There are a lot of things going on in my life : Internship at Google, Wes getting a full-time job at Google, moving to CA, having to go back to Blacksburg without my husband until I finish my PhD, working on my dissertation....etc. Life is crazy, and I’m really stressed. Also, I have been horrible about blogging about all of these experiences. However, one itsy bitsy change in my life has been a switch from iPhone to Android. So I figure I’ll start with a blog post on that and work my way to the bigger life changes as I go.

Why we switched from iPhones to Androids:

Wes and I both got the iPhone 3G phones when they came out two years ago. This involved a switch to smart-phones from our previous non-smart phones, and a switch to AT&T from Verizon. Lately our iPhones had gotten ridiculously slow and frustrating to use (as two year old phones often do), and AT&T has horrible coverage where we are living now in Mountain View, CA. So a change was needed. Since we didn’t want to use AT&T anymore, we just had to switch away from iPhone. (No hard feelings Apple, we still love our macs!) Also, since we are both Googlers now (him for the foreseeable future, me for the next two weeks) we decided to support the home team and go with Android. The resulting purchase was with T-Mobile (awesome coverage here) and the Samsung Vibrant (aka. Galaxy S).

Things I love about my new Android:

1.) You can run apps in the background - I love that I can have facebook, twitter, or some other app downloading the new updates, switch over to check my email or some other task, and switch back to the apps I left loading and everything is ready for me.

2.) More apps are free - several of the apps I paid $0.99 on iPhone are for free on Android. I attribute this to the low cost for developers to get their apps to the market. Actually, I’ve nearly replaced all of the apps I used to have on my iPhone on my Android without paying a penny yet.

3.) I can use App Inventor! - As many of you know, I’ve been working with the App Inventor team at Google this summer, and I love making silly and stupid apps for my personal amusement. Now I can have my very own (and very cheesy) “Draw on Marbles” app on my personal phone. (Marbles is my cat, in case you didn’t know.)

4.) Customizable backgrounds, widgets, and UI - with the Android you can customize your background with static or “live” backgrounds, change the UI with different launchers (I hear LauncherPro is a good one), and include different widgets for fast news, weather, or social updates.

Things I miss about my iPhone:

1.) Finding quality apps easily - the Android market is okay, but the App Store just seemed to be easier to search through and find nice apps on. I’ve actually been searching for good Android apps online before I go look for them specifically in the market.

2.) Easy syncing with my mac - the iPhone would automatically sync up my calendar and music with my mac every time I connected it. Now I have to sync up a lot of my files manually, since the Android just comes up as an external drive when I connect it to my laptop. (UPDATE: After posting this on my blog my good friend Bob Lilly recommended DoubleTwist to me. My syncing woes are over! Hooray!)

3.) Some of my favorite apps aren’t on the Android - Specifically, the The Best Camera app and the Groundspeak Geocaching app are not available on Android. I’m making do with some poor substitutes but I hope they release Android versions soon!

Favorite Android Apps so far (and are also all free):

For Geocaching - c:geo - Like I said, I paid good money ($7.99!!) for the Groundspeak Geocaching app on my iPhone. It was by far the best geocaching app I’ve used so far. But a close approximation  on the Android is c:geo. C:geo is free and has all the same features as the Groundspeak app, but it could definitely use an interface redesign and better functionality for logging visits to geocaches.

For Managing To-Do Lists - Astrid Tasks: I love a good to-do list. Whenever I feel overwhelmed, I make a to-do list. Astrid Tasks lets you enter your to-do list items with priority levels, due dates, and additional notes. It’s a no fuss, nice UI, to-do list manager.

For Managing Grocery Lists - Grocery IQ: I am very happy that the grocery list app I had on my iPhone is available for free on my Android - Grocery IQ. It keeps track of your lists for multiple types of stores, saves your favorite products, and keeps track of your purchasing history.

For Calculating Tips - Tippy Tipper: For some reason, I am horrible at calculating tips. I got a minor in mathematics and straight A’s in all my calculus classes, but calculating 18% of a total is an error prone process for me. So I just use Tippy Tipper - simple, easy to use, easy to adjust, tip and total calculator.

For Looking Up Movie Times - Flixster: I used to have the Fandango app, but I find the Flixster app much better for finding movies at your local movie theatre. You can keep track of your favorite theaters, locate the closest one to you, or search for theaters showing a particular move you want to see.

For looking up nearby points of interest - Places: Places is an app just released with the latest update of Maps by Google. Places makes it way easy to search for nearby points of interest like restaurants, museums, bars, ATMs, and everything else you may want to find.

Some other cool apps I enjoy playing with are Google Sky Map, Google Earth, Goggles, and Layar. Also, I haven’t used the new Voice Commands app but I’m looking forward to playing with it. As I start playing with my phone more, I’m sure I’ll find other ones that are useful and interesting. Anyone have Android apps to recommend? Feel free to email me with your suggestions, or mention them on twitter addressed to @megak.