4 Android Personalization Apps That Feed My Phone Addiction

Android is more customizable than iOS. There are plenty of settings and switches in both, but Android lets third-party apps get into the personalization game as well. Admittedly, that can go wrong: malware likes having deeper access into an operating system, and software updates often stall at the manufacturer or carrier because they have to apply all their changes to the newest version.

The downsides are worth it, though, in exchange for the privilege of making your device act exactly the way you want. A few apps have wheedled their way onto my phone with their tremendous utility and flexibility.

Nova Launcher, KWGT, Twilight, and Rotation Control icons

No, #3 has nothing to do with Obama.

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My Cheaper-Than-Free Android Tablet is Somewhat Worse Than an iPad

I like deals. Even for things I don’t especially need. So when an online retailer offered an Android tablet with several offers that would end up netting me $35, of course I jumped. I don’t regret it, but it’s not for everybody.

Hipstreet Flare 3 tablet

Just don’t get too attached to that lustrous display image. Read on.

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Charge iPad, Plan Party, and Other To-Do Items

The latest articles I’ve published this week around the wide, wide, world of web:

Girls & Mobile Operating Systems

No, I’m not reposting that old story I wrote in 2001 predicting apps, though I am linking it, apparently. What have I done for you recently, you ask?

No, You Do Not Have An Android

I tried to submit this infographic to Cracked, and it was roundly rejected by the editors:

…man it’s hard for me to imagine the readers being that mad at people who don’t always remember to put the word “phone” at the end when talking about their android phone. I think you should talk to a professional about that.

They’re probably right, but see, androids are already a thing, correct? Just not YET. And historians are going to look back and see this weird period where people talked about owning androids and be all, “Nobody owned androids then, they weren’t invented for another 50 years, WTF?” because future people talk in run-on sentences and current slang acronyms.

Anyway, click on the preview below to see the full (large) graphic.

No You Do Not Have An Android