It’s
been a couple weeks without my iPhone, I expected withdrawals; instead,
I’m loving my new Droid. This device is powerful and when people ask
what I think, I don’t know how to respond. You’ll like your iPhone, no
doubt, but give this device a chance and you’ll go crazy over the
Motorola Droid. But this isn’t a review, we’ve already done that.

I’ve been trying to hone in on the most important and vital apps for my new Android 2.0 phone. With the help of Twitter followers and Luke, I’ve come up with a great list of top 5 Android apps for my wonderfully powerful Droid. If you enjoy this, check out our Top 3 News and Weather Apps for Motorola Droid too!

• Google Voice – [Link to Site]
  • 
  • I’ve
    been addicted to Google Voice, it saves me something like $15 to $20
    every month on texting and I can call ANY number with a secure,
    controllable line from Google. Google Voice may actually be more
    important, relevant, and usable than Google Wave. There’s so much
    potential with this technology. On an Android phone, unlike the closed
    off iPhone, you can have the Google Voice App take over all calls —
    even international ones! By taking over the device, any call that I
    make through the phone emulates my Google Voice number. No inconvenient
    Google Voice mobile website for me [on an iPhone], now I just make a
    phone call. The application transcribes my voicemails and allows for a
    visual form too. This visual system saves me yet another $2.99 —
    Verizon charges that for visual mail access.
  • Downsides: No
    messaging app support, SMS messages are not pushed (fetched at every 5
    mins — fastest rate), must have a data connection to make phone call
    through GV number.
    
• Pandora — [Link to Site]
  • 
  • This
    is nothing new, and it’s still the ultimate personalized radio. Pandora
    delivers a fantastic application and service to Android and iPhone. The
    experience is hindered by a basic ad on the bottom of the application,
    but it’s nothing compared to the ads and messages that Pandora places
    on its website. Pandora let’s you create personalized stations with a
    thumbs up/down voting system. It allows you to bookmark songs and
    artists for later viewing. The application also supports the adding and
    removal of new “stations” that can be based off of artist, song, album,
    etc.
  • Downsides:
    Advertisements on the bottom of application, improper Bluetooth support
    (doesn’t stop playing if Bluetooth headphones are disconnected), and
    still slow, despite the Droid’s processor power.
• DoggCatcher — [Link to Site]
  • 
  • There
    is no native application to download, subscribe, and listen to your
    latest podcasts. DoggCatcher is the perfect accoutrement to your
    powerful device. It comes at a price though, $6.99, which makes it one
    of the most expensive apps in the Market. In fact, it’s the only app
    that requires a purchase on this list. But it’s still well worth it and
    powerful. DoggCatcher lets you select and subscribe to your favorite
    podcasts, and unlike the iPhone (AT&T), you can download as large a
    file as you’d like. While burning through battery, it can download that
    131 MB episode of Diggnation for immediate viewing. And if you don’t
    feel like burning through battery life, you can choose to have the
    device only download new episodes on Wi-Fi and/or while being plugged
    into power. Unlike Pandora, DoggCatcher responds to disconnects from
    headphones and Bluetooth, pausing where you are.
  • Downsides:
    Price tag ($6.99), no automatic downloads despite a subscription (still
    need to queue downloads), and small selection of suggested podcasts.

• i Music — [Link to Site]
  • 
  • The
    internet has a number of ways to illegally download music. LimeWire and
    Kazaa are things of the past. So many people put music straight onto
    their websites, and it’s just a matter of finding the songs. i Music is
    a powerful music search app that finds exactly what you’re looking for.
    Looking for a Beatles song or something by Bob Dylan? Search on i Music
    and you’ll find the song. After finding the song you want, you can
    legally listen to the song or you can illegally download it to your
    Droid. This is a gray area of copyright laws, but there’s no doubt that
    downloading songs for free is still illegal. Whether you just NEED to
    hear a song once, or want to grab it for free, i Music a prime example
    of the power of open-source and spits in the face of Apple’s closed
    system.
  • Downsides:
    The user interface (UI) is hideous, ads are on the top of searches
    (making queries unintuitive), and the apps widget is appallingly simple.
• FxCamera — [Link to Site]
  • 
  • The Droid camera is finally fixed!
    But the basic camera application doesn’t leave a lot of options for
    users. That’s where FxCamera comes in. Offering basic image additions
    like the Toy Camera effect makes images look aged and artistically
    designed. Just look at my Twitter pic. FxCamera doesn’t have some of the editing features of PicSay Pro,
    but it does spruce up the the basic camera. The application simple, and
    is relatively quick at launching the camera and processing the picture
    with its effect. What’s missing is the ability to truly take over the
    camera and by default, launch the app after a picture has been taken.
  • Downsides: Doesn’t connect with the Droid camera by default, needs more effects, and could use a quicker user interface.

Runner up:

• Twidroid — [Link to Site]
  • A
    powerful Twitter client for the Droid, but still with a variety of
    faults. Twidriod is quick and actively processes new tweets in the
    background — seemingly using very little battery from what I’ve seen.
    And you always know when you have a Twidroid notification; the program
    has its own notification light, it’s a cool blue. But it doesn’t give
    users trending Twitter topics, and the app doesn’t have a proper widget
    for the Droid quite yet (free or paid).

What we still want to see:

• NPR – [Link to Site]
  
  • The public radio company has yet to produce an app for the Android
    platform. The iPhone has a beautiful application that is insanely
    powerful and convenient for users. Android users are seriously missing
    out from any solid NPR player and program. It’s the single app that I
    miss most from the iPhone.

Please comment below or Twitter us if you have any other apps that we should take a look at or we left out!