Apps to get the most out of your Android from your PC

The power of an Android phone or tablet nowadays makes a desktop computer or laptop seem a little out of date, but you can get a lot more out of your smartphone with these six apps that allow you to work between your computer and your smartphone.

DoubleTwist
Whether or not you like the closed nature of Apple software, you can’t deny that iOS and iTunes go perfectly together. This connection between your desktop computer and your Android device is just what you could be missing, until you install DoubleTwist. It automatically indexes music, photos, and videos you have on your computer (including your iTunes list) and organizes them for you, allowing you to order them by artist, album, playlist, and much more from its tiny interface.

MobileGo
The previous app offers everything you need if you’re looking to sync your multimedia files with your computer, but if what you need is to sync your contacts and the other information on your phone, MobileGo is the app you’ve been looking for. It is only available for PC, and even though the paid version is somewhat expensive ($40), there is a decent free version available. You can sync your contacts with Outlook in addition to converting audio and video files to formats supported by Android before transferring them to your phone.
B-Folders 3
This app is somewhat of an all-in-one for businessmen whether or not they plan on keeping their confidential information on their Android device. It is a password manager, contact manager, task organizer, and planner. But that isn’t all—you can also use B-Folders 3 as ajournal and notebook, in addition to being easy to use, because the folders areorganized into a tree-like structure.

All these features aren’t even half of what B-Folders offers. The other half is related to the security it provides, as it uses a governmental level AES 256-bit encryption. With this app you can share information securely between different computers and mobile devices, as the transmission is carried out on a P2P system that automatically detects and syncs any change made.

AirDroid
AirDroid is an app for Android that allows you to completely control your device from your computer’s web browser. You can control your Android device from your desktop  omputer, and do anything from download or upload files, manage your contacts, to remotely install apps, send and receive SMS messages, and much more. In addition, with a QuickTime plugin you can even play videos that you’ve recorded with your phone.

Android Notifier
When you’re working on your desktop computer, the phone can be a big distraction. This app is very useful when this happens—it notifies you on your desktop of everything that is happening on your phone. Mac, Linux, and Windows versions are available. From your phone you can control which notifications you want to receive on your screen. Notification options included are: calls, messages, battery life, voicemail, and notifications from third-party apps. You can also control if notifications are sent through IP/WiFi or Bluetooth. It is a great way to take time away from your phone and concentrate on the work you need to do at that moment, as well as a discrete way of sending messages even in places where you may interfere with some kind of instrument, like, for example, on radio, TV, or a studio recording where any kind of radiofrequency emission is prohibited.

LookOut Mobile Security
LookOut is another that could be categorized as an Android app, but really is used on your computer. You can use it to save all your contacts, and mainly to locate and recover your Android device in case it was lost or stolen.

This software is incredibly precise at locating your phone, and if you decide to buy the premium package ($30/year) you can add other security measures, such as remotely taking photos with the camera, or blocking and deleting all the data on your phone to avoid intrusions on your privacy.