Companies that should have Apps and don't--How to work around...

Even though Apple leads Android in shear number of devices, there have been a lot of pretty charts and graphs released lately that plot Android as the fastest growing mobile OS out there right now. With many developers jumping in the race to get their App recognized in the Android Market while it's still prepubescent. With the data clear, I am still surprised why many large companies are so late or missing the game completely in getting an app to market. That being said I have found a few obvious omissions of apps and the best 3rd-party work arounds. If I have missed any, blast 'em off in the comments or hit us up on Twitter.

LinkedIN
For being a large tech company which neighbors the Googleplex, but also strives to reach and network users, LinkedIn only has an iPhone app available for download. Android is also slowly climbing the corporate ladder, so this could be a useful app if it were released and integrated into the contacts in Android.

Work-Around:So, I have tried three of the most popular LinkedIn Apps on AppBrain that have been developed by 3rd parties. And to put it bluntly, no one is quite there yet. But, the best bet that I have found is ConnectIn. The reason why is because ConnectIn strives to integrate your LinkedIn contacts with your phone contacts like the Facebook or Twitter apps do. It's not quite polished though, as was witnessed many times by the profiles disappearing and then re-appearing after a lengthy contact sync in the app. I also paid $1.99 for this one which is in hopes of more updates coming out soon.

Your Bank
There are only a handful of banks that have apps and even fewer credit unions. By far the best one is the USAA mobile, of which I am not a member. However, a quick glance in the market shows that other banks are coming out with their own, just very slowly.

Work-Around:
Mint. When it comes to finances you have be careful whom you trust, especially when it comes to apps. So for now the best alternative besides a dedicated bank app for your finances is Mint, which we have reviewed.

NETFLIX

This is another great example of a company with the muscle to push out a decent Android app and hasn't. While claims are being made that an app is on the way, we are still left browsing the market for other solutions.

Work-Around
Luckily there are several and one that has caught our eye is PhoneFlicks-Netflix, which provides you with a pretty close version of what you can do on the real site, except of course streaming. This is a sad time when your Apple buddies have a leg up on you. One of the most popular apps on the market right now, Flixter, also has integrated Netflix support, so you can add recently released DVDs to your Netflix Queue within the app. Neither of these is an adequate replacement for a true Netflix app with streaming capabilities.

And while we are talking about movies, another company that could obviously use its own app is RedBox. Despite having an "optimized" web page, it still struggles. I have purchased the app Redboxer for $1.99, and I've been very impressed with it. If RedBox doesn't come out with its own app, it should just buy up Redboxer from the developer and improve upon it. Please feel free to share any other suggestions or ideas with us so that we can help eachother optimize our devices and experience.

That is all.