[myTouch 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] shlongwoodian:
Hi Big Fancy,

I got on Android back in November of 2008 just after the G1 was released. Even though I'm a geek by profession, I wasn't planning on rooting my phone. That changed pretty quickly thereafter.

I was given a free CliqXT at the beginning of 2010 and I didn't root that (I haven't looked, but I'm not even sure if anyone even tried to gain root access on that device). I was hanging on and drooling over the Desire HD and then the HTC Glacier (myTouch 4G) hit the market - it was a no brainer.

I didn't plan on rooting this device either, as I didn't want to "break" my new, pristine baby. Philosophically speaking, one should have root access, but I'm also conservative enough to know when I don't need to play with fire.

What I'm getting at is, once I saw how easy it was to do...

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=834225

...it just became another no brainer.

Ok, so most of the apps I would recommend, are going to require root access.

Titanium Backup for Root Users

- This is a must have. Whether it's for restoring data or reverting back to a previous version of an app, this is one of those apps I think is a must-have. It's also the first app I purchased and I've been on Android since 2008. I've been quite happy with the free apps on the market, but I loved this app and had to support the dev.

ClockworkMod Recovery

- This is also a must have. Essentially, this is like imaging a hard drive or cloning your system. In a way, this trumps Titanium, since you can backup your entire "image." If something breaks though or if there's an issue with the ROM itself, then Titanium is your lifesaver.

AdFree

- This just updates your hosts file and nullifies, if you will, any known 'ad' IPs/host names. Basically, you don't see ads in ad-driven apps like Angry Birds or Watchdog Lite.

Watchdog Lite

- You really want to avoid task killer apps, to a degree. The developer of Watchdog has a succinct explanation of it on his site - http://www.zomut.com/watchdog/froyo.

SetCPU

- Sure, you can overclock your CPU with this, but you can also create nice profiles which will pull the CPU back a bit and help conserve battery life.

LogMeIn Ignition

- Those who know a little more might just use RDP or VNC. I've been using RDP to remote-in to my home PCs and any Windows Servers I managed since I got on Android. LogMeIn is great though and for those that aren't familiar with port forwarding, et al, LogMeIn is a dead-simple way to access your computer from the road. It's also a secure connection, so that makes it a winner in my book. I use TeamViewer to support my clients and we're upgrading our license at the beginning of 2011, now that TeamViewer for Android is in beta.

Speed Test

- It's nice to be able to show off your speeds, but it's also nice to check your speeds wherever you're at. A log is kept, so you can spot trends if you're experiencing speed/bandwidth issues.

Here's a handful more apps/games I find to be useful...

- Adobe Reader

- Adobe Flash

- Amazon Kindle

- Angry Birds + Angry Birds Seasons

- Barcode Scanner

- Bonsai Blast

- Chrome to Phone

- ES File Explorer

- Gmote

- gStrings (chromatic guitar tuner)

- HootSuite

- IMDb

- Movies (by Flixster)

- My Piano

- OI Notepad, OI Shopping List, OI Safe and OI File Manager (particularly Notepad and Shopping List - I use those daily)

- Paper Toss

- Photoshop Express

- Quadrant

- Reversi Free

- Shazam

- Skype

- Torrent-fu

- Uninstaller Pro

- UPS Mobile

- WordPress

- XDA

- Yelp

Welcome, good luck and I hope this helps!