Today’s Apps

• live logcat lite: view logcat when booting your phone
• Tweedle for Twitter: a beautiful Android Twitter client
• Weapon Test Dummies FREE Beta: a fun, unique tower defense game

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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 dotTech to never miss an article: RSS Feed | E-mail]

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Apps for August 1, 2012

live logcat lite

With a standard Android installation, you can change your boot animation by switching out a special folder on your phone. But do you want to show off your geekdom? There’s a boot animation for that: live logcat, the only app that really shows your phone’s logs as it boots up.

Logcats are the files your system writes to as it boots up, keeping track of the various hardware statuses and notices as they appear. With live logcat, you can see these on YOUR phone. It’s really just to show off, but it could even help if you flash custom ROMs constantly and your device happens to bootloop, as you will be able to see what is holding it up.

The paid version allows you to double the size of the logcat so it’s of an actual readable size and disable the small copyright notice at the bottom of the screen. Please note that it doesn’t play well with all devices, and should definitely be tested before you purchase it.

Live logcat is a fun little app for anyone who likes to keep track of their hardware as it boots, and for anyone who just wants to show off.

Price: Free with $1.99 full version

Version discovered: v2.6

Requires: Android 2.1+

Download size: 116KB

live logcat lite on Play Store

Tweedle for Twitter

Looking for a beautiful Twitter app to replace Twitter’s own Twitter app? There are some absolutely beautiful Holo-themed Twitter apps out there now, and Tweedle is one that looks amazing. It’s not got every feature the developer wishes to add, but it’s already quite feature-complete as it is.

Tweedle follows in the footsteps of the official Twitter app both in its use of tabs to separate your timeline, mentions, and more, and in its use of pull to refresh. This leaves it as a Twitter client that’s quite easy to pick up for anyone used to the official app.

Tweedle is more than just a better-looking version of the official app, though. It has entirely customizable color themes, and future updates are planned with tweet filtering, tablet support, and even a homescreen widget. It remains to see how long you’d have to wait to get these, but it’s an already-great app that can only get better.

Price: Free!

Version discovered: v1.1.2

Requires: Android 2.1+

Download size: 1.6MB

Tweedle for Twitter on Play Store

Weapon Test Dummies FREE Beta

Looking for a new game to kill some time? Weapon Test Dummies is a free tower defense game based on upgrades, techs, and abilities. You’re CEO at an R&D company specializing in blowing stuff up.

Weapon Test Dummies starts you off with some “tech points” to spend at Geek Squad the Research Center, enabling you to pick your first turrets. However, with just these turrets you’ll still have a terrible time beating the game: you need to use your abilities.

Abilities are something Weapon Test Dummies has that not every tower defense game has. They help avoid the set-it-and-forget-it turns in most Tower Defense games by making you interact with the field during each round. You can coat your enemies in oil, for instance, enabling your flame throwers to be much more effective, or you can shatter any frozen enemies.

All in all Weapon Test Dummies is a nice tower defense game for Android. If you’re looking to add another game to your arsenal, it’s definitely one to check out.

Price: Free!

Version discovered: v1.0

Requires: Android 2.2+

Download size: 15MB

Weapon Test Dummies FREE Beta on Play Store

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.