But how, and what's that scary sounding root thing all about, do you need that?
Well you've been told right, and no you don't have to root your phone or tablet to do it, you just need some handy little apps, most of which are free, and in case you hadn't already guessed that's what we're going to look at here.
Where to begin? How about being able to read usb devices, being able to plug in a memory stick or hard drive, maybe take some videos or photographs off of your digital camera?
To do that you need a version of Android that supports usb otg (USB On The Go), Android version 4 (Jellybean) and higher support this as (to an extent) do some devices that run Android 3.2 (Honeycomb).
Assuming you have a suitable version of Android then the app you need is Nexus Media Importer. It will set you back £2.62 and for that your Android becomes able to read files from a connected usb device and, if that device is FAT formatted (as most are), will also be able to write to it.
If your phone or tablet has a micro or mini usb port as almost all of them do you will also need what is called an OTG cable.
These cost a couple of pounds, including delivery, from sites such as Amazon and have the small connector at one end with a full sized usb connector on the other so that you can plug full size usb devices into your micro or mini sized usb port.
Using a usb device is easy once the app is installed, as easy as plugging the device into your usb port.
The app will automatically run and show you what is on the device and navigating through the different files is extremely easy as the application groups them by type (videos, photographs, etcetera) to make it easier for you to find the particular file you're interested in.
Okay so what's next? Well, wouldn't it be nice if you could download that high definition music video or film you found on youtube?
But wait, the Play Store won't let apps on there that can download from YouTube so you can't do it. Well actually, thanks to how Android works, you can.
If you haven't done so already pop into your settings menu and look for a tick box that says "unknown sources" and make sure it is ticked. Depending on what version of Android you're using it will either be in settings / security or it will be in settings / applications.
This will tell your phone or tablet that it can now install apps from places other than the official store.
Using your android browser of choice go to the YouTube downloader download page and click its green download button, it will download the app. When downloaded you will see a notification saying youtubedownloader.apk has downloaded, just click on it to install.
If you don't have such a notification don't worry, the app will be saved in your web browsers download folder and you can install it from there.
Use of the app is very simple, and it guides you through it on first use, but basically this is all you do to download a YouTube video, use the YouTube app and find a video you want to download, click the share button and from the share menu just choose YouTube Downloader.
It really is that simple, the app will offer you a choice of different video formats and qualities if more than one version is available. The app is, of course, completely free.
We all know you can plug your phone or tablet into your tv, if it has a hdmi output, but what if, like Nexus 7 owners, you have no hdmi output?
Well if you have a recent television that supports DLNA you're in luck because you can stream video wirelessly to it using an application called ArkMC (the full version costs £2.99 but there is a trial version).
This handy application will let you stream video from your phone or tablet, or any dlna device, to any other dlna device such as a tv.
It is one of the few applications that can play files from your actual device and send them to your tv and for this reason has a big advantage over other very good streaming apps such as MediaHouse Pro, a very good way of watching your films or pictures, or listening to your music, on a tv if you don't have hdmi output.
That's all well and good but what's all this automagic nonsense. How can your android possibly just do things as if by magic?
Well that is all down to a very useful app called Tasker which is just under £2 but there is a free seven day trial version available here. What does Tasker do exactly? Well, basically, anything you want it to.
Tasker is an automation app, that means it can make your phone or tablet do things based on trigger events of your choosing.
For example, you want to switch off the security lock when you're at home, but re enable it at work, so no one but you can access it. Tasker can tell you're at home, or work, and do that for you.
Want to send a message that you're working late? Tasker can tell you're still at work when you're usually on the way home and send a text for you automatically. If you have automated lights at home it could even switch them on for you when you get home and switch them off when you leave, or automatically put your device into silent mode and hide incoming calls and texts when you're using it to watch a video, or launch a particular app when you connect a headset.
Productivity is all well and good but sometimes you just want to play a video and unwind. Well there's an app for that too.
MX Player is one of the best Android media players around, it supports multi core decoding and hardware accelerated playback, plays pretty much any video format you can think of (as well as subtitles) and has some handy features such as being able to boost the volume and use codecs to improve playback. Definitely one app that merits a look.
Of course some Android devices will lag a little after a lot of use, the Nexus 7 for example can lag now and then, because of a trim issue affecting those devices, so if you're playing lots of videos or games you might find your phone or tablet slows down at times.
Well if you use a rooted Android there's a fix for that, and it really does work, a free app called LagFix so if you're rooted give it a try, it could make things even better.
And there you have it, a few apps to make your Android life a little better, a little more fun, or at least a little more productive.
