Best Free Android Apps

This thread is on fire
i think there should be a subthread in mobile apps category named android where we can DISCUSS about android

so many apllications already named
will have to try them one by one

Go launcher is a good replacement to launcher pro..it has iphone like interface and many functionalities
i tried andexplorer and found it good too
app manager can be used to backup applications
go sms is also good..i found it better than handcent sms
i use sms backup to backup my sms on gmail
and sms backup and restore to backup sms on memory card

and i havent even tried many applications i saw the names here..lol..have to try them now

Love the Android -- my favorite apps so far (some already mentioned):

RealCalc -- great scientific calculator
Alarm Droid -- nice alarm clock
Astro File Manager
Cardio Trainer -- very cool!
Chrome to Phone
Chrome Marks Lite (sync Google Chrome bookmarks to phone)
Mobile Metronome (for musicians -- a great metronome)
Google Books
The Weather Channel

A couple quite unique apps worth considering, if you happen to be either a gearhead or you want (or need) to evaluate wifi signals available at any given location:

Torque free (for gearheads)

Wifi Analyzer

Let's start with the latter. Wifi Analyzer will help you figure out what wifi hotspots or access points are available around you, what kind of strength each signal has, the encryption scheme used, the mac address of the AP, etc.

You can view a channel graph, which is very helpful in determining relative signal strength, a list of APs, and a signal strength meter for each AP, among other things.

VERY helpful for those who travel, and are trying to figure out which oddly-named AP is the one their hotel or coffee shop is actually using, or which neighbor's unsecured AP actually has enough power to get you online (if you're into such things, not that I ever would be.)

On to Torque...

Torque is a quite unusual app. When combined with a bluetooth Onboard Diagnostics reader[1], it turns your droid into an ODB II code reader, capable of reading the codes that are making your Check Engine light come on, resetting the light, and acting as a Tachometer/Speedometer/Lots of other -ometers

It is really quite cool, and works well. But for average Joe or Average Jane who doesn't give a rip about cars and takes it to the shop when the Check Engine light starts flashing, it would be a complete waste of time, since they aren't going to buy the necessary hardware.

There is a free (ad supported) version that I am currently evaluating (and for which I have high praise) .

[edit] spam details removed

Here Is The List Of Applications I Use On My Droid -

Media - poweramp [ undoubtedly the best ] , mvideoplayer [ testing]
Reading - Adobe reader
Security - Norton Security beta , Application Protection
File Manager - Astro [it has very fast inbuilt image viewer ], Andexplorer[shows phone memory] , filemanager [ testing ]
Browser - Opera mini [ fastest] , ucweb [ some sites open optimized for cell ]
Other net related - dropbox , ebuddy[better than meebo coz for me meebo was not logging in facebook], appbrain market, skype, imdb, mig33
message - go sms
photo - photoshop express , quickpic , wallswitch
wallpaper and ringtone - zedge , backgrounds
not categorised - alarm droid , app2sd free , app manager [ for application backup ] , fast reboot , memory booster lite , sms backup [gmail ] , sms backup and restore [ backup to phone ] , uninstaller

To Browse for interesting Pix, I like Image Explorer. It shows thumbnails of lots of good and excellent pix just recently uploaded to sites like Webshots, Flickr or Wunderground photos. It lets you view and DL full size or go to web site to browse the photographers other pix. Soothing pasttime while lying in bed.

Aldiko is far from being the best free E-Book Reader. It loses your position when you rotate the phone, the page sliding animation induces nausea, and it is fiddly to import books. Lately the book download feature has not been working for me.

Laputa is much better. Nice page turning animation, easy to import books, and lots of books download libraries.

http://www.appbrain.com/app/laputa-reader%28free-books%29/com.reader.books.laputa.ui

FB Reader is also very good.
http://www.appbrain.com/app/fbreader/org.geometerplus.zlibrary.ui.android

I looked on my phone (nexus one) to see what I use the most:

Gesture Search
Andronos - controls Sonos system on my network
Google Goggles - does a ton of things (barcode scanning, business card scanning & importing data, identifying objects and places, etc.)
Gas Buddy
Google Maps (for GPS driving using a dock)
Google Search (voice search every time my son asks me a question for for which I don't know the answer
A online radio
Quickpedia
Skype
gStrings (Is the piano in tune)
Scanner Radio
Speed Test
WiFi Analyser
Trip Advisor
Shazam
My Tracks (already mentioned, but can also output file and then input into photo file to automatically add GPS data to the photo's metafile data)
IMDB

The list changes all the time and just gets better. Generally all the apps are free.

Looked on my freshly installed android phone (Xperia x8) and installed:
Astro file manager
Apps Installer
OfficeSuitePro (view MS office documents and pdf-files)
MyPhoneExplorer (client version to synchronise my contacts, calendar from Outlook 2003 and clean-up easely my messages).

and alot of other stuff (allready mentioned here) was already installed.

regards

Hey Jojoyee, how about a section or sub-section for saving battery life? I've used Taskiller, Advanced Task Killer, plus several others.

Some websites recommend NOT killing tasks in the background and claim it does little to save on battery life. I'm curious what others use/recommend for improving battery life. I do NOT want to get into a discussion on "rooting" your phone, however.

Can any1 name a good contact manager

And go sms has been updated with new features

and trying google gestures and google goggles

removed backup everything and using astro for application backup and gosms for sms backup

found a new application - floating images...try it..awesome image viewer

another new application - thinking space for mapping ideas

and searching for a good music player with equalizer

I must suggest FOLDER ORGANIZER to you AS MY MOST LOVED APPLICATION. It organizes applications on the phone using Labels and groups them and shows separate windows for separate labels. It has helped me to organize and access any application on the phone through only one icon on the main screen! I can access most important folders and most contacted numbers by using this remarkable application.

I strongly recommend to you as Editor's choice.

Springpad as suggested by other is another great application to suggest. I would recommend it with one heart, as I found that no other application has the ability to organize your notes, tasks, bookmarks, clippings. It's method of organizing stuff is outstanding. Further it is available on the phone and an an extension to your browsers as well. It is seamless and syncronizes data in such a way that latest updated info is available offline.

rockplayer is by far the best media player on the android

Besides my recommendations, Dear Jojoyee, pl come up with a free system application that helps me to run my Android phone efficiently! My screen invariably freezes and often the processor work at 100% capacity such that though I keep multitasking at optimum level, my phone is not as fast as it was when it was new. I have applied several tips from forums but killing applications to free memory is not a good idea at least in Android system!

So please do suggest a good system application - a task manager to run the phone efficiently!