Android Apps: A question for Droid (and other Android phone) users

The most impressive thing about android apps is the fact that you can buy it, and if you don't like it, you can return it within 24 hours of purchasing for a full refund. What types of games do you like playing on your Iphone so we can narrow it down a bit more.

Here are some, but I would love to see much more and it's big studios like EA and Gameloft that I think really push the platform. I heard Gameloft quit android development recently and I'm worried that Google isn't pushing apps hard enough to catch up to the Apple App store for a while.

Here's a shortlist of the kind of games I'd like to see on Android to switch.

Civilization
Fifa 10
Touchgrind
Driver (full port of 1999 PC game)
SimCity

I know EA has a few games on there,
Spore, and the Sims 3

The Android market has a lot of potential, it's just behind apple because of how long the iphone has been around.

That and Google doesn't push it like Apple does. iPhone users spend more money on apps than Android users do by a huge margin.

I didn't know they had The Sims on android, that is encouraging even if I'm not a huge fan of the game because it's a graphically impressive one.

Have you heard of the recent efforts to build an open mobile app standard (http://www.wholesaleappcommunity.com/)? That would be great, I'd not be locked into any one device like I am now.

It's a good thing you didn't bring me over here for my looks... I definitely have a face for radio!

As I type there are 4,118 games in the Android Market and it grows daily. The cool thing about the Droid - as opposed to the iPhone - is that the Android platform can run up to 6 apps simultaneously, which means one doesn't have to close in order to open another one. You can have multiple apps running and never lose anything! I would direct you to www.androlib.com for up to date information on your favorite games, and what is out there that you would like.

This is one of the better websites for Android apps, but it doesn't replace the full market of over 40,000 apps... which is available on Android phones themselves. Hope this helps!

(This seems a more appropriate thread for my inquiry as well, so I'm copying it from the other.)

I am VERY attracted to that slide out keyboard on the Droid, and I am curious if any users have switched to it from a Blackberry Storm. I would like to know which usability features I'd be giving up in exchange for that nifty keyboard.

I replied in the other thread before you moved this... Here is my reply:

I would switch to a rock from the Black Berry Storm... I can't stand that phone...

Do you use BES (Black Berry Enterprise Server) or anything like that? Though as far as corporate goes, the Droid supports exchange connectivity.

I have a Blackberry Curve (Work) and A Motorola Droid (Personal) I prefer the Droid but the nice thing about the Blackberry is that it's very easy to use. I was given the option to get a droid for work instead of the blackberry, and if I didn't already have one I would have taken it.

Do you guys already have the Google Navigation app that they were touting? The ole Tom Tom killer?

Yup, Google Navigation is pretty sweet, even supports street view. Seems to be fairly accurate too.

I do not use the Enterprise server (company is way too small). I mostly use it for talking, texting, emailing after hours, and I frequently multitask. For instance, I might be driving down the road using it as an MP3 player, while using the VZ Navagator (Blows TomTom away, because it re-routes me around traffic incidents whenever possible and maps are always up to date), and then the phone rings. I love it that it automatically mutes the music so I know the damn thing is ringing (I like my car stereo's loud, and drive a convertible). Also love the seamless calendar functions with google calendar, the mass storage capacity, and the unlimited ringtones to separate callers I may or may not want to talk to after hours. Frankly, I think it's a wonderful tool and wouldn't consider changing if it had a slide out keyboard like the Droid. The lack of tactile feel makes it tough and dangerous to text while driving and results in lots of typos. It would also be nice if the auto-correct library was more robust; but that upgrade is probably already in process. Anyway, did I list off anything the Droid don't do?

Hey man, Droid Does
As for the Texting while driving - The keyboard on the droid is very flat so it may still be tough there, but I don't worry about that because texting while driving is illegal here.

Google Turn-by-turn navigation is not an app in the app market, it comes built-in to the Droid. FREE! And the car dock automatically switches to GPS as soon as you mount it. A great benefit to have. I can speak "pizza" into the Droid, it'll Google all the pizza places nearby, and then give me either the phone number and/or turn-by-turn directions to get there. Priceless.

Can you tell me if it has mapping and routing in Costa Rica? Right now there is only one mobile navigation solution for Costa Rica (which has no addresses and some interesting cartography challenges) and it's for the Windows Mobile platform. So I keep a Samsung Blackjack around just for that.

Oh, and can you cache the data (maps)? The mobile connection here is not reliable enough to not have the maps locally.

Not sure about Costa Rica but the GPS isn't reliant on the 3G data as much as it relies on GPS satellites. I think the street maps are for North America, but GPS should work anywhere. It would be interesting to find out, though

Wow, I hadn't thought of that. GPS must be priceless there. During my visits I was dumb enough to rent a car, only to have to pay cabbies to sheppard me back home anyway! I even got lost just retuning to Irazu from El Pueblo!
Tell me, have you made it up to Ram Luna for a meal yet?

I can pull up maps of Costa Rica by location, Driving directions do not seem to work yet (I think this has to do with not having support outside of the USA yet)

As for Caching, I believe when you start navigation it caches the info needed for that route.

View from Ram Luna... I so want to visit you!

Thanks for the info Iam!

But aren't the Google maps all delivered over the internet? That is the problem for me, I'd start driving and the map wouldn't update even though my position would.