Favorite Android Apps For My Photography Business

When smart phones first started gaining in popularity I was one of those who insisted I didn't need one. I was quite satisfied with my flip phone and the ability I had to send a text message every once in awhile even if it took three presses of the number 7 to get the letter "S." When I finally made the leap to the smart phone a couple years ago I realized it was probably the single most valuable tool in my life for productivity, business, learning and entertainment. I wanted to share with our readers the 48 android apps I use most often and hear about your favorites in the comments below.

I will share some screenshots of my phone with a small description below the screen shot of each of the apps you see there. I try to group the apps in particular themes (for instance all extra news/reader apps are on page 2). The primary function my phone plays in my business is at a tool to stay connected, stay informed and learn new things. The first page is the ones I use most often and probably the most familiar. The second page focuses more on apps to help run my business and keep up on the news that is going around the industry. The third screenshot will share some of the tools I use while preparing for shoots, shooting and while on the road since I travel quite a bit.

This first shot is of my home page - with the most often used apps. I understand most are probably familiar to most of you. But here is a brief description of each in case you see something new there. I will be working from the top left corner moving right across the screen.

• Spotify - Favorite music app. Form your favorite playlists and with a premium account you can take them with you wherever you go. I can be driving across the desert with no cell coverage and still be able to listen to thousands of songs organized into my favorite playlists. 
• Amazon Kindle - I am an avid reader. I try to read every night. Some current favorite reads include "Today We Are Rich" by Tim Sanders and "Aspire" by Kevin Hall
• Pocket - I use this app to store articles, video and more that I come across on the web and want to read later.
• Google Reader - Brings together all my favorite sites, blogs and more in one place. It's not the sexiest reader but gets the job done.
• TED - I have been a huge fan of TED talks for years. Tons of great information on all kinds of subjects shared by the most talented speakers.
• Roku - This app functions as a remote control for our Roku box at home allowing us to watch hundreds of different channels and shows. This has been a real game changer for me. The reason is when my wife falls asleep I love being able to use the PLEX channel on my Roku to stream media directly from my computer to my television in the master bedroom. Being able to do this has allowed me to catch up on videos I have been meaning to watch for sometime but just could not stand doing sitting in front of my computer monitor. I can now watch the Peter Hurley Video or the new Professional Commercial Wedding Photographer video all from the comfort of my bed.
• Evernote - Helps me keep things organized for my business and syncs the information across all platforms. Whether I am on my computer, my phone or my iPad all my notes I have in Evernote are there. I use this to keep track of client information, important emails and any information I might need to reference in the future. Powerful tool!
• Any.DO - I searched for a long time and tried many different task manager apps. I finally settled on Any.DO as my favorite. Easy set up, innovative and works like a charm.
• Pages Manager - A big part of my photography business is my Facebook page. I have chose Facebook as my main avenue in marketing my business and over time have built up over 13,000 fans that follow me there. The Pages Manager app helps me to stay on top of anything happening on the page and I also use it to view and reply to messages sent to my Facebook business page.
• Facebook - Check in on the all the latest on FB.
• Messenger - Review and reply to messages sent to my personal FB account.
• Chrome - My favorite internet browser.
• Navigation - Default navigation. Keeps me from getting lost.
• Calendar - Great to have on hand with conversing on whether I am available on a particular date. Syncs with my Google Calendar.
• Voice - I prefer using Google Voice as my phone number and this app helps me do it as well as access text and voice messages. It will even convert voice messages to text for you.
• Gmail - My preferred email app.

• Craigslist Pro - Much better viewer to scour the ads on Craigslist then the website itself.
• Appy Geek - Nice reader to catch up on tech articles.
• BaconReader - Get my daily dose of Reddit.
• NewsRob - RSS reader that syncs with Google Reader. I have found when going through blogs of other photographers with lots of photos this reader displays nicer than Google Reader.
• Pulse - I use this guy to catch up on news I might have missed.
• Pinterest - Get my pinning on!
• Flipboard - Great reader app that brings news (from both topics you want to follow as well as social) altogether in one beautifully displayed magazine.
• Zite - Yet another news reader. You see a theme here?
• Dropbox - I love being able to use this app to access documents, photos or information I might have stored in the cloud.
• Drive - Similar to Dropbox but this get me linked into anything I might have created using Google Docs.
• SignNow - My favorite app to sign agreements with clients. We can even do it from the phone or iPad screen.
• Plume - Keep up on all things Twitter.
• Play Store - Find and install new apps.
• Plex - I mentioned this app earlier while talking about the Roku. Having this app on my phone allows me to take any media on my computer with me on my phone as well. So I can be sitting in the doctors office catching up on the latest chapter of my favorite educational DVD.
• Maps - I do like to pull overheads of areas I am shooting in and have discovered some great shot locations that I would have not otherwise found.
• Pomodroido - I use this app to keep me productive during the day. For those of you familiar with the Pomodoro technique it basically breaks up your day to work 25 minutes and then take a 5 minute break. This app helps to keep me on target and allows me to stay focused while working.

• DOF Calculator - This is a great tool to calculate depth of field. I don't really use it in the field but it is interesting to open and play with to get familiar with the lenses in your bag.
• Sundroid - I use this tool to find the exact times for sunrise and sunset as well as the angle of the sun. This tool is very useful when meeting with clients who are planning their wedding and need some assistance as to the best time to start and finish taking pictures.
• Flashlight - This tool comes in handy when trying to look through my bag at night as well as for wedding ring shots. When you need a little extra light on the ring to really make it shine this app does the job quite well.
• SoundHound - I love music and listen to it quite a bit while working. When I hear a great song somewhere but don't know what it is I open SoundHound and it will listen for a few seconds and then tell me exactly what it playing. I then can add it right into a Spotify playlist so I can listen to it again in the future.
• Camera - Default camera app that comes with the phone.
• SnapSeed - Powerful app to edit photos on the phone.
• Instagram - Still a user.
• Pixlr-O-Matic - When I haven't got my fix satisfied from Instagram or SnapSeed and need more photo filters for family photos shot on my phone, this is where I turn.
• Skype - While traveling overseas this app has saved my butt a few times. As long as I have internet access I can use Skype to make phone calls out.
• Yelp - I love using Yelp for recommendations - especially for the nearest burrito or Thai food place no matter what state I am traveling in.
• TripAdvisor - Very useful and handy to locate places to visit and things to do while traveling.
• Kayak - I use this powerful app while traveling to find hotels, flights and rental cars.
• Google Skymap - There are most advanced star viewing apps on the market but this simple guy does the trick for me.
• Audible - If I have had enough music and instead want to listen to a book while driving this app is my ticket. "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie is a great audio book.
• UberHype - Once I tire of hearing someone read to me I will open UberHype to find the latest popular music. This social media music discovery app is a great way to find new music and stream it directly to your phone.
• Easy Uninstall - I don't mind trying new apps, but once I know I won't be using it any longer I like to get it off my phone and keep things organized. This little guy helps me do that.

For privacy purposes I left a few things out. Those include some of the apps I use to manage money. One great app for this purpose though is called Expensify. If you need help keeping track of your expenses definitely check it out. Hope this list was helpful and had a few new apps that might have perked your interest. Looking forward to hearing about some of your favorites in the comments below.