Tablified Gives You The Best Apps for Android Tablets

If you have bought a tab recently and are fed up of not finding tab specific apps in the Play Store easily, I have a good news and an android application for you. Although I still need you to go to the play store to download this tab specific app but I promise you wont feel let down if you take my advice. Tablified is a marketplace application that shows you the best apps for android tablets available in Play Store. This app can be downloaded from the Play Store for free and can be used instantly.

Tablified presents the applications that have been specifically designed for the tablets in the same way as presented by the Google Play Store. The front screen shows the featured applications with Google adverts at the bottom (I dont have a clue why devs think people will click those). Anyway, coming back to tablified, there is a drop down menu at the top which you can use to navigate to the games or the apps section. So I went to my favorite 'Game' section and waited for the application to load. Honestly the load time was way too high for any application but the final results were really impressive. After watching all the game tiles on the main page I started looking for categories and it took me a few swipes and taps to find where these were. I guess the idea was to make them appear when the users swipe the screen to the right but it does not happen. Instead the categories appear when you press the Games Icon on the top left (Tablified app icon on home screen). The categories are limited but that is because we do not have many developers into tablets at the moment and hence the number of applications is much less than that of smartphones. Also there is a search button at the top which is of very little help since you do not have any freaking idea what to search for. Because if you had, you would have been using Play Store and not Tablified. Now as you click on the search box, you are presented with 4 filters which are available in Pro version. Since I am the kind who likes to test the apps before buying them I do not think I'll be posting the reviews of the pro version unless I use the basic version for a week or so and find it really useful. But again this a totally personal opinion. Coming back to the Tablified, now when you click an application, the download/buy option appears and the look and feel of the page is simply awesome. The nature of the page is almost same as that in play store with a few screenshots, a buy button on the right followed by description, ratings and reviews.

To conclude this post, I would suggest anyone with a tablet to get this application and support the devs by buying the pro version if you like the basic one. The applications are beautifully presented within the app and the user experience is very rich except a few tweaks that I think are a must and will enhance the experience. Tablified undoubtedly introduces you to the best apps for android tablets.

Best Android Keyboard

When it comes to typing on touchscreen, the default keyboard in Android is a let down. Although some of the manufacturers like Samsung have managed to provide a better keyboard in their devices but most of the manufacturers have still not laid any stress on improving the writing experience. Thanks to the big screens and feature rich environment provided by Android, android tablets and phablets are slowly replacing the mini-laptops. Apart from these 2 reasons, another reason that contributes to growing demand and popularity of tablets is the portability factor. These slim cardboard like equipment are so easy to carry and work on that you would prefer them for internet and email and even blogging on the go. I have been writing and preparing large documents and blog posts on my tablet and have tried almost every other keyboard application available in the Play Store. Here are the few things you should consider while investing in a keyboard application for your Android phone/tablet.

1) Do you really need it?
While most of the people do not perform heavy typing on their smartphones, these phones have become a part of the life for others. If you spend a lot of time on your phone typing stuff and messages and are not really comfortable with the current layout of the keyboard, you definitely need a android keyboard application. The best android keyboard for you will be one that suits all your needs.

2) Type or Slide?
The latest fad in the keyboard application is the slide feature. This means that you do not need to lift you finger from the keyboard while typing. Although this increases the flow and is fun but in my honest opinion it is a bit slower than typing (conventional way of using a keyboard). If you are looking for a typing kind of a keyboard, the best android keyboard is the Go keyboard which is available for free in the Play Store. But if you like the idea of not lifting up your hand from the keyboard and want to get rid of constant screen tapping, slide kind of keyboard is for you. There are many android keyboards that fall under this category and perform a similar function. The two that I would suggest is the Swype Keyboard or the SwiftKey Keyboard.

3) Use it on your phone or tablet?
After selecting the type of the keyboard, you need to figure out if you would be using the application on your smartphone, tablet or phablet? If you are using it on your smartphone (screen size being less than 5"), you do not need worry much about the keyboard you are going to buy. But in case, you are buying one for the tabley/phablet (screen size more than 5"), you need to understand that when you hold the tablet in the landscape mode, the keys/buttons in the middle part of the screen are practically impossible to reach unless you have long fingers or make adjustments in the way you hold the tablet which can be a pain and reduce the ease of use. Thus the best android keyboard for a tablet would be one which understands this problem and adjusts the keys in this manner. For this same reason, I am using SwiftKey Keyboard which moves the keys on the sides and the middle stays empty thus allowing you to keep on typing non-stop. Another good alternative for SwiftKey application is the Thumb Keyboard. It also solves the problem by moving the keys on the side while displaying the keys that you do not need much in the middle.

4) Try before you buy
The competition forces in the market are good for the consumers. There are so many keyboards available in the play store that most of the developers are providing a limited time free version of their keyboard application. This makes sure that you get to try the best android keyboards in the play store before you buy them. The trial period is usually 7 days but it may vary depending upon the developer. I would suggest you to try 2 or 3 different android keyboard applications and find the best one for yourself.

Conclusion
Before you invest your money into any keyboard application, I would strongly suggest you to try atleast 3 keyboard applications. While an application might work like a charm for me and my device, it might fail to impress you or may lag on your device and hence not perform as expected. Slide kind of keyboards are in at the moment but I am still waiting for the ones that will recognize handwriting. It will make typing and tapping so much easier.

If you have any queries or suggestion, feel free to comment below.

I love Jellybeans

With the onset of the Google I/O 2012, Android supporters and developers got a jellybean bag of reasons to be happy and party. A major update of the Android OS was announced at the conference in the morning keynotes. The latest version Android 4.1 has been sweetly named Jellybean. Although the OS will be available in the devices from mid of July this year but the SDK is already available for download. Developers are already downloading the upgrade and making use of it to upgrade their apps and adding new features to the apps.

• What to watch out for in the Jellybean?
• Android 4.1 will be faster and smoother than any of the older version.
• New API will let you handle gestures and add actions accordingly.
• Explore by touch and Talkback have been redesigned for better accessibility.
• Support for traditional arabic and hebrew writing styles (right to left)
• New and improved Notifications. Apps can  now be configured to show customized notification including rich text, photos and more.
• Users will now be able to re-size the widgets as per their want and need. The default fixed sizes of the widgets are out. This is one important update, every user needed.

There is a lot more you can expect from this update. A lot more will pop up when developers dive deep into the codes of this new update and unleash the complete power of this jelly monster. It would be interesting to see, how developers exploit the new features and the final products that come up. My only concern are the advertisements appearing in the notifications. Customizable notifications may lead to bigger and richer ads which is totally unwanted.

Time to update Google Maps App

Suppose you are visiting London (and not a Londoner), and you do not have a map but just your android device and you want to find the movie theaters nearest to you. How do you do it? Most of the people would say "use a wifi or data pack on my android to power Google Maps". Now lets make this problem a bit more complex. There is no public wi-fi nearby, you do not have any talk time money left in your SIM, now how do you reach it?