Top 100 Android apps

Google's Android has had a huge year, and with the mobile phone operating system finding its way into more and more hands, there's no better time to collect our favourite 100 apps.

This list is a mixed collection of games and tools, most of which we use often. We've added links through to Appbrain.com, an excellent Android Market aggregate, which can sync apps wirelessly with your phone if you sign up and follow the instructions.

Doom Live Wallpaper — free
An awesome Doom-themed animated wallpaper that uses surprisingly little battery.

Flood-It! — free
A simple, but addictive game of transforming a mosaic of colour into a single colour in a limited number of turns.

Bonsai Blast — free
Sort of like Bubble Bobble with a twist, Bonsai Blast is well worth a look.

WordUp! — free
No list of top apps would be complete without one word game, this is ours.

Slice It! — free
Slice the shape with your finger to create the set number of completely equal shapes.

4 teh birds — free
Similar to PopCap's Chuzzle, your goal is to create groups of three by revolving the groupings of colourful birds.

Flick Kick Football — US$0.99
Practice your field goals using only your finger. A new take on the classic Paper Toss.

Angry Birds — free
Need we say more? The mobile gaming phenomenon is so much sweeter on Android thanks to its free price tag.

Flick Kick Rugby — US$0.99
Soccer's not your game? Try Flick Kick Football with a rugby twist.

Reckless Racing — US$2.99
One of the best games on Android right now, Reckless Racing is fast-paced and beautiful to look at.

Fruit Ninja — US$0.99
Still probably our favourite mobile game, Fruit Ninja is a fun game designed specifically for phones.

MiniSquadron! — US$2.99
Pilot a range of planes against waves of varied baddies, MiniSquadron is all dare-devil stunts and fast-paced dogfights.

Skies of Glory— US$4.99
Skies of Glory offers a more realistic simulation for those who like more control over their aerial battles.

Drop7 — US$2.99
Rarely do maths and fun appear in the same sentence, but Drop7 has both in spades. Think Connect4 for smart people.

Flee — US$1.37
Flee is a real blast from the past, recreating the classic "game and watch"-style handheld video games perfectly.

Magic Doodle Premium — US$1.85
Fancy yourself a bit of an artist? Magic Doodle has all the tools you need for truly amazing finger painting.

SwiftKey Keyboard — US$3.99
If you don't have a phone with Swype pre-installed you'll want to check out SwiftKey Keyboard.

Lonely Planet Trippy — free
Planning a long trip in exotic locales? Trippy can help you plot out your steps before you take them.

Aldiko Book Reader — free
The original Android ebook reader, Aldiko is still an excellent app for reading on your Android.

Kindle for Android — free
If you want access to the growing Amazon ebook library, the Kindle app for Android will open that door for you.

Lyrics App — free
Are you tired of singing "Blinded by the light, wrapped like a goose, another chicken in the night?" Lyrics App can help.

Music Mod (Froyo Only) — free
Let's face it, the Android music app is pretty bland. Froyo users can spice it up with this funky, free app.

TalkDroid Messenger BETA — free
There's a dozen IM clients on the market, we like TalkDroid.

APNdroid — free
Take control of your 3G connection with a handy home screen widget that allows you to turn 3G on and off.

Zedge Ringtones & Wallpapers — free
The best part about Android is customising its look and feel. Zedge is a huge library of assets to help you make it your own.

Free Running — free
Like Canabalt and Robot Unicorn, Free Running is a one-button thrill ride of a game.

Fast Reboot — free
There are a dozen good reasons to reboot your phone and no easy way to do it without Fast Reboot.

DoggCatcher Podcast Player — US$6.99
Our pick for the best podcaster. Not only does it keep your subscriptions up-to-date, but it helps you discover new shows to listen to.

Phonebook 2.0 — free
A phone book replacement with a very pretty look and feel.

WoW Droid Armory — free
Have you worked hard for your level 70 Warlock and want to show him off? Then look no further than WoW Droid Armory.

Adobe Photoshop Express — free
Somewhere between a basic photo filter tool and Photoshop Express for your phone. A decent app for tweaking your pics.

SketchBook Express — free
If you know what CAD is you'll want Autodesk's Android app.

Where's My Droid — free
You don't need to be mugged to need an app that helps you find your phone under the cushions on the sofa.

Ringdroid — free
Import, edit and create your own ringtone using any MP3 audio file.

Frozen Bubble — free
If Bonsai Blast is like Bubble Bobble, then this is a blatant rip-off, and no less fun for it.

Connect 4 — free
You know the game, now play it on your Android.

Google Reader — free
If, like us, you check Google Reader everyday, this app is indispensable.

Space Man — free
As it is with most things in life, the goal of Space Man is to not get crushed.

Trism Halloween — free
When it comes to mobile, it's often the simplest games that are the best.

Angel Piano — free
A quirky app, Angel Piano is one part Rock Band and one part piano tutorial.

SwitchPro Widget — US$0.99
Not just for control freaks, SwitchPro is a must-have tool for all Android owners.

Chandroid: /b/rowser — US$2.99
B-tards beware, Chandroid is bound to lure you into wasting even more time on 4chan.

iSyncr for PC — US$2.99
Sync the music on your PC with your Android phone wirelessly.

TED — free
Be inspired by the moving and often jaw-dropping presentations at TED.

