The Android Project Reviews: The Best Video Player for Android - RockPlayer

One of the biggest issues I have with Android is the lack of an all-in-one media player. Unfortunately the native video player that is built into the OS is severely lacking and only plays a few different video formats. Until somebody comes out with a media player that can play both music and videos, we'll have to make due with what we've got.

I've used quite a few different video apps on the market, and I've been disappointed by every one of them... until now. I downloaded the free version of an application called RockPlayer and gave it a try. It plays almost everything I've thrown at it. According to the developer's website, RockPlayer is an embedded platform, high-performance all-format video player. And I don't disagree with that. The developer says that RockPlayer can handle the following formats: avi mkv rmvb mp4 mov wmv asf wma wav mpg ts mpa dvd au mp3 mid ivf aiff ogm ogg cda flic d2v aac roq flac drc dsm swf pls pmp. As you can see, there's not much it can't handle. There's no more need to transcode your video files before putting them on your phone.

One of the disadvantages to RockPlayer is the price, and the fact that you can't purchase it straight from the Android Market. Although the free version works fine, it is ad supported and there is a red "R" in the top left-hand side of the screen, which may bother some people. So to purchase the app, you have to go to the developer's website and pay $9.99, which is pretty steep compared to most of the apps in the market. But if you find yourself watching a lot of videos that aren't supported by the native Android video player, I highly recommend you purchase this app.

For me, I give the RockPlayer app an 8 on the gotta-have-it scale. I can't stand having to transcode .avi files before transferring them to my Droid. So this app is well worth it. Go ahead and give it a try and let me know what you think in the comments!

The Android Project Reviews: FlightTrack

*Editor's Note: Work has kept me so busy that I haven't had much time to update this blog with any new reviews. However, my buddy Keltose, who is as much a lover of Android as I am, has written a review of an app for the site. I'm hoping he will continue to contribute to the site in the future.

Category: Utility

Price: $4.99

Gotta-have-it-factor: 5

Developer: Mobiata

There are a number of Flight Tracking apps out there, and most are free with ad-support.  However, FlightTrack offers several features that the others don’t, making the $4.99 worth it for a frequent traveler or someone who is frequently picking up people (like your boss) from the airport. 

There was one time I had to pick up my boss and I loaded his flight info into the app.  As I was waiting for him, I got an alert that his flight was delayed by 20 min.  Shortly after that, I got a SMS from him stating just that.  I contemplated replying with: “No worries, my awesome Android Phone just told me that 5 minutes ago.”, but refrained.   The map feature is one that the other free apps don’t have and will refresh almost in real time as the plane travels.  I knew my boss had landed before he had time to text me. 

This app is also useful when keeping track of flight times through the widget, which will update you on gate changes or delays.  In the past, I would try putting my flight on my calendar but when I switch time zones the flight times get all messed up because the calendar tries to keep the time based on where you made the appointment.  The flight widget is really helpful in this regard.

 

The gotta-have-it factor is only a 5 because the average person doesn’t really need it.  But if you fall into one of the categories of frequently picking up people from the airport or traveling a lot, then I would give it an 8.  The comments on the app market page are mixed, but I am running this app on an unrooted N1 with Android 2.2 and had no issues with inaccurate data or crashing widgets to date.

The Android Project Review: Profile Android App

Category: OS functionality
Price: $0.99
Gotta-have-it factor: 7

Developer: noimjosh

This is another application that has made my Android OS usage a bit easier. It seems like there’s about 30 different volumes and notification settings to adjust in Android, along with wifi and bluetooth settings. The Android OS doesn’t make it easy for one to access all of these settings quickly. So every morning when I got to work, I found myself fumbling through several menus trying to find the volume and wifi settings to change them. It always seemed like the media volume was the one that I found the most difficult to change. I would have nightmares that my buddy would send me his latest “funny video” called “Do it for Slayer” and I would accidentally open it right before my boss walks in. I also couldn’t find a widget that would quickly silence the media volume. I though about purchasing the Locale Android application, but I have read too many negative reviews about its reliability.

Then I stumbled on the Profile Android App. Profile allows you to create different settings “profiles” (obviously) for different situations. I set up profiles called Home and Work, and there were predefined profiles for Silent and Vibrate. In each of these profiles you can select separate volumes for your ringer, media and notifications. Each profile also has a wifi and bluetooth switch. Another cool option is the time setting. I can set Profile to switch to my Work profile between 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and my Home profile after 6:00 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays. I also have a Sleep profile set for 11:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.

I keep Profile as one of the links in my Bar Control application (see my review of Bar Control here) so I can access it quickly. The developer also seems to be very active and updates the app frequently.

One of the major negatives to Profile is that it is a paid app. You can purchase it for $0.99. There are probably other apps out there that can do close to what Profile does, but I haven’t found them. I think Profile is worth the money I paid for it. Another negative is that I haven’t quite figured out the timer settings. It seems like once you change one of your volumes from the currently active profile setting, it deactivates the timer. Also, my life doesn’t always fit within the predefined settings I have chosen for the time settings. So when I’m at work past 6:00 p.m., I have to make sure my Sir Mix-a-Lot ringtone doesn’t go off accidentally.

Other than those minor quibbles, I highly recommend the Profile Android application.