The Unsung Apps of Windows Mobile
Sense is killing my HD2 and left me with no option but to kill it first. And that left me with the default home UI and without a Twitter client (I still think that tab was at the root of the problem). I don’t really Tweet much – I use it like an RSS feed actually but it is something I do every day. So off to the Marketplace I go looking for a free Twitter app and up comes Pocketwit which meets all of my criteria (shows me Tweets and is free – I’m a simple man). Well all in it’s pretty decent actually. A neat way to scroll through Tweets that’s somewhat panoramic (with the menu exposed by swiping to the side). I’m not sure why it has so many negative comments (maybe it’s custom ROMs, I don’t know) but it works for me as advertised. Anyway, it got me to think about how many apps are out there that I’ve never used or heard of and quite frankly we’ve missed on the site.
So here’s your chance. If you’re still hanging with Windows Mobile shout out an unsung app or game or maybe even one that we covered but you think is worth reminding people of. Speaking of which, may as well plug Opera Mini again since it’s probably the quickest and lightest way to browse the web even though it defaults to the mobile site. OK I’m really done now. The stage is yours.
UPDATE: By the way, if you have a link share that too…I forgot to mention that
Related Posts
About The Author
@Ken: Ilium, right? http://www.iliumsoft.com/site/lp/listpro.php
Listpro! Customizable task list; set alarms anyway you want to. The sole reason I didn’t move to Iphone or Android.
@jimski:
You my friend ROCK! Thanks for sharing this list!
I like free apps.
Slacker radio is easy to use and has a lot of choices. Pick a genre you like and let it play.
Skyfire is still one of the best internet browser out there as you can see websites as they are on the PC.
Google mobile apps are nice, too
You might already be set with Pocketwit (couldn’t get it to play nice with my Fuze) but moTweets is a good alternative(www.panoramicsoft.com or Marketplace). I think the free version has a small ad banner but the paid version is worth ever penny of it’s $3.99 cost.
If paid apps are not off limits (Listpro is not free) the Newsbread is a great RSS new reader. Not as pretty as SPB News or SBSH GoNews, or as flashy as some of the Marketplace offerings, like Express News, but its very reliable and fast. You can control exactly what is downloaded and when.
OK, back to free stuff. Easy Shares, at http://www.easyshare.ch or XDA-Developers, to replace your Stocks tab. Excellent app to manage your stock portfolio or just follow market trends.
Paint Now, at XDA -Developers, to edit photos and do all sorts of neat stuff. Or Solar System, at XDA-developers, a simple but graphically excellent app that tells you all about the Planets, Asteroids, Comets, etc. Requires WVGA. Or TypeNote (XDA-Devfelopers) to manage and edit your text files in a nice finger friendly fashion.
Back to paid stuff, SMS-Chat, from http://www.vitotechnology.com, to replace your messaging tab. Excellent app for managing conversation threads. It has a great backup/restore function so moving a couple hundred messages from my Fuze to my Tilt 2, only took a few taps.
Or Pocket Player, at http://www.conduits.com, a great music (and limited video), podcast and web radio player with the absolute best Browser interface I have even used.
SPB TV (now it’s free) at http://www.spbsoftwarehouse.com. Not the best selection of TV channels but it works. And IMDb Mobile, at XDA-Developers, to tap into the Internet Movie Database. Movie trailers and lots of good info.
Or WiFi Remote Access at XDA-Developers or Marketplace to connect any PC to your device via WiFi or BT, to view/transfer photos, view/create SMS messages, use as FTP site or remote access to your device.
For your Home Screen, Today Agenda, at http://www.tiews.info/index.php?show=software%2Ftodayagenda, for a very customizable appt/task agenda view. Or Uptime Meter, at http://ae.inc.ru/uptime.php, to monitor your battery and uptime usage. And Second Today, from XDA-Developers, to add a second Today Screen. And for a couple paid Today Screen goodies: Elecont Dialer to replace your Peoples Tab with a scrolling list of contact icons that you can use to initiate a call or send an SMS and Elecont Launcher to replace your Programs Tab, with a very customizable plug-in that will give you multiple rows of scrolling icson for apps or other deivce functions, including; missed, mail, calls, and SMS.
