Top 5 apps worth buying for your Dell Streak
If you're like me, the idea of paying for mobile apps for your Dell Streak is a hard pill to swallow, but every once in a while an app comes out that totally justifies the use of your preferred plastic.
This list is in no particular order, but I think these five apps are definitely worth the price tag.
Tasker ($7)
Tasker gets beaten to death with praise for all of the amazing things it can do with very little extra reading. This is one situation where all the hype is worth your cash.
I personally use it to control my sound volumes based on time of day and location. Additionally, it's great for automagically switching your Dell Streak from 3G to WiFi when you get home and vice-versa when you leave! It really helps to extend your battery life too.
By far the best thing about this app though is that you can download a free 7-day trial right from the dev's site before shelling out the $7 to buy it for good.
[7-Day Free Trial | Android Market]LauncherPro Plus ($3.49)
Many people are familiar with this amazing and versatile launcher. This is available in a free version, which has about 95% of the functionality as the paid version.
What you get from the Plus version are some pretty great widgets like the one in the screenshot above. Additional widgets include People, Bookmarks, Calendar, Messaging, Facebook, Friends, and Gmail. Plus it's always nice to support the devs that make these great applications!
[Launcher Pro | Launcher Pro Plus]
Thumb Keyboard ($2.83)
As cool as Swype is for smaller screen phones, it just isn't practical for use on the Streak, especially in landscape mode. I don't know about the rest of you, but I find the Swype space bar to be a little out of place and I always end up inserting periods between words instead of spaces.
Enter Thumb Keyboard to save the day. Jenn did a great write up on Thumb Keyboard back in January and Brodie did a quick review of it just last month.
It has tons of options to set your keyboard preference for both portrait and landscape modes. It takes a day or so to get used to the split layout, but after that it's all smooth sailing. I find myself sending emails from work more frequently without having to worry about typos. As an added bonus, as of 6/21 the dev has listed the app on sale for 50% off every day from 9:00 AM EST till 2:00 AM EST.
[Thumb Keyboard]Torque ($4.77)
Torque is another app that Jenn has covered in the past that is perfect for people that spend a lot of time in their cars like me. I have a borderline obsession with having to know exactly how well my car is performing at all times. I even keep a detailed log of my car's gas mileage (that I'm routinely picked on for by my family).
Torque gives me a lot of extra insight into my car's performance in real time. It is worth mentioning that the cost of entry for this app is a lot higher than most, since in order to use its functionality you have to purchase an OBDII bluetooth adapter. These can range from $28 to in excess of $100. I purchased this one from DealExtreme for $28 and it works great!
[Torque]StreakDroid
Okay, okay you got me. Although Streakdroid isn't technically an app per se, I consider it the master app that makes my Streak what it is today. Technically DJ_Steve's world famous Froyo build is free to use, but without all the hard work he has put in over the past several months our beloved Streaks would have been a waste of money.
The current version is 1.9.0 and can be found in the Pocketables Dell Streak Forum. Additionally you can donate to DJ_Steve's efforts with the links below.
[GBP Donate | USD Donate]What paid apps do you use on your Streak?
