Must-have apps that are NOT on the Market?

[whitenack]

What must-have apps are out there, but not available on the Android Market (like Swype)?

I am thinking about getting my first android phone, and want to use the AT&T network. My first reaction to AT&T clamping down on sideloading is to shout "Help, I'm being oppressed!", but then I wondered if it is as big of a deal to me as it is to other, power Android, users. Since this will be my first Android phone, I don't know if it is that big of a deal.

So, what apps out there are a must have, but aren't on the market?

Also, those barcode things... is that sideloading, or is that just a link to the Android Market, which would be allowed on AT&T?

 

[MowDownJoe]

First, I'll answer the barcode question: those just link to various sites. Could be the market. Could be an FTP server for you to download directly from (that would require the ability to sideload, however). Could even just be a random webcomic. QR Barcodes just hold information.

As for my most used sideloaded apps? Well, there's Recordoid. There's a free version in the market, but that only does up to 10 minutes per recording. I'm a college student that wants to record my lectures, and my lectures sure don't last 10 minutes. So, I went to the creator's site, paid a few bucks, and downloaded the full version that lets me record for as long as I want (as long as I have room for the huge files). (And before someone says "Voice Recorder in the market", I tried that. The audio quality sucks.)
And can't forget the beta for Swype. My most used keyboard. Really, I can't say enough about Swype, so I won't say anything.

 

[meyerweb#CB]

I'm relatively new to Android, too, and so far I don't think being restricted to the market will be a really big limitation. Unless, of course, you want porn. So far I think the only app I've sideloaded is unRevoked, to pseudo root the phone so I can tether for free.

What no one can say is if there's one particular app that you'll be willing to die for that's only available by side loading.

My question, though, is why you want to use AT&T? The general consensus seems to be that the weakest aspect of the iPhone is AT&T's network.

 

[TJH132]

If the Android phone you get has the Sense UI, the stock photo/gallery viewer doesn't support Picasa Web Albums, an omission that left me scratching my head. Someone pointed me towards the gallery.apk from the Nexus One and it has been the only sideloaded app I've needed so far.

I'm sure there are other Android Market apps that would do this, too.

TJH

 

[whitenack]

Thanks for the replies. The reason I am using AT&T is because in our area, AT&T dominates the market. In the not-too-distant past, there were only 2 carriers that bothered to provide coverage in our rural area: Cingular and Sprint. AT&T bought Cingular, and verizon just recently extended its range down from the local metro area about 40 miles away.

Additionally, I LIKE the thought of tiered data plans. My wife will bet getting an Android too, but she won't be a heavy user, so saving $30 per month for the both of us is appealing to me. That adds up over a 12-month period.

 

[rlb]

Cant you load apps that are not in the market by taking out your sim card and using wifi?

 

[Kedar]

If you're getting the samsung captivate, or galaxy s, then I'm assuming you're going to take advantage of the gpu inside of it.

Because you might consider gameloft games, which would run smoothly.

That and swype is useful to have. I'm using it right now to type this message up.

 

[z0phi3l]

Thanks for the replies. The reason I am using AT&T is because in our area, AT&T dominates the market. In the not-too-distant past, there were only 2 carriers that bothered to provide coverage in our rural area: Cingular and Sprint. AT&T bought Cingular, and verizon just recently extended its range down from the local metro area about 40 miles away.

Additionally, I LIKE the thought of tiered data plans. My wife will bet getting an Android too, but she won't be a heavy user, so saving $30 per month for the both of us is appealing to me. That adds up over a 12-month period.

Just wait till you go over, and you will, and see your bill, then you will reconsider your position about tiered (scam) data plans

 

[FNFAN]

I'll gladly flog the deceased equine and say that a universal inbox for mail from multiple email accounts as well as SMS is a major lack for the Android.

On other threads we have folks wanting some type of psuedo motion tracker like the Aliens movie characters have; we want barcode scanning enhancements and the folks that are trying to use Android software in a business environment are still having to go to multiple apps to get their messaging.

As I previously mentioned, Steve Jobs has acknowledged this is a missing piece for the IPhone so it's quite likely that both Blackberry and IPhone will have the functionality and us Droid folks will have what...... an Alien Tracker app...... Nifty!

Yes, I know about K9 and similar apps. No they don't handle this functionality to the extent they can be relied upon. This needs to somehow be built in to the OS for bulletproof reliability.

 

[whitenack]

Just wait till you go over, and you will, and see your bill, then you will reconsider your position about tiered (scam) data plans

That may be true for some folks, but you can't say that will be true for everyone. I 95% of my day is either at home or at work, which has wifi, which won't count against my data cap.