Think that covers most of your Sense tabs.
Pocket Uno. not a productive application, but i seriously use it everyday.
Good post!
I’ve been through almost any shells and custom UIs available for WM. I’ve used – or tried for an extended period – HTC Home (in the old days), TF3D, Sense, Mobile Shell, Winterface and PointUI Home. I’ve customized and played with most of them. But in the end, I keep returning again and again to my old WM today screen with my favorite plugins:
– Spb Pocket Plus (still a powerful plugin after > 5 years!)
– Spb Diary
Because they’re so much alike, I probably should mention SBSH iLauncher and SBSH PocketBreeze in this context, too.
I’ve done some deep configuration with both and added skins, and my setup keeps me happy.
– SBSH Pocket Weather: Most accurate weather app for my location.
As a music player I use S2P (http://s2p.ac-s2.com/, recently gone commercial at the Market Place) or Nitrogen (http://code.google.com/p/microfi-nitrogen/) simply because I like their UIs.
Screen Lock: Definitely S2U2! (http://s2u2.ac-s2.com/). I keep my device in a stand at work, and I can check incoming Emails and texts with the screen locked. I can display weather from a variety of sources, and I can even control music playback from S2P without unlocking the device. Great for in-car use, too.
And finally, another daily driver: smartWatchM (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=362218), paired my device with a SE MBW-150. Inconspicuously check incoming messages and calls while in a conference, or control music playback from the sofa without even the need for an extra remote. Brilliant.
N.
Fusion GPS Fix…i uses this app using the lastest nrg rom for my HD2 and I get GPS locks within 30 seconds…
The OnMarket app….what can i say…the easiest way to get more apps on your phone.
Bible Surfer..easy to use, multiple translations available
BTest…easy way to get music into your bluetooth wirelessly.
Shubaroo Group SMS…..self explanatory…
One question I have for any HD2 users….does anyone use Seven for their email service? If so, how did you get it to work?
The one app I could never be without when I had my WinMo devices (used this on 8525, Tilt, Fuze and Tilt 2):
Kinoma Play
http://www.Kinoma.com
IMO it’s the absolute best media player available for windows mobile. Access to THOUSANDS of internet radio streams, podcasts, rss reader, and more.
It has Flickr, Twitter, Picasa, Youtube, Yelp and more built in, and you can share among those services (example: you can check out a photo on flickr, upload it to your facebook account). Kinoma allows you to email mp3 files directly from the software, as well as upload music and videos ( not all codecs are supported in this instance ) to youtube – at least it did about 4 months ago 😉
Again, couldn’t live without it back then, and if I were to suddenly up and start using winmo again, this would be the first thing I’d load.
It IS the twitter app. Their API is fatally flawed.
TrineFix – I use this to fix up my phone contacts(When I want the names to be displayed as “First Last”
Opera Mobile 10 – It does what I need it to do and loads flash videos when I want to browse youtube.
Skyfire – It can display full versions of websites but really takes up memory and my battery…
Nitrogen Player – The only music player I use because it is light and has a button to turn off the screen without turning off the music.
Facebook – I use this for when I don’t want to open up a browser…
ClearTemp – I use this to free up some memory.
File Explorer extension – Because I use the extra options it offers.
Data Controller – I turn off whatever I don’t need/have(3G and data).
Anyone know a good Bible application? I used to use e-sword but it wasn’t working well with my Fuze(VGA screen) and they’ve also stopped development on the app…
I used moTweets for some time – free edition works really well.
No recommendation on a free Bible app. You can try to use the mobile version of youversion.com, but it doesn’t work all that well. No software version yet. I’ve used Laridian, but that can be expensive. Wondering what will come up with WP7 – surely someone is working on something there.
Second ListPro, PocketInformant, Total Commander
I’d also throw in the latest Bing app – it’s actually pretty nice for WM. Turn by Turn directions, voice search. It may not be the best thing in the world, but it’s pretty good.
