Android app review: Simple Notepad

Unlike BlackBerry devices, Android phones don't typically come pre-installed with a notepad app.  If you need a notepad app, whether for business or personal use, there are several free apps you can download from the Google Play store.  One of the better free notepad apps is Simple Notepad.

Simple Notepad comes with a lot of useful features.  You can create folders, so that your notes can be organized into separate groups.  The folders feature can be turned on or off, so that if you only use one folder, the folder structure won't get in your way.  You can also use Simple Notepad to make checklists, and Simple Notepad notes can be sent to other people or shared through social networks.  You can even set reminders for specific events or tasks, and Simple Notepad is able to be password protected to prevent anyone else from reading your notes or checklists.

You can create notes with titles displayed in different colors, to highlight important notes or to organize your notes into colors based on their content.  The app even includes its own search feature, to help you find specific notes quickly.  You can search note titles as well as their content.

Simple Notepad is very easy to use, and it comes with a user-friendly menu system.  You can make the app as simple or complex as you want.  If you only need a plain, no-frills notepad app for your phone or tablet, Simple Notepad can be that app; all of the additional features and functions can be ignored, and they won't get in your way as you create and edit notes.  You can even change how the app's home screen appears to make it more convenient for you so you don't have to switch to a certain screen every time you open the app.

One nice feature that Simple Notepad has is the ability to sort notes.  You can choose the criteria used to sort notes (by title, by color, or by date created) and you can enable auto sort so that new notes are automatically sorted by the same criteria.

You can back up your notes from Simple Notepad into a text file, and while it works well, it's not seamless.  When you restore any notes back into Simple Notepad, the notes lose all formatting (though the content will be there).

Simple Notepad was developed by Mightyfrog and it can be downloaded directly from the Google Play store.  It has an average user rating of 4.5 out of 5, and it's compatible with Android version 2.2 or newer.  The current version of the app, version 1.7.3b, only takes up 568 KB of space (plus additional space for your notes and checklists).  For users worried about privacy, the only permission this app requires is the ability to edit or delete the contents of your phone's USB or SD storage.

(Originally published on Helium.com, January 2013 -- updated October 2015)

Android app review: Bubble Level

There are times when you find yourself without the right tool for the job. Or maybe you have the right tool, but you can't find it (or get to it). But with the Bubble Level app for your Android device, at least you won't have to worry about finding a level when you need one.

This app lets your Android phone act as a spirit level. You can use any of the four sides of your phone, and a bubble level graphic will appear on the screen, showing whether the surface you are inspecting is level, plumb, or at an angle. The app will even display the degree of angle or incline.

You can also lay your phone flat on a surface and Bubble Level will become a 360 degree level, showing in which direction (if any) the surface is not level. There are portable pocket-sized levels you can stuff in a toolbag or even your pocket, but Bubble Level is with you anywhere your phone goes.  If you feel like it's not giving an accurate reading, you can recalibrate it at any time.

Calibrating or recalibrating the app is easy. Just place the phone on a known level surface and select Calibrate.  You can calibrate each side separately, in case your phone has a button sticking out on one side or a weirdly-shaped case, or something else causing a side to not be perfectly straight. Before any calibration, Bubble Level gave me fairly accurate readings; after calibrating it, it is almost as reliable as my Stanley Pro I-Beam level. Just make sure when you are using the app that the phone is at a perfect 90 degree angle (unless it's flat on its back) -- otherwise your readings will be off.  If you have an OtterBox or other protective case, you may want to remove it before using the level.

Unlike many free apps, Bubble Level is highly customizable. You can change the viscosity of the bubble, turn on eco mode to preserve battery life, enable orientation locking and even turn on sound effects so that the app plays a sound when the phone becomes level. There are no ads that pop up; the developer simply added a very unintrusive "Donate" link toward the bottom of the Preferences menu.

Bubble Level is available for free from the Android Market.  It is compatible with devices running Android version 1.6 or higher and it only takes up a measly 90 KB of space. This app has an average user rating of 4.2 out of 5, from over 66,000 users, and it's been downloaded and installed more than 11 million times.

(Originally posted on Helium.com, January 2014)

Android app review: Scantopia

There are many mobile apps that enable you to earn money by using your phone or tablet. Scantopia is one of those apps and while the money-making opportunity isn't great, it is there.

