Top Ten HTC Tools and Widgets
Top Ten HTC Tools and Widgets
One of the amazing thing about HTC’s Androids phones is that you have access to the Android market to get any number of modifications and applications for your phone. But HTC has made it easier for us by including some great tools which they have created for your phone right out of the box. These are part of the HTC Sense user interface that come on every HTC phone. For these tools, applications, and widgets there is no need to get on the market and look for replacements. Here are the top ten HTC tools that come on the Android phones that I’d highly recommend using.
- The Clock
Most phones come with a built in clock of some sort; HTC gives its users a really cool one. Of course you can go and find different clock widgets on the store but I find that HTC’s is well built, slick looking, and offers plenty of options–including one that includes the weather and another that lets you display multiple time zones for those traveling.
- Weather
The weather widget that comes with the phone is also extremely functional. It lets you set multiple locations (using the GPS to check your current location easily) and choose from multiple websites to get the weather from. The display is slick and can be viewed in one of the home screens as a widget or in a full screen application.
- Calendar
The Calendar widget is also really all you need for organizing and viewing your events. I spent some time looking at other ones (such as Pure Calendar) and found that the HTC calendar is just as functional. You can set the widget to be an agenda list or a full calendar to display on a home screen. Then the calendar itself is relatively easy to navigate and add events to. Best of all it can sync between your phone calender, your Google Calender, and Outlook extremely easy. Don’t really need anything more than that.
As a note, if you like scrolling through days with the hour-by-hour listed (much like you do with Google Calender online) go into the settings in the Calender and select “Views” then set your “Day Views” to “Time Grid”. I liked the app much better after doing this.
- Internet Browser
Again, you can grab various browsers on the market or widgets that will show your bookmarks and such–but HTC has provided an excellent browser built into the Sense UI. This browser lets you easily navigate around the Internet and keep track of your bookmarks. There is a widget with two formats to display your bookmarks on a home screen for easy access. Like any browser it keeps track of your history and will let you save passwords for easy access.
- Music Player
One of the things that was so naturally wonderful about the iPhone was that it was also an iPod. Well HTC has also made your phone into a really good mp3 player. The music player that comes on the phone is all you need to organize your music, make playlists, and play your tunes. The best thing about their music player is the way it works with their lock screen and headphone jack; when you unplug the headphones it automatically pauses the music and you can skip songs without unlocking the screen.
- Albums (Pictures)
Your phone has a great way of organizing all of your photos. It lets you load all of your photos, including ones you take on your phone and ones you load onto your SD card. The greatest part is that it also lets you easily browse your friends’ Facebook and Flickr photos right in the album program. It also includes two widgets for browsing your photos right on a home screen.
- Footprints
Of top ten HTC tools discussed this is the most unique. Footprints is a really cool app that HTC includes on the phone that will let you take pictures and geotag them with your location. You can organize these into several categories, add notes and even record voice memos. This way you can have a record of all the places you’ve been and things you’ve seen.
- IM (instant messenger)
Instant messaging on your phone is a great way to keep connected with people who aren’t near a phone. HTC provides an integrated IM program (called IM in the programs list) that will let you sign into yahoo, AIM, and Windows Live Messenger and easily respond to all your friends all times of the day.
- Messages
The old way of doing text messaging was annoying; you often couldn’t see what you last said and had to scroll through messages as individual packets. HTC’s Messaging tool automatically organizes your messaging into conversations that make it much more like an IM conversation. And this HTC tool is not only for text but also lets you easily attach and access pictures, videos, and voice messages as well as attach locations, contacts, and appointments.
- Gmail/Mail
Of course Android is a Google operating system so it has natural integration with Gmail and the program that comes on the phone is great. But for those who don’t use Gmail, HTC also provides the Mail application that lets you easily access any account with POP3/IMAP (chances are yours is). Just boot up the Mail app and either use Microsoft’s Active Sync or the POP3 selection to quickly set it up. Then you’ll have all your mail on your phone with full functionality.
