UP TECH: My Top Android Apps

This one is for all you Android Phone users who want to know my top list of Android apps to download from the Google Play App Store (formerly the Android Market)

This list is my list of Android Apps that I cannot do without. Here we go: 

Social and Communication:

HandCent SMS: This application has come a far way from when it started years ago. This app essentially replaces your stock Text Messaging app to incorporate a plethora of new features. Some of the better more defined ones are quick reply and replying with voice. If you text a lot, this app is definitely for you.

Trillian: This app is great for anyone who has more than one Instant Messaging account that they use on a regular basis. This app allows you to consolidate all your instant messaging accounts, whether you have 2 or 20, into one location, grouping your contacts from each account in many different ways, and keeping a single tab open for each conversation you have open. Compatible with just about any method of Instant Messaging, this app is a must have for the IM Enthusiast.

Google Voice: This app requires you to have a Google Voice account, but since you already have an Android Phone, you are already that much closer to getting a Google Voice. Google voice gives you your own phone number, as well as the ability to text and make phone calls from your computer. Another great feature of Google Voice is that, once it's properly configured (and it isn't very hard to configure), it can act as a Visual Voicemail service with Speech-to-text (STT) abilities for you phone! This is normally a paid service through your service provider and even then, You're lucky if that service comes with STT capabilities.

Media: 

Pandora: If you don't know about Pandora already, you're in for a treat. Any music enthusiast out there has had that moment when you know you love a certain artist, but are someone tired of hearing them, but really don't want to move onto a different sound. Here's where Pandora comes in. You put in any artist or song you can think of, and it starts pumping out songs with similar sounds and tastes of the song or artist you put in. Fine tune it even more with like and dislike buttons that allow you to tell Pandora what you think of what it chose.

Spotify: You'll quickly find out with Pandora that it lacks one key feature; the ability to listen to any particular song on demand. That's where Spotify comes in. Spotify's free app is basically just a media player for music you have on your device, but if you pay for the Spotify Premium membership (measly 10 bucks a month. Don't drink 3 lattes in a month and you're golden), Spotify turns into your all-inclusive portal to any and every song you can possibly imagine. It has an ever-growing database of music, and it's all right at your fingertips.

Photoshop Express: From the amazing creators of the sister program designed for desktops, Adobe released this app for free on the Google Play App Store, and photophiles everywhere couldn't be happier.  This app allows you to do everything from adjusting brightness and sharpness, to cropping and redeye fixes, adding effects and color tweaks to blur and borders. This app is great for anyone who enjoys tweaking their picture collection around and making them shine.

Audible: This one is for you Audio Book Junkies like myself. Audible is your source for acess to all your audiobook needs. Not only can it give you access to millions of titles in its large database, it also has an extremely functional Audiobook player built right in, and the best part? Sign up for their monthly membership and you get one free book a month! Monthly membership is around 8 bucks a month, and the average book price that I've recieved is 30. Quite the savings if you look at the long run, and completely worth it.

Games:

Angry Birds Space: The crazy slingshot bird are at it again, except this time in space! This game is exactly like the others in its series, except it throws in a new concept: Gravity and Orbits. Take to the stars while trying to save your asteroid eggs from the space pigs. 

Cartoon Wars: This is an epic twist between a real-time strategy and a tower defense game. Save up mana and create your stick-figure minions to take out the color army and their crazy armada of colorful creatures, all the while sending a bombardment of arrows their way.  Great game, hours of time spent playing this.

Dragon Fly: Both in a free and paid flavor, this game is a great casual, one button controlled game. You are a baby dragon that can't quite fly, but are extremely good at gliding. Use the contour of the land to get distance, collect diamonds and get as far away from the mother dragon before she catches up to you and brings you back home to the nest.

Draw Something: Again in both paid and free flavors, this is pictionary on the go! You draw something, send it off to your friend who then guesses it, or tries to (hope your drawing skills are up to par), then they draw something for you to guess. Think words with friends, pictionary style. For every correct word guessed you get 1 - 3 coins, based on the word difficulty. Build up coins to unlock more colors to use during the game! Invite friends from facebook and twitter to join you in the fun!

Now I know I missed quite a few different apps and tools. What are some of your favorite apps from the Google Play store? Why not let me know in the comments!