Scantopia is an Android app that you can download on your phone or tablet for free. The idea behind the app is to get you to scan in bar codes. If you're lucky, you can get paid for scanning bar codes.  In addition to cash, you can also win tokens, which can be traded in for entries to various sweepstakes.

One nice thing about this app is that it allows for a lot of freedom. You can pretty much scan anything that has a bar code -- a box of cookies, a granola bar, a printer, a spark plug, etc. It doesn't even have to be an item that you own. You can walk into a grocery store and just start scanning items on an aisle. You can even scan the same item again the next day in many cases.

What you get for each scanned bar code varies, but typical rewards include $0.05, $0.10, one token, or two tokens. You'll also get $1.00 for your first scanned item. You can cash out once you've earned $3.00, in whole dollar amounts only. Payments are made through PayPal, so if you don't have a PayPal account, you'll need to set one up in order to claim your money. Tokens can be redeemed any time you wish for entries into the Progressive Jackpot sweepstakes (with prizes up to $1,000) or various "Weird Sweeps," which offer different prizes including coffee makers and wine fridges.

There are also special products every day that you can earn bigger rewards for scanning, called Daily Super Scans. The rewards for scanning these items often are in the range of $0.10 to $0.50. However, these items often must be scanned from your Home location.

You have to enable GPS to set a Home location, and not everyone will want GPS turned on so that the app can track you. However, if you don't mind allowing the app access to your location, you will get $1.00 for setting your Home location, and you can earn double tokens for items that are scanned from your Home location.

In addition to the pennies or tokens you can earn, you will occasionally be offered a coupon as an additional prize. These coupons (often for $0.75 to $2.00 off) may or may not be for products that you actually use, and they are not really exclusive coupons. They are coupons offered by Coupons.com, which you could download anyway even if you weren't "offered" them by Scantopia.

If it sounds complicated, it's really not. You are allowed 12 scans per day, but you can get more by waiting a half hour or by requesting other people that you know to send you more "energy," which allows you to scan more items. The app uses your phone or tablet's built-in camera to scan bar codes, so other than the app itself you don't need to download or install anything.

You should take your device's data plan into account before using Scantopia. Unless you can hop on a Wi-Fi network, this app can eat up your data allowance. Scantopia can easily use over 5MB of data for one day's scans.

The idea behind the app is neat, but the earning potential is very slight. Even if you get $1.00 for your first scan and $1.00 for setting your Home location, it will still take you a while to earn the $3.00 required to cash out. The time needed to scan all those items could be better spent on other money-making opportunities which could pay far better.

(Originally published on Helium.com, February 2014)

UPDATE: Scantopia is no longer offered for download from the Google Play Store.

BlackBerry app review: Password Keeper

Password Keeper is a free application that comes pre-installed on many BlackBerries, including the Curve, Bold, Tour and other models. It can typically be found in the Applications folder and it is designed to allow you to store and organize passwords that you use for websites so that you don't have to remember them all. It can also be used to save PINs, account numbers or anything else that you don't want to have to remember but you don't want anyone else to be able to see.

The first time you use Password Keeper, you can set up a password for the application, so that if someone else gets a hold of your BlackBerry, if they don't know your password, they can't see any of the information that you have saved in the application. This password protects your other passwords and data and even if you leave the program running and switch to another application, you'll be asked to re-enter the password when you come back to Password Keeper.

If you're familiar with using other BlackBerry apps and features such as Tasks, Calendar, or MemoPad, Password Keeper will be simple to use. The basic interface is the same and all of the options can be accessed from within the program by pressing the Menu button (on the Tour, this will be the button with the seven dots to the left of the trackball).

You can easily set up passwords for new websites and the program allows you to store a title for that entry, the website address, your user name, password and additional notes. One nice feature of the program is the ability to change any of the labels, so in addition to storing website passwords, you could store PINs and other information.

The security settings of the program can be customized as well, so you can specify how many attempts you have to enter your password before the program locks you out. You can also use the random password feature to generate a random password for a website and you can tell it whether to include numbers, letters and/or symbols, as well as how long to make the password.

Password Keeper is a good free password vault program. There are more sophisticated programs you can download, many of which cost money, but Password Keeper should be sufficient for most users' needs, and it's easy to use and set up.

(Originally published on Helium.com, August 2011)