Android apps of the day [July 21, 2012]

Today’s Apps

  • MightyText: send and receive text messages from your browser using your phone’s SMS plan
  • Floating Browser Flux!: browse the web from inside any application
  • 1Tap Quick Bar: add settings/app/action shortcuts to the notification tray

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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 July 21, 2012

MightyText

Using your phone’s tiny keyboard to send text messages is truthfully not as easy as it could be. Personally, a good hardware keyboard on a laptop or desktop vastly outshines the tiny little buzzy thing you have to use on your phone. With MightyText, you can send and receive text messages through your phone using any device equipped with a modern web browser.

MightyText takes a few minutes to set up: you have to install it on your device and link it to your Google account. After that’s done, however, all you need to do is visit MightyText.net/App in any browser, and you can start sending and receiving messages. (Their official installation instructions involve installing browser add-ons that allow for things like notification bubbles, but they are not strictly necessary.)

Updates are pretty quick, too: in the time it took me to glance from my phone to my computer, a recently received message had already began appearing. MightyText is a truly great app, and is one of the few that I review that I am planning on keeping.

Price: Free!

Version discovered: v2.90

Requires: Android 2.2+

Download size: 312KB

MightyText on Play Store

[via Ghacks]

Floating Browser Flux!

Floating apps are all the rage these days, but what exactly is a floating app? They’re actually quite simple, really. They’re apps that float above other apps. As you can see to the right, in the background, S Memo is open, but in the foreground, there’s a multitude of browser windows open just floating there. That’s Floating Browser Flux!: you can browse the web while in pretty much any app.

With FBF, you can have up to 10 browser windows open at the same time. This sounds a little crazy, but remember that FBF works on tablets, too, where you might have ample screen real estate to use those 10 windows. It also brings to the floating browser table Adobe Flash support, user agent selection, bookmarks, and even tabs.

Unfortunately, the free version of FBF only allows up to 2 windows at a time. It’s only $2 to upgrade, and many devices simply don’t have enough power to run more windows, so it’s not really a limiting factor. If you’re looking for a quick way to browse the web, Floating Browser Flux! is a very nice floating browser for you to try.

Price: Free with $1.99 “Professional” edition

Version discovered: v1.0.3

Requires: Android 1.5+

Download size: 337KB

Floating Browser Flux! on Play Store

[via AddictiveTips]

1Tap Quick Bar

You probably use your notification tray every day! It’s one of the central parts of Android, and it’s one of the easiest to access places on your entire system, second only to the home screen. But there’s so much more that you could do with it other than waste it on notifications! With 1Tap Quick Bar, you can add countless tasks to the bar with great ease.

1Tap Quick Bar adds bars of shortcuts or toggles to your notifications tray. It currently supports messages, direct dials, web page launchers, app shortcuts, emails, events, 3rd party tasks, system stuff, media control, hardware toggles, and more.

The way the developer intends to make money is a little bit funny. You can have an entire bar of buttons for free, but if you want more, you’ll have to pay. It’s $2 for 2 total bars, $3 for 5, and $4 if you want as many as your screen can hold.

If you’re looking for a way to add even more control and ease of access to your device, 1Tap Quick Bar is an awesome program to use.

Price: Free!

Version discovered: v0.91

Requires: Android 2.0.1+

Download size: 754KB

1Tap Quick Bar on Play Store

[Thanks Bao Le!]

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.

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