I wish I could recommend Evernote, but it’s pretty pathetic for WM – very little functionality other than view.
For those of you looking for a Bible app…try Bible surfer…you can get it from the onmarket app or go to freewarepocketpc.net….great app with multiple translations!
Sorry I’m posting into this late. Skyfire is a must it makes browsing very enjoyable. The above apps are great and I use many of them. There are a couple things that I use alot that are worth mentioning.
I love the IHeartRadio app but it’s not available for WM.
The answer to this is http://www.theStreamCenter.com/pda/ or http://www.tuned.mobi/ . This is so cool because you can stream clearchannel radio stations from anywhere, just type in the call letters. You must use pocket IE or WM IE with the mobile settings. I have a bunch of bookmarks with my favorite stations pre positioned.
The thing that is the most fun to me is this next program that allows you to convert free Android Apps and free Iphone Apps to WM format. I enjoy this link alot and I’m sorry for not posting it sooner. This YouTube video will explain how it works, though I think many people may have already known.
For a Bible reader, look at http://www.olivetree.com for BibleReader. It has lots of options and beaucoup translations and languages available. Many older translations are free; but if you want something like NIV, you’re going to have to buy it. I’ve been using it since the days of my old Palm IIIc and picked up the WinMo version when I migrated to a smartphone. If you’re into academic study, it’s compatible with GRAMCORD. There are also reading plans, atlases, dictionaries, and devotional/inspirational books available for it, too.
I second the earlier nominations of S2U2, Nitrogen, and Skyfire.
MobiPocket (http://mobipocket.com) is great for reading e-books. It’s another program I used since before jumping ship from Palm OS. They distribute free software for converting multiple other formats into their preferred format, so you can convert those .lit, .pdf, .doc, or .txt documents into something perfect for your phone. (MS Lit Reader stinks, by the way.) I think it reads .txt and .doc files as is, anyway.
Oh man. Where to start? Conduits Pocket Player, Pocket Informant, SPB Plus, ListPro are great apps that I use daily. And of course Uno. 🙂
Pocket Player lets me change the speed on my audiobooks (I speed the up as much as 25%) without changing the pitch. It is has so many features!
In addition, Profimail is the best/fastest email tool I have ever used. I tried FlexMail and it is very powerful, but is also slow. Initially I used Flexmail and configured it to look just like my desktop outlook. But then I had and an epiphany, and discovered that my cell phone does not replace my desktop. I did not need a three panel email client with 2 years worth of email history. All I need is two days worth in an easy to read fashion. So ProfiMail is the way to go.
Next is IM+. Their service lets you chat with all the major players (aol, gtalk, yahoo! etc..). But keeping your chat turned on is a huge battery drain. So they have a service that lets you turn off chat on your phone, but keeps it connected on their servers. When someone sends you a message, it can send you an email (which my phone gets pushed instantly on gmail) and I turn on my chat and continue the conversation.
Radar Love is a cool app that shows you looping radar for your area.
Google maps gives me the traffic info so I don’t have to listen to the idiot on the radio and wait for him to decide to get to the traffic.
FreeOTFE4PDA lets you create a hidden and encrypted virtual drive to store your files that contain credit card info – or any other files that you don’t want your spouse finding. Combine it with mortscript and assign it to an icon or button and it is very easy to dismount the drive when you are done.
Speaking of Mortscript, it is the most powerful thing since the bread slicer.
And my smallest but most important two are QuickMenu and WKTask. This makes the WM experience almost like a desktop with cascading start menus and icons for running apps on the top taskbar.
Sorry that I don’t have links, but I don’t have time to scrape them up now, and Google is your friend. If you can’t find some of these, let me know….
@Ken: the resco photo viewer kicks HTC’s Album to the curb. it’s so fast itmakes you think that WM may be a good platform if the software were better;)
I use a lot of what was mentioned above, like
Total Commander
eWallet
Newsbreak
iLauncher
Pocket Breeze
Pocket Weather
recently I got for free Resco Picture Viewer (not sure about the name) this was a free Friday giveaway!!!
tons more….