My 14 staple apps

I’m currently in the process of switching to Android from the iPhone. A big switch for someone like me, but I’m interested enough to give it a go…at least for a month. Then we’ll see.

One aspect of this process has been to determine what apps I absolutely need to be available on Android before I made the switch. For instance, if Evernote wasn’t available on Android then I wouldn’t even consider switching. Luckily almost everyone of them were available on both platforms so the switch has been much easier than I anticipated.

My 14 staple apps (aside from built-in apps like Mail, Calendar, Contacts, Maps, etc.):

Evernote – Definitive note-taking tool. It’s become my second brain.

Dropbox – Where I store all my files so I can locate them on any device at any time.

Flipboard – My favorite way to discover content. Here is what is on my Flipboard.

Chrome browser – Preferred mobile (and desktop) browser.

Amazon MP3 Player – Where I store my music to play on any device. Still wish it had a better desktop experience.

Pandora – Music discovery at its finest.

iTunes Podcasts – I’d happily move to another podcast ecosystem but so far haven’t found one better than iTunes. Fortunately there is an Android app that pulls directly from the iTunes library.

Path – My inner circle social network.

Hootsuite – Preferred Twitter client.

Facebook – Though I use it less than any other app on this list, still a must at this point.

Instagram – Favorite photo sharing app.

Amazon Kindle – Always been a fan.

Starbucks – Still best-in-class brand mobile app.

Fitbit – The only outlier I’ve found so far is that Fitbit does not yet sync with the Nexus 4. This hurts as I’ve really enjoyed monitoring my Fitbit progress and competing with my friends for weekly steps. But since I’m going to switch to the Galaxy S4 when it comes out, I’m willing to wait. Plus I bet the Fitbit team is working on syncing with the Nexus…right, guys?