Well, tomorrow I am getting the S2 phone and it will be the first time I've had Android, having only had Apple apps via an iPod Touch and Blackberry apps for the phone.

Are the majority of Android apps the same as in the Apple store or are there unique ones that I should look out for?

For example, I'm big on listening to podcasts and use Downcast from iTunes - what are the best Android podcast apps? I'm also keen on football, entertainment news, Twitter, general news - are there any special names I should be looking out for?

And finally, any Android specific apps I should add straight away?

in my opinion (and in no particular order)

WhatsApp - cross platform messenger
Wheres My Droid - make your lost phone ring or send location
Pulse - news reader
Quick System Info - find out about your phone and memory etc
Angry Birds - three versions out there for free
BBC iPlayer
all the Google Apps (goggles, Docs, Sky Map etc)
Iris - if you want to have a siri equal
Poweramp - music player
Robodefense - game
Rockplayer Lite - video player
Spaghetti marshmallow - game
stats free - monitor your data usage etc
WeatherBug or The Weather Channel
wikipedia
IMDB
Wifi Analyzer

thats a start

and maybe Syncr if you insist on sticking with itunes

Is that all then?!

All sounds good to me...thanks for that. Still need to find the best podcast app on there, I'm sure there must be a few!

ahhhh. i think i had that covered with the 'all google apps' that would include 'Google Listen'

plenty of other options out there though.

other games that i like ....

Age of Conquest
Plants vs Zombies
Asphalt 6
MC3
Field Runners
Little Big War
Helidroid 3D
Medieval castle
Tiki Kart 3d

other apps

looking local
Fotmob - soccer scores
ES File explorer
Dropbox
Deezer (free if you have an Orange swapable tarrif)
open signal
Opera Browser/Dolphin Browser/
Soundhound

you can get N64 and PS emulators .... but not from the formal Android market

Another thing that will be new to you will be widgets. Widgets are really useful. Quite a few apps come with a widget.

Go SMS - excellent app for messaging

3G watchdog - to keep an eye on the amount of 3G data used.

Call meter - keep a track of your minutes and texts you have used.

Soccer Scores Fotmob or soccer score centre are both great football apps. Each has its own pros and cons.

Dropbox - android based app for dropbox

Juice defender - will look after your battery.

Grave defence - the best tower defence game on android IMO.

I have sent you a pm, of my appbrain list.

Edit - another vote here for dolphin browser.

And thanks again for all of these...plenty to be getting on with! I can see me spending most of the weekend getting this all set up!

yep. forgot grave defense

i use stats free to cover 3g watchdog and call meter.

Go SMS is very good as the stock SMS app doesnt handle group sms well.

In fact the whole range of 'Go' apps are pretty good.

Once you want to try launchers Go Launcher, LauncherPro and ADW are a good start

Dolphin browser is ace!

For paodcasts l have been using ACast for a while and find it pretty good.

Also tunein for listening to radio stations online.

I read that as padocasts

MyPhoneExplorer to backup contacts/sms to PC and send/receive files. Also allows to type using PC keyboard and to capture screenshots.

I would also recommend tunein radio. It's free and allows you to listen to thousands.of radio stations and podcasts from around the world. A goos feature is it can use gps to find stations local tp you too

Beyond Pod is an excellent podcast app. The paid version is worth the money. But regardless of that the search function is great and all the options you will ever need such as auto download over wifi only are there. There is a player included and it is absolutely fine but I use Power Amp for all my listening needs.

Welcome to the light.

Did the S2 arrive ? How are you enjoying Android ?

If you have Sky TV I wouldn't be without the Sky+ app

Best podcast player is Pocketcast
Best browser is Dolphin browser
Best password app is Pocket
Best security app is Lookout
Best notes app is Catch or Evernote
Best music app PowerAmp
Best office / work app is Kingsoft Office

Other must have apps include
Dropbox
Tunein radio
Onlive desktop
File Expert
Soundhound
Airdroid
Teamviewer
Pulse or Taptu
Tweetcaster
Bbc news
Vlc direct pro
Opentable

Please can someone tell me the best power control widget to get? I need to be able to toggle wifi, bluetooth etc.

If you have Sky then Sky Go is a must although I have noticed it is device dependent. My phone can download it but not my Honeycomb tablet

I agree. Beyondpod is a great app for podcast listening and well worth the money.

Try weather and toggle widget

I quote like these widgets from Curvefish. He does a widget for several different items including wifi, bluetooth, silent/vibrate/off etc

Extended controls is another good alternative.

You shouldn't really say that one app is the best what ever as we all have our own opinions. I particulary hate the Dolphin browser, but that is just my opinion.

Thanks for the continued suggestions - I did indeed get the S2 and have been fiddling away over the weekend to try and get it set up.

I had tried a couple of podcast apps but my first search on both of them didn't find my own radio show, so deleted them both! [ I had been using Downcast on iTunes and my show was on there, so I know it exists ]. These apps were not the ones suggested on this thread, so now I've seen them here, I'll try them out tonight.

Overall, very impressed with the whole phone, although obviously the battery life is dodgy [ same as most smartphones though ]. I am now looking forward to trying some of these suggestions out!

battery life will improve (apparently there is a degree of battery run-in time). Also the novelty of constant tinkering may wear off slightly. PLUS you will find there are various apps and tweaks to help with this.

Im running a custom kernel on my Nexus and i now only lose 2 or 3% overnight for example .....

Probably running one of the moving wallpapers at first wouldn't have helped the battery. Have changed to a static one now. Like you say, the first week or so on a new phone, the temptation is to be looking at it constatntly, it will settle down I'm sure.