Check out these new Android apps and Android app updates this weekend
It’s actually been a fairly busy week, with quite a few new Android apps and updates to existing apps that are worth checking out. I went ahead and sorted through some of the clutter for you, so here are my picks that you definitely won’t want to miss.
New apps to check out:
Hotels by Orbitz
This is a new app by one of the most popular travel sites on the internet, making it super easy to book hotels without having to get in front of a computer at all. You can search by location, or the app can automatically find nearby hotels in case you’re traveling and need to book something last minute. You can sort hotel listings by “best value,” lowest price, or distance from a particular point, and hotel listings include guest photos, verified reviews, and detailed descriptions of amenities and rooms.
There are also special mobile deals that are only available to mobile app users, including a special 72-hour sale from now until October 21, in which you can save 10% off the price of any hotel booked using the app.
Download: Play Store
Google Calendar
This is the official Google Calendar app – the same one that I compared yesterday to the stock HTC Calendar app on the HTC EVO 4G LTE. And overall, the more I use it on my EVO, the more I like it. After some initial hiccups, the widget is working great, and some of my favorite features include the more-detailed month view, and the week view that’s missing entirely in HTC’s calendar app.
Of course, it’s not integrated into the HTC Sense experience like HTC’s app is, but I find the official app more visually appealing and useful for my needs.
Download: Play Store
Zombie Swipeout
If you like Fruit Ninja, and you also like zombies, then you’ll love Zynga’s latest zombie game: Zombie Swipeout. Just released on Android earlier today, this game follows in the footsteps of another popular zombie game by Zynga – Zombie Smash, which I talked about a few weeks ago.
This game is played just like Fruit Ninja, except you’re chopping zombies instead of fruit. If you cut through coins, you get more points, and if you cut through Joey, well – he’ll die. You can also play against other people online, so there’s potential for hours of fun here, and right in time for Halloween.
Download: Play Store
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App updates to check out:
Facebook for Android
The latest Facebook update is very photo-centric, fixing several photo upload bugs that affected users using certain devices or languages. After this update, the app also allows for faster photo tagging and the ability to choose an album when uploading photos. Facebook for HTC already allowed users to select the specific album when uploading photos, but now everyone has that same option, no matter what Android device you’re on.
Download: Play Store
Crackle
The latest version of the completely free movies and TV app Crackle has a completely new user interface that makes it easier to find movies and TV shows, based on feedback from Crackle’s millions of mobile users. It also has support for even more phones and tablets, improved streaming quality, and the ability to watch video from the app on your HD TV via HDMI out. Overall, it’s an excellent update – and it remains, as always, completely free. Take that, Netflix and Hulu.
Download: Play Store
Evernote
Lots of people swear by Evernote, but between Google Tasks, Google Drive, Google Calendar, and Gmail (can you tell I’m addicted to Google?), I find fewer and fewer uses for it personally. Still, that doesn’t mean I’ve uninstalled it from my phone yet – I just never know when it might come in handy. And the latest update makes it a bit more functional, too – there’s now a simplified note editor toolbar, the ability to jump directly to notes created in Skitch, and a redesigned action bar for tablet users that changes based on context. Premium users can also now multi-select notebooks to download for offline access.
Download: Play Store
Swype Beta
Swype Beta is now at version 1.3, and there are quite a few improvements in the latest version. This includes online backup and syncing for your personal dictionary, a new split keyboard layout for tablets, keyboard themes, and new hotwords that will automatically update in your dictionary. For example, one of the latest hotwords that will automatically appear in Swype is “Gangnam” style.
Swype Beta isn’t available in the Google Play Store, but you can still get it directly from Swype, even if your phone or ROM already has Swype preinstalled.
