before and after every game. You just need to set it once in the setting, and the app will remember to switch to nVidia when playing X game, and switch back to default (your phone's driver) when the game exits. Also the pro version allows you to set MSAA (MultiSample Anti-Aliasing). This will greatly improve image quality (PC gamers know this :D ). This way lines/edges become much smoother. The options are automatic (the app decides - but most apps don't enable MSAA themselves at all). The ARM Mali 400 MP (used in the Galaxy S2) can even do 4xMSAA at no performance cost. But if your GPU does not support the level of MSAA requested, the app will likely not start at all.

Setting up Chainfire3D
Very easy to do this. In the free version you can only play around with default openGL driver. First you need the plugins for nVidia, powerVR and Qualcomm drivers. You can download them by clicking HERE.

Plugin installation
Simply put these zip files on your /sdcard (root of your SDcard), and use the "Install Plugin" option in Chainfire3D. Re-open Chainfire and go to "Default OpenGL Settings" and select "Use plugin" with the plugin you need.

After you finished playing (and you use the free version of Chainfire) I strongly recommend to switch back to DEFAULT openGL driver. It will be better for system performance.

Setting up the PRO version is the same as above, except you don't use default openGL but PER APP settings. Like I said before, this will let you set up a driver for each game individually, and will switch back to default driver when you are done playing.

Requirements to run Chainfire 3D:
- OpenGL ES 2.0 (every 1ghz+ phone has this)
- SuperUser / Root
- Writable /system (it will try to remount system as read/write when needed, but the changes need to stick between reboots)

This is another app I highly recommend. Not only to Galaxy S2 users, but to all Android gamers (because you have the ability to reduce textures to speed up the game, to enable AA, and so on). This app is very good, and it will keep getting better and better.

Best Android Music Player

I have tested quite a few android music players, and have come to the conclusion that PowerAmp and Neutron are the best. Let's take a look at both.

PowerAmp - Cool features and easy to use

This player has been around for quite some time now. It looks good, it is very easy to navigate, and has a lot of cool features. I really like the queue function on this app and how it auto advances back to the playlist you where listening to once the queue list is done.
Other key Features:
- 10 band optimized graphical equalizer for all supported formats, presets, and custom presets. The EQ really works, and it's way better than any other player's EQ. It also has separate Bass and Treble control.
- crossfade
- gapless
- plays songs from folders and from own library
- lyrics support, including lyrics search via musiXmatch plugin
- OpenGL based cover art animation
- downloads missing album art
- 4 configurable widget types
- configurable lock screen with optional Direct Unlock
- headset support, automatic Resume on headset and/or BT connection (can be disabled in settings)
- tag editor
- visual themes, including support for external/3rd party skins
- fast library scan
- high level of customization via settings
On the other hand, sound quality isn't as good as with Neutron music player...

Neutron Music Player - Clean and powerful sound

When I first saw this player I was skeptic. I admit, it doesn't look as good as PowerAmp. The only thing that caught my attention was the "professional HD 32-bit audio rendering core ... deliver best possible sound quality..." line. So I installed it for a test. Conclusion: best SQ when it comes to music players. But that sound quality has it's tolls... You need a pretty powerful device to run this app, that means 1GHz+ CPU and 480x800+ screen resolution.
Now let's look at the features Neutron has to offer:
- 32-bit audio decoding/processing for high quality HD audio
- Surround sound DSP (Ambiophonic R.A.C.E. technology).
- Crossfeed DSP (for better stereo music listening experience with headphones).
- Rumble Filter DSP (to protect speakers from overloading with frequencies below 20 Hz).
- Streaming audio: M3U, PLS, ASX, RAM.
- Accurate gapless playback.
- HQ Resampling with 3 modes: fast (low CPU usage), quality (higher CPU usage), audiophile (highest CPU usage <--- but worth it)
- Dithering (to improve audio quality by eliminating quantization in signal).
- Crossfading (including manual track switching in playlist).
- HQ 4-band parametric equalizer (I like this a lot!)
- Real-time multi-band spectrum analyzer (looks cool)
- Master and Preamp digital volume adjustment
- Fully customizable.
- Smart CPU/Battery consumption
This app is still under development but I bet that in the near future it can top any other music player.
There are quite a few things that I don't like about this player. Ex. With PowerAmp I can control the music from my car stereo (BT playback. I can play, pause, next, previous). These controls won't work with Neutron music player. Also Neutron isn't as smooth as PowerAmp (navigation in the menus) and is a bit more complicated to use. Don't forget, Neutron wasn't made for looks, it was made for pure music experience.
Sound Quality on PowerAmp 7/10
Sound Quality on Neutron 10/10

For now, I keep both. Neutron for car audio because of the good SQ, and PowerAmp for home use, because it is so simple to navigate and find a song. Both apps go for ~ 5$, and in the end, both are good and worth the price (but I like Neutron more).