Amazing Location-Aware Apps For Android. Android is already a mature operating system for mobile devices, which is amazing considering it has been released for the general public only a year ago. Since then, it has gone through many versions, all of which have brought countless improvements and new features for the users.
Today, you can get a great looking mobile power house of a smartphone running on Android, which is able to do everything you want, from playing movies and music to surfing the Web (very comfortably, I’d say), emailing people and even streaming live video to the Internet.
And of course, the number of things you can do with an Android phone is constantly increasing. Some of the latest fads are location-aware apps, which are just that, applications that know where the phone is located in the real world. This brings about some pretty interesting and useful opportunities, like being able to travel to a destination more easily or set your phone to silent mode when you’re at the office. Here are just a few of the best location aware apps for Android that you can get on the marketplace.
1. Tasker
Tasker is the best app for location-specific phone automation. Using your GPS, you can create various profiles and actions that would activate and deactivate when you are in or near a specific location. For example, you can set Tasker to turn on airplane mode when you enter an airport, start some apps when you get home (an RSS reader or some web sites, for example), alert you when you’re near the location where you need to go (useful when traveling) and do many other things.
The complexity of the profiles depends on your ability to create them. The only drawback of this app is that it shortens battery life, because it uses the GPS and processor quite a lot.
2. Locale
Locale android app has pretty much the same idea as Tasker – it lets you create tasks and profiles in that depend on your location. The difference is that it’s simpler to use, has a relatively nicer interface and less features. If you’re new to Android or don’t want to get into programming languages, then you might be better off with Locale instead of Tasker.
3. FourSquare
Foursquare is a pretty innovative location-aware service that lets you play in a virtual world that depends on the real one. It’s pretty difficult to explain, and you have to try it out to understand what it is all about. It’s not only about games, either.
You can view useful information about the surrounding buildings and businesses, find what good restaurants, hotels and pubs there are around, as recommended by real users, see who’s around, so you can maybe meet them or they can help you.
4. GeoLife
GeoLife is similar to the above apps, except it’s more targeted towards a specific goal: creating To Do lists based on your location. For example, you can create and set a reminder for buying milk when you’re near a grocery store, reminder to unplug the iron when you leave your house, and other similar tasks. This is very useful when you have a lot of things to do and tend to forget when you need them done.
5. Layar
With Layar, digital “layers” are displayed on your smartphone’s camera view, enhancing your view of the real world. Experience the world in a whole new way as links, videos and more help you interact with and learn more about objects and locations around you.
I’m sure we’ll see even more great location aware apps for Android (and other mobile operating systems, of course) in the near future, as more and more services are starting up and becoming wide spread.
The above apps are pretty great for demonstrating the potential of what your phone can do if it can be aware of its surroundings, and you should definitely try them out when you get the chance.
Great apps. Thanks for sharing these apps.