Android's Dumbest Apps

Sales of Android phones are soaring and are paced by the growth in the number of apps--more than 60,000--that are available in Android Market.

By Brent W. Hopkins
Fri, August 06, 2010

PC World — Sales of Android phones are soaring and are paced by the growth in the number of apps--more than 60,000--that are available in Android Market.

Slideshow: 2009's Most Awesome Android Apps
10 Must-have Free Android Apps

Quantity, however, doesn't always mean quality. We took a dip in the app pool and came up with 19 really dumb Android apps.

They range from the ridiculous to the downright dangerous. Some of them appear to be based on good ideas, but fail badly in implementing them. Others, well, let's just say that words like "misleading" or "underdeveloped" apply here. All are pretty much guaranteed to waste your time.

Let's dig in.

Get Moving

Type N Walk (free) is "the new, smarter way to type while walking. Lets you see what's in front of you while typing and walking." This app uses your Android phone's camera and superimposes your text message over the view as you type and walk, so that you can more confidently fall into a hole (or other hazard of your preference) that is outside of your camera's viewing area. As an added benefit, this app rotates the camera view sideways so that you can more conveniently fall into a hole.

Priceless.

FlightDeck-Artificial Horizon (free): The developer of this app says, "Being a private pilot, I developed this tool as a back-up artificial horizon while I'm flying. It uses the built-in orientation sensors on your Android phone to provide you pitch and yaw information in real-time."

Nice... IF you have always wanted to die in a plane crash.

CarSafety (free): "If you ever get into a car accident, the emergency alarm on your phone will go off. If this alarm is not turned off within 60 seconds, CarSafety will send an SMS with the GPS coordinates and address of the accident to a pre-determined number. -- do not work in sleep mode at some phones!" It attempts to use your Android phone's accelerometer to detect if you are involved in a car accident.

Oops, I dropped my phone; now my family thinks I've been in a traffic accident and is dialing 911. This app also runs in the background, eating up your battery life while waiting for the relatively unlikely accident to occur.

Pocket Agent (free): "Pocket AgentTM lets you contact your agent, submit a claim, check balances of State Farm Bank and Mutual Fund accounts, view insurance policy information, search and locate State Farm Select ServiceTM Repair Facilities, hotels, rental cars, emergency contacts and much more!" You need to create an online, password-protected account in order to file claims with the app. If you mess up your log-in three times (easy to do when using a touchscreen keyboard), you will be locked out of the app and invited to call a toll-free number to reactivate it.

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Originally published on www.pcworld.com. Click here to read the original story.
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