21. 3banana Notes/ Catch Notes

A simple note-taking tool that lets you sync those disjointed, late night thoughts you have together into one huge, incoherent database. If you have a Snaptic account you're able to sync the Android app with that too - or you can simply log in with your Google details for instant mobile jotting. Once written, notes may also be pinned to the home screen, creating a little post-it note-style reminder icon.

UPDATE:

3banana has undergone a name change and is now known as Catch Notes.
3banana

22. gvSIG Mini Maps

gvSIG Mini Maps is an incredibly comprehensive mapping tool which combines major online maps including Google, Bing, Open Street Map and more, which will win UK fans for one huge reason alone - it supports the official and recently open-sourced Ordnance Survey data. This means you're never more than a post code search away from seeing where you are in OS-level detail, which offers much more in the way of accurate local data than other map tools provide.
gvsig

23. Astrid Task / Todo list

Astrid describes itself as an "open source" task list, which includes syncing support with www.rememberthemilk.com for the ultimate in minutiae management. You set a list of tasks and are then able to order them according to their importance - also setting off a timer to see precisely how long you've wasted on Twitter instead of doing the job in hand. It's basically the world's most complex and in-depth personal to do list, which, if used correctly, will consume more time than the tasks themselves. Ideal for expert-level procrastinators.
astrid

24. Shareprice

Shareprice uses your login from financial site www.iii.co.uk to offer live share price updates on your Android phone. Watch your nest-egg lose 50 per cent in value every three weeks during the latest trans-global financial crisis, live! It's ideal for users with share values so low they have to be checked in private, to ensure their partner doesn't see exactly how much money has disappeared into some notional financial black hole.
shareprice

25. Skifta

Skifta is the first software tool to be granted DLNA certification, meaning it turns your Android phone into an official DLNA device. This in turn means streaming all of your household media to your phone, and beaming your phone videos to your TV. Seems a little buggy at the moment, but there are plenty of updates arriving all the time. Requires Android 2.2 or higher.
skifta
Buying Guide



Android phone

26. Dropbox

The Android version of the insanely popular stuff-syncing app has arrived, and while Dropbox is a little lacking in the sort of fancy auto-syncing options many were hoping for, it still works as expected. Files have to be specifically downloaded to your phone to be edited or shared, which is not quite the automated dream offered by the desktop tools, but it's still Dropbox on Android. Six months ago that was a distant, crazy fantasy.
dropbox

27. London Tube Status

Reduce the misery of being told you've just missed a train and it's a 14-minute wait until the next one with London Tube Status, which combines travel status updates and live departure times. It also includes a home screen widget that shows your favourite (or at least your most used) platform departures, making it easy to check how much you've just missed the next one by while tearing down the escalators.
London tube status

28. Amazon UK

Amazon recently launched an official Android app, replacing its reliance on a mobile web store. The app's very simple and fast to use, and even includes full shopping cart features with Amazon's one-click system once you've signed in with your usual account details.
amazon-uk

29. Meebo IM

If you like to pass the time exchanging smiley faces and abbreviations with your friends through instant messaging apps, you ought to get a copy of Meebo IM. It's an instant messaging aggregator, incorporating AIM, MSN, Yahoo, MySpace, Facebook, good old ICQ and more, serving everything up in one convenient interface. Typing in all your logins and passwords for everything is the only, very temporary, inconvenience.
Meebo im

30. Beelicious

If you're into the slightly last-generation social networking site Delicious, you ought to get yourself organised with one of the many third-party Android apps out there that support the bookmarking tool. Such as Beelicious, which, once you've got through the slightly cumbersome initial set-up process, lets you simply send website links to your Delicious account via the Android browser's 'Share Page' sub menu.
Beelicious

31. TweetDeck

The new star on the Twitter app scene, TweetDeck for Android is one amazing little tool. As well as presenting your timeline, DMs and replies in separate side-by-side panels that you swipe the screen to flip between, it can also pull in Facebook status updates. And mix it all in together. And it does Foursquare. And Buzz.
tweetdeck

32. iPlayer

The BBC's iPlayer app has finally arrived, and a right weird old mixed bag it is, too. On the one hand, support for streaming radio and live TV channels (Wi-Fi only) elevates this over the Android 2.2 compatible mobile website, but the requirement for Android 2.2 and Flash Player 10.1 remains. And there's no 3G streaming, not even of radio feeds. And you can't download shows, unlike in the sadly departed Beebplayer. And the radio requires the screen to be on at all times. Strange app, this.
iplayer

33. Google Reader

Google has brought its RSS feed tool into the app era, launching its Google Reader for Android. It's got some great functionality built in, with support for multiple Google accounts and plenty of thread customisation options. You're also able to use the volume rocker to page up and down between messages, which is handy for extra-lazy news assimilation.
Google reader

34. BT FON

BT's incredibly clever FON network is often a lifesaver, letting you legally borrow Wi-Fi for free in many public places. And while standing outside strangers' houses. The BT FON Android app lets you automate the sign-in process, so you can walk around towns and housing estates safe in the knowledge that your phone's always seeking out available Wi-Fi. You need a BT FON username, though, so sort that out before you venture out into the scary internet-free world.
BT fon

35. Amazon Kindle

Amazon's Kindle app is a great e-reader, which is seamlessly linked with your Amazon account. Support for magazines and newspapers is limited at the moment, with only a handful of niche publications in Android-friendly format. But for books it's great, with plenty of screen and text display options to get it looking a way that hurts your eyes the least. Another exciting new way to collect classic novels you'll probably never get around to reading because there's the internet now.
Amazon kindle

36. ES File Explorer

We're officially out-of-love with previous favourite file explorer ASTRO, thanks to it now coming plastered with ads. ES File Explorer is prettier, ad-free, and comes with a much more user-friendly and functional interface. And yes, Android users have favourite file explorers.
ES file explorer

37. Androidify

Let your hair down by creating a realistic interpretation of what you hair looks like with Androidify. It's an avatar creator that uses the Android mascot as its base, letting you swap trousers and hats with the swipe of a finger. Results are then sharable via Twitter and the usual social tools. There aren't enough types of beard, though. Please release a Beard Expansion Pack.
Androidify

38. Kongregate Arcade

Thanks to Android's Flash Player powers, casual gaming portal Kongregate is able to bring a huge number of its internet games to Android. They run in the browser so resolutions can be a bit all over the place, but with over 300 games to choose from there's bound to be something there for you.
Kongregate

39. Blogger

The Google-owned Blogger platform now has a presence in the current decade, thanks to the official Blogger app. It's remarkably simple, supports image uploads and geo-tagging and imports the settings of all blogs associated with your Gmail account. There's no fancy editing the positions of your photos, which just get chucked in at the bottom, but it works.
Blogger

40. RD Mute

RD Mute serves one purpose – to turn off all phone sounds when the Android accelerometer tells it you've picked it up and turned it over. It's a 'silent mode' shortcut for when you can't even be bothered to press a button. Put your phone on its front to shut it up – and add any very important numbers to the app's exceptions list, so people you don't mind talking to can get through.
RD mute