No Lock — free
Are you sick of unlocking your phone? No Lock brings your phone to life without that old "swipe to unlock".

Neocore — free
There isn't an Android phone that crosses our desks that we don't install Neocore on to test its 3D capabilities.

Quadrant Standard Edition — free
Far less pretty than Neocore, but just as important for testing the power of your phone.

Fancy Widget — free
This app replicates the excellent HTC Sense weather clock, but offers a range of ways to customise it.

Beautiful Widgets — US$2.04
A group of widgets to beautify your phone, including a clock, weather and over 250 skins.

LauncherPro — free
Tired of your home screen? Try LauncherPro for a completely new look and feel across all of your home screens.

Pure Calendar widget (agenda) — US$2.04
Most people will agree that the default Android calendar widget sucks. This widget is a huge improvement.

PicSay Pro - Photo Editor — US$4.10
Not just for adding goofy speech bubbles, PicSay Pro is an excellent photo editor.

Vignette — US$3.93
Perhaps try photo editing as you take your photos, rather than after. Vignette has a range of awesome photo filters and styles.

Retro Camera — free
Much the same as Vignette, but free and with a seriously cool-looking interface.

TweetDeck — free
You could download Facebook, Twitter, Google Buzz and Foursquare separately, or you could do them all in TweetDeck instead.

WordPress — free
The best blogging needn't happen in front of a computer. You can blog on the run with the WordPress Android app.

Google Sky Map — free
Astronomy and augmented reality, what else could you want in an app?

RockPlayer Universal — free
RockPlayer uses software encoding to play all those DivX and XviD files that your Android wouldn't normally play.

Tuner - gStrings — free
Cheeky name, very handy tool for all musos.

Urbanspoon — free Looking for the best bite to eat around? Urbanspoon's extensive database of restaurant reviews will point you to the best nosh.

ES File Explorer — free
Between ES File Explorer and Astro you have two excellent choices for file managers. We use ES.

Winamp — free
The classic PC music app now on Android.

Official eBay Android App — free
A full-featured window to eBay, you can browse and buy to your heart's content.

Dropbox — free
Our pick of the numerous cloud storage apps available.

Pocket Legends (3D MMO) — free
A huge leap forward in mobile gaming, Pocket Legends is a fully-fledged massively multiplayer online role-playing game.

IMDb Movies & TV — free
What's the name of that guy, with the hair, in the movie, with that other guy? IMDb knows.

GetGlue — free
Imagine Foursquare for books, movies and games and you have GetGlue.

Facez (beta) — free
Replace the lacklustre Facebook widget with one that contains so much more information.

DroidIris — free
Turn the web into a 3D gallery of images.

CPR•Choking — free
You never know when your CPR skills will be tested, so it might be wise to have this app on hand.

Epicurious Recipe App — free
Loads of yummy recipes at your fingertips.

Sudoku — free
Another must-have app for any smartphone.

Smiley Pops — free
A fun game of matching colours, like Bewjewelled but with friendly-faced bubbles.

Virtual Recorder — free
A versatile audio recorder with multiple file outputs.

Go SMS — free
An SMS client replacement with a swag of features you won't find in the stock Android.

Skyfire Web Browser 3.0 — free
An alternate web browser that loads pages on a remote server for speed and lower data costs to you.

Appsfire — free
Find the latest and greatest on the Android Market with Appsfire, which has lists from Android experts.

doubleTwist AirSync — US$4.99
Show up iTunes-loving iPhonies with this excellent music-syncing tool.

Tapatalk Forum App (Pro) — US$2.96
The best and easiest way to check out all of the online forums you subscribe to.

AppAware - Find Hot Apps — free
Follow app trends to discover the next big game or productivity tool.

Battle.net Authenticator — free
Protect your Battle.net credentials with this handy app.

TripView Beta — free
The most attractive Sydney train timetable, now on Android.

Tank Hero Beta — free
A great game with good controls designed for the more powerful Androids.

Handcent SMS — free
The original SMS client replacement is still probably our favourite.

Grooveshark — free
Like a personalised radio, Grooveshark streams the music you want to listen to.

BattStatt Free — free
An attractive widget displaying your remaining battery life in words.

Alchemy — free
A fun game of combining elements to create incresingly complex objects and concepts.

Grill Guide — free
With summer on the way and the BBQs rolling out around Australia, the Grill Guide can help you get it right.

Google Goggles — free
Search the web with a picture you have taken and translate foreign words into a language you understand.

Jorte — free
Perhaps Android's best journaling tool.

SMS Backup — free
Unles you're Warney, you'll probably want to hang on to old text messages.

City Jump — free
Doodle Jump plus superheroes equals a lot of fun.

CacheCleaner Legacy — free
If you find your system is getting bogged down, cleaning your cache may help.

Fling — free
A simple, fun game with loads of replay value.

Desktop Visualizer — free
Apply your own icons to apps and folders.

Evernote — free
Had a great idea or you've seen an awesome website? Save it for later with Evernote.

Shazam — free
The original and best music recognition app.

Remote Notifier — free
With a little setting up you can get message notifications sent from your phone to your desktop computer.

Clockr — free
Like BattStatt, Clockr is a widget that displays the time in an attractive font.

Apps Organizer — free
After downloading 99 of the apps we've listed here, you'll probably need something like this.