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Today’s Apps
- Lightning Launcher [Small homescreen launcher that allows users to place icons wherever they want — not confined to 4×4 grid]
- Cut the Rope [Game]
- Meme Generator [Create your own memes]
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About Android Apps of the Day
Android has over 450,000 apps. With so many apps out there, app discovery (aka finding new and useful apps) is extremely difficult. With our Android Apps of the Day initiative, dotTech aims to change that. Everyday we post three apps, allowing our readers to discover new apps, daily. Enjoy! [Subscribe to our Android section to never miss an article: RSS Feed | E-mail]
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Apps for May 21, 2012
Lightning Launcher
There are many homescreen/application launcher apps out there. Lightning Launcher is another. However, Lightning Launcher is a bit different than the others. Instead of focusing on more and more features, Lightning Launcher takes a minimalist approach focusing only on ‘core’ features which results in a launcher with an extremely light footprint — 60 KB for the launcher itself and another 191 KB for ‘Lightning Launcher Setup’.
Of course after reading the previous sentence you may be a bit confused — launcher plus a setup? What? This actually is another interesting aspect of Lightning Launcher. The developer of Lightning Launcher has broken down the launcher into separate apps, the launcher itself, a setup app, widget apps, add-ons, etc. The developer’s rational behind this breaking the launcher into multiple apps allows Android to better efficiently manage memory usage. In other words, when you are only using one aspect of the launcher (e.g. you are on the homescreen), Android can shutdown the launcher apps related to other features of the launcher resulting in less memory usage. Since I’m not programmer I cannot support or reject this claim but it sure does sound nifty on paper.
In any case, overall Lightning Launcher is definitely minimal in regards to features compared to other launcher and in some cases, such as having more than one page on the homescreen, you need to download an add-on to get a specific feature. However, that results in a smaller footprint, as mentioned above, and the app itself doesn’t require much system access permissions (only one, in fact). Plus one feature of Lightning Launcher I really like is the ability to place homescreen icons/widgets wherever and however you want. There is a mode in Lightning Launcher that does not confine icons and widgets to a 4×4 grid.
Price: Free with optional free and paid add-ons
Version discovered: v4.3.1
Requires: Android 1.6 and up
Download size: 60 KB + 191 KB
Lightning Launcher on Play Store | Lightning Launcher Setup on Play Store
Cut the Rope
Cut the Rope is a popular arcade style game in which the goal is to feed candy to a creature named ‘Om Nom’. Candy hangs from a rope which you must cut in such a way that the dangling candy falls in the mouth of Om Nom who typically sits at the bottom of the stage. In addition to feeding Om Nom, each stage has three stars which you must attempt to collect (the more the better) in the process of dropping the candy into Om Nom’s mouth. As you progress further in the game levels get harder with new mechanics such as bubbles and air push thingys.
Cut the Rope comes in many versions. Originally it was a paid-only app with normal edition costing $0.98 and ‘HD’ editions costing $1.96. Recently, however, the developer of Cut the Rope has released free, ad-supported versions of Cut the Rope. Aside from the ads, there isn’t any information provided by the developer on the differences between the paid and free editions.
Price: Free, $0.98, $1.96
Version discovered: v1.0
Requires: Android 1.6 and up
Download size: 19 MB
Cut the Rope Free on Play Store | Cut the Rope: Experiments Free on Play Store | Cut the Rope on Play Store | Cut the Rope: Experiments on Play Store
Meme Generator
Enjoy memes? Then create your own memes with Meme Generator. Meme Generator is an app that provides over 100 images (across a variety of categories) and allows you to add two lines of text to each image, thus creating a meme. If you can’t think of any specific lines, each image has two or three line pairs that you can use as examples. Once you have created your meme, you can save it to your Android device or share it via e-mail, messaging, or any other app that accepts image inputs. If you don’t like any of the images provided by Meme Generator, you have the option to use your own custom images for memes.
Price: Free
Version discovered: v1.56
Requires: Android 2.1 and up
Download size: 9.9 MB
dotTechies: We have tested all the apps listed above. However, Android Apps of the Day articles are not intended as “reviews” but rather as “heads-up” to help you discover new apps. Always use your best judgement when downloading apps, such as trying trial/free versions before purchasing paid apps, if applicable.
