Top 5 'Weekend-Getaway' Apps For Android

Whenever I think of a weekend getaway, it always gets me started on the movie ‘Hangover’ and how Doug gets lost (or is assumed to be lost). We’ve all had our shares of misfortunes getting lost, (me included!) but that should be the last thing you should be worried of (if ever) while going to chill outside the city on a weekend, whether its with friends, family or colleagues. That’s exactly where technology (read: Android) comes into the picture. Here it is a list of hardcore Weekend Getaway apps, a must have like your swiss-army knife or your moisturizer. Just before we get started, this is a list of apps that you will need for a short weekend getaway and not a holiday. So you may start to assume that I have already considered that you have a GPS enabled phone, with Google maps and Latitude already up and running. So load up that rucksack will ya???

5) Tricorder
Moonblink
Price - Free

So let’s get going from the bottom. Tricorder from Moonblink, is a super-tool for all geeks who are Star Trek fans (remember Spock carrying one of these?), that turns your Android phone into a multi-sensor device. It uses your phone’s real sensors to detect magnetic fields, gravity, an analysis of the local acoustic environment, the availability and strength of cellular and Wi-Fi signals and the current state of the Sun and solar wind, including current pictures of the Sun.

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This App has 6 modes (as seen of the left of the screen) -

a) GRAV: monitors the local gravitational field and acceleration (uses the phone’s accelerometer).
b) MAG: monitors the local magnetic field (uses the phone’s magnetometer).
c) ACO: acoustic analysis; waveform, frequency and sound level analysis of the ambient sound, ranging from 0 to -60 DB (uses the phone’s microphone sensors)
d) GEO: displays geographical information (uses the phone’s GPS for accurate data)
e) EMS: scans the electromagnetic spectrum for radio signals, i.e. displays cellular and WiFi signals (ideal if you are in a roaming area!)
f) SOL: displays current solar activity data – downloads current solar data in the background (may take a while although) and displays it along with current sun’s images.

Tricorder is free and the accuracy is limited to what the sensors can provide, though from what I have tested, it’s pretty accurate, but it again depends from device to device.

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4) Tesla LED Flashlight
TeslaCoil Software
Price - Free

You would have used your phone as a torch before, but this app pushes the entire concept to the next level. Tesla LED Flashlight by TeslaCoil Software, makes your phone camera flash to be used as a torch whenever required. This app was included based on the assumption that you are going trekking or camping and might not have alternate source of light after sun down. (Yeah, of course you will be carrying a torch but this one’s handy and spot-on!).

This app was probably the first torch apps made for the Nexus One, which required Android 2.2. Other Nexus One torch applications that use the camera flash required hacking the phone, also called “rooting” or “rooted” or having root access, similar to “jailbreak” in the iPhone terminology. Well, rest assured its now available free for all versions/devices of Android.

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3) Packing List
DotNetIdea
Price - Free

Ok I’ll be very honest, I have a very bad memory when it comes to my belongings, and it has happened more than once that I have forgotten basic stuff, just because I’m too lazy maintaining a checklist or have actually forgotten to take the checklist itself for the trip.

Packing list by DotNetIdeas, is just what you need in times like this. Now, you just need to check the list (already custom made), or you can add, delete and edit your itineraries as and when you require. It can go to great lengths, being quite comprehensive, for instance a 2 week holiday, where you need almost everything of your daily stuff.

It also allows you to make a list from scratch and you can simply check the categories/ items for the trip, as you pack them. A very handy and absolutely must-have app if you have an issue of leaving things behind. This app is free and can be downloaded from the Android market for all Android versions/devices.

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2) First Aid
Health Team
Price - Free

Some information is better to have rather than being clueless when the worst strikes you! Keeping this in mind, this particular app goes a long way not just to help you cope with the worst but also make you proactively act when there is no professional help around. From small bruises to cardiac arrest this tiny app has all the instructions with illustrations, videos and short texts that show you how to take the necessary action step by step and in the right order. Incidents like these can happen and it is best to be prepared, so I would also recommend going through this app first and not wait till lighting strikes you.

It has a pretty serious interface and the UI is quick, although downloading videos might take time as the back-end server is pretty slow. The features also include making emergency call, SMS and my kit. This app is highly rated and can be downloaded from the Android Market.

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1) Wheres My Droid
alienmanfc6
Price - Free

The top most app that you will ever need while traveling should serve one very specific purpose, and that is to find the phone itself if lost or misplaced. Just imagine a scenario, where you lost your phone or perhaps misplaced it (feels better!), and all you needed to do is message it to start ringing on its own? Wallah!!! That’s exactly what you get with this app.

“Where’s My Droid” is a free Android app that helps you recover your lost/misplaced/stolen phone. Whether it’s a prank played by your friends to freak you out or you genuinely manage to misplace it, this app delivers indiscriminately. It innovatively uses text messaging to achieve its purpose. You can assign a text word (attention word) which, when sent to your phone, will play the phone’s ringtone. The duration this tone will be played for, can be setup while assigning the text word. The best part of this app is that the ringtone will be played even if your phone is on silent or vibrate mode.

In case of the worst, and you might think it has been stolen, you can use the GPS function of “Where’s My Droid” too. For this, Android’s GPS should be on by default (due to Android’s latest update, apps can no longer activate GPS on user’s phones). You can assign another text word for this new method. You can text this word to your phone and obtain its coordinates (longitude and latitude) through GPS along with the link of the Google Maps image to find the phone. This, I feel is the coolest app around, for people with memory loss and those who keep forgetting their phones coordinates.

Well, this was my Top 5 list, although I have so many more apps to add to it. But I promise I will keep refreshing it from time to time. Meanwhile, I would love to hear from you what you think about these apps. Just comment or mail me (angelo.mathews@web18.in) and let me know if I have missed out on any apps. Till next week then, Stay Android!!