Recently got hold of a new HTC Hero, does anyone have any suggestions for decent apps for it?
Anything useful for the bike or sports in general would be nice…

My Tracks is good for logging rides and has a great inetrface with google maps. I used it for the first time on Saturday, I just pressed 'start track' then put it in my backpack. It recorded the whole route and gave me speed, distance elevation etc. Press another button and it loads it up to Google Maps and gives a URL you can email out.

Also get Grid Reference, does what it says on the tin.

Excellent choice Dave. I picked up a Hero 3-4 weeks ago and it's such a cool piece of kit.

As for apps, do a Google for Android forums – there's at leat 4-5 active ones with lists/reviews of apps, etc.

Some of my apps are:
Beebplayer – BBC iPlayer
Beelicious – delicious tags
Cardio Trainer – great for tracking runs/rides with mapping, etc
DroidLive – radio player
Evernote – cool note management app
Greed – RSS feed manager
iMeem – music player/streamer
LastFM – radio player
Layar – wacky virtual augmentation viewer for "seeing" who and what is close by
Meridien video player – as the name suggests
MixZingLite – music player (with album art, etc)
MovieFinder – cinema listings with trailers
MyBackup – backup pretty much everything onto SDCard
TwiDroid – twitter app
Weatherbug – as the name suggests
WiFi Analyser – picks up wifi in the area
AppManager – manage apps

Pembo, hadn't heard about MyTracks before – have just installed and will give it a go over the weekend – looks cool from the video.

SM

Cheers guys.

Having played with it more, it's pretty obviuos that the OS is still in its infancy, but hopefully it'll get better.
That's a blummin long apps list – ta! 🙂

Having problems with HTC Sync though, issues with a driver & getting it to install correctly. Nowhere on the web seems to have a definite fix for the problem (Generic Device Management Executable & something about generic.exe), so it's stopping me flashing the new ROM and getting on with using it properly.

OS Map – free Ordnance Survey maps.

+1 for beebplayer excellent bit of tech, watching railway walks with julia as i type 🙂

Call HTC helpdesk – they're pretty good. Otherwise this might provider some pointers.

And check your firmware – version 2.7 launched last week. But check with your provider if you can install it and not void the warranty. Some third-party providers are less than happy for you to do this even though it's a manuf update.

Velox/Velox Pro – GPS cycle computer
Wikitude Pro – Arguemented Reality Overlay (has to be seen to be understood – similar to Layer)
Google Places – search and read reviews for local services, shops, places to eat
Qype – search and read reviews for local services, shops, places to eat
Shop Savvy – barcode scanner and price comparison tool (can save you a lot of money on books, dvds, CD's etc)
NewsRob – google reader syncronised RSS reader
ChompSMS – sms replacement
Google Listen – podcasting client and search engine
Astrid – task/to do list manager
Barcode Scanner – 3d/informational barcode scanner
Google voice search – search google whilst driving
Picsay – add amusing voice/thought bubbles to photographs

I absolutely love my Android phone, so I would say go and get one! Much better than an iPhone

I might get me one of those…..

LinkHere's the My Tracks from Friday evening. If you click on the end track it gives you the stats. Not as good as a Garmin but still pretty good.

How Steep.

Tells you if it's a huck or just jeyXC.

There's a driver buried in the directory HTC sync was installed in, not on sd card as it says in manuals. Might be the one you are looking for. Found this when tethering phone to computer.

How Steep.

Tells you if it's a huck or just jeyXC.

Steeper than anything you can ride at the moment 😉

that shopsavvy app really works! i'm impressed

Of course it works … would I lie to you??!

+1 for the new firmware makes a big difference

great phone am loving it to (was a blessing in disguise when my HD was stolen)
I've used a lot of the apps up but not all will have a look at some of the others too

a couple of the other for the list that I find usefull

ConvertMe (Beta) – unit conversion app
IOSafe – Password store

Thanks for all the replies.

I've flashed a new firmware ROM & radio rom onto it & seems to have helped as expected.
HTC Sync is CACK, however! On 3 PCs, it only works on 1. not impressed, so have taken the opportunity to give up having to connect the phone to the PC to do MS Outlook things, and doing it all through my google account instead.
Annoying not being able to use the full-size keyboard, but i'll live with it til they sort it out…

Some of these apps are great! 😀
Starting to make the choice worth it, instead of getting something more basic. 🙂

Got a link to the firmware update?

Locale is brilliant.

Basically lets you change the system settings based on parameters.

So for example, I set it between 9am-5pm monday to friday to go on silent, for work, also switches wifi off etc.

Does the same thing at bed time (so email don't wake me up).

RD – I used the 2nd & 3rd 'pinned' threads from the top of the page here;
http://android.modaco.com/category/409/htc-hero-hero-modaco-com/

I went with the .zip file that has the new firmware rom (NOT rooted) & new radio rom combined. Worked a treat for me.

I put My Tracks on today, didn't get a chance to use it on the bike but looks impressive for a freebie!

This is driving me mad. I cant find anywhere a direct download for beebplayer!! I must be missing something obvious.

Can someone point me at it please ???

Thanks.

Just found this today, http://www.endomondo.com

I guess it's like MyTracks, the website looks pretty snazzy though.

Otherstuff I use

Bloo – Facebook stuff
A Online Radio – Streaming shoutcast/mp3 stuff for music
UK National Rail – Lookup train times and the like
Meebo – MSN chat and other protocols
Top – Show a process list of whats running. If an app looks broken or is taking up high CPU, I might kill it with 'TasKiller', but rarely bother using this now.

I also use a few widgets to quickly enable/disable gps,wifi,mobile-internet.

My favourite app out of all of these is Maverick. It's a mapping app but you can interchange between google/bing/open-street map. It also has a cool indicator to tell you which direction you're facing (afaik google maps doesn't, so you have to find landmarks or street-names to you get your orientation).

lowey You don't need a direct download for beebplayer, you get it from the android market – well I did, has it been removed?

nickname I think they have got a compass on google maps, i'm sure i've seen it. Will check out maverick though, cheers.

lowey You don't need a direct download for beebplayer, you get it from the android market – well I did, has it been removed?

Cheers Dave, I am no going to display breathtaking ignorance…

Whats andriod market ? and How do i get things from it ?

Many thanks in advance.

Whats andriod market ? and How do i get things from it ?

That's an odd question from someone who has an Android phone! The app is one of the default ones on one of your home screens (a green and white bag). If you can't see it then run it from your main list. AM is where you access 90%+ of Android apps, i.e. the equivalent of the Apple store.

BTW, Fring is pretty good now that it's working. Let's you do your Skype stuff including free calls (over wi-fi anyway).

Oh – Last.fm is available for Android now, so add that to the list.

Also:

Google My Tracks – GPS GPX track recorder, good for cycling
Google Goggles – image search
Evernote

Have fun

That's an odd question from someone who has an Android phone! The app is one of the default ones on one of your home screens (a green and white bag)

Genius!! Thanks for that. I thought that that icon was a shortcut to stock market info lol…

I'm obviously far to thick to own this phone.

Cheers all.

bring it round tomorrow, i want a play, can upgrade next month.

We need someone who works at Vodafone to tell us when OTA updates for Android 2.0 or 2.1 will come for the HTC Magic! I wonder if we have a Vodafone employee or two on here?

Well the Hero's getting it in March apparently, so hopefully sometime around then, if they're actually doing the upgrade for it?

I quite like Beebplayer, works pretty damn well.