Advanced Launcher is an application for those of us looking for an app that alleviates a bit of homescreen clutter, groups the favorite things on our phone, and keeps us from having to dig through the app drawer.  What, you thought you were alone in your distaste of a block grid of icons, laid out in an order that just doesn't work for you?  Well read on my friend.

Advanced Launcher is simple.  The same way that the power control widget gives you quick access to oft needed settings, Advanced Launcher is a homescreen widget that can hold your favorites in four categories -- applications, contacts, bookmarks and documents.  It sits quietly, looks pretty, and just waits for a tap that opens a dialog with what you've decided needs to be there.

Adding any of your favorites to the app is simple, you simply choose the category, press a button, and make a choice.  Then next time you hit the widget's button, it pops right up.  Beats the daylights out of digging through that other mess, or having to manage four screens of shortcuts.  The increase in productivity is well worth the few bucks ($2.99) for the full version in my opinion, but there's also a lite version that lets you try out the applications category for free.  Links to both versions, and a handful of screenshots of the application at work are after the break. [Android Central forums]

Posted originally at Android Central

Sponsored by Android Cases and Accessories

Sometimes you just want to bang out a Tweet or two and not necessarily be bothered with a full-fledged Twitter app. And we don't all like hooking up Twitter to our text messages. And so we present TweetMeep. It's a basic home screen widget that serves one purpose -- tweeting. Pop it on your home screen and it'll show you what you last tweeted. Tap it, and you get a keyboard to type your 140 characters. It's that easy, and it's free.

[Market link | App Brain]

Posted originally at Android Central

Sponsored by www.droidappshowcase.com

Yes, Android handles multitasking and running applications in the background all on its own.  It even does a pretty damn nice job of it.  But sometimes, you want to have an app installed (Sprint Navigation anyone?) but hate the fact that it decides to start up and run for no good reason.  Enter Autostarts. 

Autostarts is an application watchdog.  It knows when apps will try to start, why they want to start, and jumps in and blocks them from starting up and running.  You do need to be rooted to use it, which makes sense as it's integrated pretty deep in the system settings.  It's lightweight, very easy to use, and at $0.94 is a bargain for those obsessed with keeping apps behaving and following your rules on your phone. 

Check out some more screenies and a quick walkthrough after the break

Posted originally at Android Central

Sponsored by www.droidappshowcase.com

There's nothing quite as serene as an aquarium.  The ripple of the water, beautiful fish swimming peacefully around, it's truly a little slice of nature.  Now you can have it on your Android phone, too.  Aquarium Live Wallpaper is a live wallpaper that has tropical fish swimming across your homescreen.  No crazy blocks of light, sonic waves keeping time with your music, or zombies, just the calming effect of flowing fins and sparkling water. Best part: It doesn't slow down the phone at all.

We all could use a little quiet time alone with our phones, right?  Follow the break to see a few more screenies and download links, turn on some quiet music and chill with the fishes.  Android 2.1 or higher, ROM must have live wallpapers running.

Posted originally at Android Central

Sponsored by www.droidappshowcase.com

There's been a lot of chatter about doubleTwist the past few days.  That will happen when you push out a desktop app and a on-device player to go along with it. I've spent the past couple days getting things ready for my HTC Evo, and setting up doubleTwist was one of them.  Hit the break for the run down and see if doubleTwist is something that might work for you too.

Posted originally at Android Central

Sponsored by www.droidappshowcase.com

Zombies!  RUN!  There are two things I totally geek out on -- Android phones and zombie games. When I saw that Hayden The Android sent us over a copy of Pixel Zombies Live Wallpaper to evaluate and review I dove after it before any of the rest of us could snatch it away from me :) In the end it didn't matter -- as soon as I'm done writing this I'm buying it from the Android Market so it's mine forever.

It's simple enough.  Determine the number of zombies (red pixels) you want to start with, the total population, and the number of zombie-killers (blue pixels) and apply.  Then sit back and watch the carnage! There are a few other settings as well (click the link for some other screen shots), but nothing complicated.  All nice and simple like a good zombie infestation should be.  Oh, there's one more treat -- when things get too bad, and your zombie killers are up against the wall and outnumbered, drop a shortcut on your home screen to trigger a cleansing nuclear blast that kills off everything, just like a good nuclear blast should :)  Follow the break to see a few more screen shots as well as some download links.  Then prepare for the zombie apocalypse! Android 2.1 + only, ROM must have live wallpapers running

This is a post by Android Central. It is sponsored by the Android Central Accessories Store

With all the social media applications out there, it's refreshing when comes along that that's sounds so unique you have to try it.  Android Town is one of those apps.  From the looks of things in the forums and around the Internet I don't think I'm the only one that thinks so.  Hit the link below to have a closer look at Android Town and check out some screenies from this exciting new app.

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The New York Times is one of the nation's leading sources of news, and its website is one a great extension of that. As people continue to work longer hours, travel farther to work, and try to pack every day full of things to do, it can be a little hard to find time to sit down and read the paper or browse the web. The Times has developed an Android application [Market link] that brings you its content in a very professional, easy to read manner. Let's take a look, after the break.

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Dropbox just made its way out of beta status and into the Android Market [Market link], and so let's take a look at the Android version of the popular desktop file sync app. After the break, folks. After the break.

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Twitter, like Android, is exploding.  The latest entry into the Android twitterverse is from sobees.  Many of you might already be familiar with Sobees desktop and web apps, but their application for Android is all new. 

Follow after the break for a video and my impressions of the new Sobees twitter application.

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