Android usually comes with a reasonable suite of applications to get you off the ground with your media files, online activities and email.  But soon enough you'll be hungry for more - what then?  This is a short beginners guide to expanding Android with 3rd party applications.

1. The Android Market

The first place to look for further applications is the Android Market (www.android.com/market).  The Android Market is a program running on your Android device that allows you to easily connect to the market and search for what you are looking for as well as browse categories.  Unlike the iPhone App Store Google do not approve software titles for their market so you will find the quality varies.  Unless you know exactly what you are looking for or have been recommended a popular title by a friend read the full details before downloading.  This will tell you if there are any known issues with the software and also provides you with access to user reviews.

In order to use the Android Market you must have signed into a Google account on your device, which you will have likely already done in order to access Mail and other services.  If you would like to search the Android Market when not using your device you can use the websitewww.androidzoom.com which, unlike Google's own site has a search facility.

Three of our favourite downloads are the Aldiko e-book Reader, the SlideIT keyboard and the infamous Android game Robo Defense. These are all featured in some of our videos.

2. Alternate Markets

You are not limited to using solely the Google Android Market and there are a multitude of other markets out there.  One such site worth checking out is www.androidfreeware.net.  You can also go to www.androidfreeware.mobi directly from your device.

To enable the installation of applications from sources other than the Google Android Market you must first go into Settings on your device, then go into Application Settings, and select Enable unknown Sources.

There are also two android applications that provide other application sources. Amusingly both are available through the Android Market - where else!? One that mimics the Android Market is SlideME. In SlideME the selections of apps is very similar but customers may prefer it as a Google Login is not required. The other is called AppBrain. The idea behind AppBrain is that you choose applications on the AppBrain website whilst at a PC, and the AppBrain client installed on your Android device synchronizes new applications the next time you run the client.

3. APK files

Finally, all Android applications are wrapped up as an APK file.  If you find an APK when browsing the web or have one shared with you via a friend you can install the APK onto your device directly from your MicroSD card.  On your applications list you may have a programme called something like "APK installer" (if not you can search for it and download it for free from the Android Market).  Run this program and browse to where you saved the APK, double tap and follows the instructions.  Voila!  Not that you need a programme installed in order to install another programme.  You can just browse to the APK with whichever File Browser programme you have and install that way.  The installation process is handled by the OS the same anyway.  Likewise, if you don't have an APK installer programme to manage and uninstall apps, you can just go into Settings, then Application Settings and select Manage applications.  Select any app you've installed and you can choose to uninstall. If the application was installed through the Android Market, you can additionally uninstall through the Downloads section of the Market application. One final word on Android applications. Anything free that you've installed can be backed up to your memory card to share with friends. There are plenty of applications that do, but a simple one available for free download from the Market is called APKOptic.

Now you can share applications with friends, the onlines community and make backups too.