Nexus 7 – Best apps for your new tablet
How to work around the limited storage and lack of 3G on Google's budget tablet
The Nexus 7 is a great little device, and you can read our comprehensive Google Nexus 7 review now.
We loved it, but it does have its limitations, namely limited storage space (with no microSD card slot to expand it) and no 3G connection. That seems to pint logically to streamed content, but with a 7in screen and weighing just 340g, it’s an ideal size for carrying about with you day-to-day.
All this means you’ll want apps that can cache content to the internal memory, so you don’t need a wireless connection while you’re on the move, but without overloading its limited capacity. Here’s our top ten picks, click on the title of each to go straight to Google Play, from where you can push the app straight onto your Nexus 7.
Whether or not you agree with the political stance of the Guardian newspaper, you can still appreciate its wealth of content covering subjects such as technology, books, film, TV, property, travel etc etc.
It’s the ability to control exactly what content you do or don’t want that makes this so useful
One great thing about the Guardian is that it practices what it preaches when it comes to the freedom of data online. The entire website is accessible to anyone who wants to write a tool to access it, which is how Guardian Anywhere is possible.
You can set the app to download all the news stories and associated pictures overnight. Plus you can subscribe to a wide range of subjects, or practically any subject tag that appears under a story you’ve read. You can also subscribe to specific columnists, such as Charlie Brooker or David Mitchell. It’s a brilliant resource of news and entertainment for the morning commute.
9. YOUTUBE
YouTube TV The latest version of Google’s own YouTube app now lets you pre-load videos ready for offline playback. You have the choice to save either all the videos from your subscribed channels, or just the ones you add to your “watch later” queue. To enable offline pre-loading, load the YouTube app and bring up the menu using the three-dot icon in the top right corner. Select settings, then pre-loading and tick the boxes for the option you prefer. Naturally this uses up storage space, so make sure you have enough for other apps before you fill it with videos.
Now Tom can watch Street Fighter videos even without a Wi-Fi connection
Trip Advisor’s city guide are useful mainly because they download everything you need to your phone over Wi-Fi before you leave home. You get a map of the city you’re visiting, all the up-to-date listings for hotels, restaurants, attractions and even some suggested itineraries.
They are only available for major cities, capitals and big tourist destinations, so London, Edinburgh, Prague and Barcelona are in, but Birmingham is out.
London is on many people’s itinerary this summer, something to do with sport
