Sky Wallet Desktop Companion Unveiled

After several months of anticipation, developer Nicolo has unveiled the Sky Wallet Desktop Companion. To refresh your memory, Sky Wallet, is a full featured, encrypted password/electronic wallet app for WP, that syncs effortlessly with your secure Windows Live SkyDrive account. I introduced you to Sky Wallet here, although it has undergone more than a half dozen updates since it’s release in late December. The WP app now sports; customizable templates, import of data from other electronic wallet apps via TEXT or CSV formats, and full search. It is easily the most robust password app available for Windows Phone.

I have been beta testing the Desktop Companion the past two weeks so can assure you it’s ready for prime time. SWDC has been optimized for for tablet PC’s / touch interfaces, but will work fine with your mouse. It will work on any; XP, Vista or Windows 7 device. If you currently use Sky Wallet you will be familiar with the interface, which attempts to maintain consistency with the panoramic look. Note that SWDC will only connect to a file originally created by the Sky Wallet WP application.

The SWDC is comprised of a simple EXE file that launches instantly. After entering your SkyDrive credentials, the app will wait for your login password, which is identical to the WP login. Select a tile to drill down to View or Edit mode. You can do just about everything you can on your phone, so no limitations. Create a new record with a template or start from scratch, add icons, hotlink; email addresses, websites and phone numbers, etc. You can navigate your categories by using the left/right arrows or by tapping any category name.

Search for any record by title or description keyword. After adding or changing any data, simply tap the Sync button and your data will be synchronized with the encrypted SkyDrive file. A message at the bottom of each screen will remind you the last time you synced the file. BTW, I have hard reset my phone twice in the past five weeks and both times Sky Wallet restored all of my synced data in a matter of seconds. A working copy of the encrypted file will remain resident on your PC along with a configuration file, both in the same folder as the executable. So no issues with accessing your data without a connection  from either phone or desktop. You can drag the bottom right corner of the app to change the view size or use the icons in the upper right to minimize, maximize or close. Each time you close SKDC you will need to log back in.

Overall, a secure and easy to use solution for your most sensitive data. The Desktop Companion will now allow me to completely abandon Code Wallet Pro, which I have been using since at least 2005 on my WinMo devices. Not sure of cost or how SWDC will be distributed, but you can follow Nicolo’s WordPress blog here. As expected, I will update this article when more information becomes available. SWDC is expected to be released in a few days. You can read more about Sky Wallet in Marketplace here.The app is available for $3.99 and offers a limited (3 records), but fully functional trial.