Posted on Jan 12, 2010 in News and Weather, Top Rated Apps | 3 comments
As Android users, we all know the power of RSS feeds and how they let you easily access your favorite website’s content. I’m also sure that most of you have subscribed to various websites and likely use Google Reader as your feed aggregator. NewsRob is an app that syncs with Google Reader and brings the power of a brilliant RSS feed reader to your Android phone.
Version: 3.5.2
Size: 286KB
Category: News & Weather
Price: Free
Overall Score: 4.7/5
User Interface: 4.5/5
Ease of Use: 5/5
Customizability: 5/5
Originality: 4/5
Indispensability: 5/5
NewsRob is an extremely useful app because of streamlined user interface and it’s extensive list of customization options. NewsRob allows two-way background sync with Google Reader, meaning that what you read/favorite/delete in NewsRob will automatically get updated in your Google Reader account and vice versa. For any Android user who wants to keep up-to-date on the go, this is a must have app.
The home screen offers you the entire list of your feeds, with green markers to the left of feeds that have unread content. Selecting “all articles” will give you a chronological timeline of all unread items. You can choose the number of articles that you’d like the app to sync in the settings. From the screenshot you can see that mine is currently set to 500.
Viewing articles is very well refined in NewsRob. The text size and fit of the article on the screen is perfect. From this screen you can star the article, share it, open it in the browser, and more. Plenty of functionality is offered you to organize and share all of your favorite items.
As previously mentioned, the app is extremely customizable and allows you to edit synchronization options like:
- What to sync (all articles or only unread articles - syncing only unread articles is a real nice feature)
- Whether or not to auto sync, or only to auto sync when WiFi is enabled
- How often to sync (syncing less often = more battery saved)
- Offline use
- Default download content (headers only, feed content, feed content + mobile web page, etc.)
You can also choose whether you’d like your feeds saved to the Phone or the SD Card (use the SD Card) and how many feeds you’d like synced and kept in the app (from 50-1000).
Overall, NewsRob is the best RSS feed reader currently offered on Android (Greed RSS feed reader is a close second). The simplicity and efficiency of this app is what makes it incredibly user friendly and popular. Scan the QR code with Barcode Scanner or click the QR code (if you’re on your Android phone) for the direct link to NewsRob in the Android Market. Don’t pass this one up.
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Posted on Dec 28, 2009 in News and Weather, Top Rated Apps, Top Rated Widgets | 5 comments
Snowstorm Weather widget is a great app for the homescreen of your Android phone. Based on your location, you can get information about the current weather and temperature as well as future forecasts.
Application: Snowstorm Weather Widget
Indispensability: 5/5.
You can choose to make a widget in three available sizes, 1×1, 2×1, and 4×1. When you initially create the widget you have an extensive list of options which allows you to customize the app to exactly what you want. Celcius or Fahrenheit? Metric or Imperial units? You have the option. Additionally, you can choose the colors of the text to best fit your current wallpaper. As for determining your location, I have found the GPS option to be the most accurate although using WiFi/Cell towers is accurate enough for determining weather in your area. Play around with the rest of the settings to fit your preferences.
Overall, this app is easy to setup, highly customizable, and looks great on your home screen. I like this widget much more than the standard widget that comes with the Weather Channel app. Try it out!
Scan the QR code with Barcode Scanner or click the QR code (if you’re on your Android phone) to be taken directly to Snowstorm Weather Widget in the Android Market.
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Posted on Dec 25, 2009 in News and Weather, Top Rated Apps | comment
Please welcome the newest top Android app: NPR news. NPR news is extremely easy to use and has a great user interface for quickly finding the news stories that matter to you. You can read, listen, or create a playlist of news stories.
Application: NPR News
Version: 1.1.RC1
Size: 264KB
Category: News/Weather
Price: Free
Overall Score: 4.8/5
User Interface: 5/5
Ease of Use: 5/5
Customizability: 4.5/5
Originality: 4.5/5
Indispensability: 5/5
The home page allows you to choose from Top Stories, Stories by Topic (which include, U.S., World, Politics, Business, etc.), Programs (like Morning Edition or Talk of the Nation), Stations (which can be found by your location or a zip code), and basic search. There is so much information here it’s unbelievable. I am truly amazed by this app and how well it has been put together in it’s initial release.
One of the best features thus far is that you can actually listen to a news segment on a specific article. In order to do this, you’ll have to select an article that has the appropriate red volume icon next to it which indicates the listening ability. From there, just click “Listen Now” when you’ve accessed the specific article. At the bottom of the app you’ll notice there is a bar which will let you know what is currently being played. You can skip ahead, pause, or access your playlist from this menu. Furthermore, you can continue to search around the app for other news articles while you listen to the previous story. These stories don’t need to be downloaded or synced, they begin streaming immediately. Really a great part of this app.
As for the Stations page, you currently are only able to listen to podcasts put out by these sources, but live streaming will be added in 2010Q1, so stay on the lookout for updates after the new year.
Overall, I find this app to be one of the cleanest and most useful news apps on Android. Really refined and intuitive. Definitely try it out!
Scan the barcode or click the QR code (if you’re on your Android phone) for the direct link to NPR News in the Android Market.
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Posted on Dec 23, 2009 in News and Weather, Top Rated Apps | comment
Express News is an incredibly useful Android app because it offers you news in an abundance of categories without the hassle of opening your web browser. With this app you have easy access to endless news articles from providers like the Associated Press.
Application: Express News
Indispensability: 4.5/5
The categories that the news is organized into are:
- Top Stories
- U.S. Headlines
- International Headlines
- Sports Headlines
- Red News
- Entertainment Headlines
- Political Headlines
- Technology
- Strange
- Today’s Pictures
Breaking down the news into descriptive categories allows you to find out what you want as quick as possible. Also, you can setup favorite categories if you only want news on a particular few.
This app is quite customizable as well, allowing you to choose the number of articles on each page as well as whether or not to download pictures, in case you want to speed up loading times. You can also edit the text size which is a very convenient personalized option.
Overall, this app will help you keep up to date on current events. While the user interface isn’t the prettiest, it is easy to use. If you download and try out this app I don’t think you’d be disappointed.
Scan the barcode with Barcode Scanner or click the QR code (if you’re on your Android phone) for the direct link to Express News in the Android Market.
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Posted on Dec 20, 2009 in News and Weather, Top Rated Apps | 1 comment
The Weather Channel app is your one-stop shop for all the weather forecasts and alerts that you need.
Application: The Weather Channel
Indispensability: 4.5/5
The Weather Channel makes it easy to add locations by zip code or city name, as well as just using your current location. With options of current conditions, hourly, 36 hour, and 10 day forecasts, you will always be in the know. Don’t worry about over or under-dressing for the weather anymore.
A couple nice features of this app are that you can play video of radar conditions for your area, so you can constantly track that storm that might be heading in. Also, they have video weather forecasts for your specific region as well if you’d like that.
Overall, The Weather Channel app provides you with the information you need and expect. If you haven’t already downloaded it, you should. It’s been one of the top apps in the Android Market from the beginning, and for good reason!
Scan the barcode with Barcode Scanner or click the QR code (if you’re on your Android phone) to access The Weather Channel in the Android Market.
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