Guest post by the ConstructionKnowledge monkey: Lex Pelger

There are many helpful tools for life and construction available to those who use Android smartphones (also known as the Enlightened). Here’s a short list of some of my favorites. If you have any of your own, I’d love to hear about them in the comments

SmartTools
A handy toolbox for anybody in the field. It can measure length, angle, distance, height. It can be a range finder, a stud finder and a decibel meter. It’s not a replacement for your tape measure but it’s helpful because the phone is always in your pocket for making quick and dirty measurements.

Tiny Flashlight
There’s lots of free flashlight apps but I found this one to be the simplest and easiest. I’m currently hitchhiking through Mexico and I can unequivocally say that the flashlight is the most helpful tool I keep in my pocket.

PDANet
Internet for your laptop anywhere you go. This app is incredibly helpful. Just install the software on your laptop and you can plug in your phone to use it’s 3G connection. It’s not super fast but it’s good enough for sending emails and working in the field. Just make sure that you don’t go over your data limit. Those crooked mobile phone companies sock you for that. It’s usually just a couple of extra bucks for an unlimited data plan. Or you could use this 3G Watchdog Pro app to keep you from going over.

DropBox
If you’re using DropBox to backup your important files (as everyone should be doing), the phone app allows you to look at those files. Quite helpful when you need to check an estimate number from the field or an item on the bullet list that you left at the office.

What are your most used apps? Care to share with others what works for you?