It might actually be the Ultimate Launcher

By Alli Flowers, posted Saturday, Jul. 26th, 2008
Reader Comments: 10

Two weeks with my Windows Mobile Treo 800w, and every day I get it one step closer to the simplicity I had with POS. Apart from my instant adversary, ActiveSync, my largest obstacle has been coping with the today screen - whence all originates and terminates.

I have spent weeks scouring the forums and reading all the "What does your Treo 800w today screen look like" threads from ppcgeeks to Treo Central. I knew that with a little effort and a lot of help from Google I could recreate my beloved POS screens.

I almost jumped for joy when I saw Ultimate Launcher for the first time. And despite the fact that the webpage was in German, I knew this was exactly what I'd been hoping for.

I realize Windows Mobile is trying to give you a more Windows desktop like experience, but most people like shortcuts on their desktops. And I like big bold icons that old eyes can see on my smartphones! I didn't want to have to scroll every time I wanted to see something on my Today page, and I didn't want to have to go to the Start button every time I wanted to launch an application.

Ultimate Launcher gives me the best of all possible worlds. I can put all the icons I want into tabs, and arrange them however I want: big, small, with letters, without letters. I can create tabs that hold nothing but Today plugin information, like my week's agenda/tasks or the weather. I can do all of this without leaving the Today screen. And I can pop from tab to tab with the swipe of my finger or stylus. iPhone fanboys, eat your hearts out!

Here's a little video I prepared showing you what it looks like. Keep in mind that my finger was sliding smoothly across that little 320x320 screen every time the cube turns to a new view.

You may be able to tell that there are a few little issues with Ultimate Launcher running on the 320x320 Treo 800w screen. A few of the menu screens extend lower than the screen, and have no scroll bars to see what is there. Fortunately, there are enough options available without seeing the few invisible options to keep anyone happy. (Most of them you can see in the screen shots on Daniel Schumann's website, and you can actually get to them by using the 5-way nav pad.)

As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts, and the MobilityToday forums are waiting!

Yea, the auto updates are not working on my Wing either. It seems that the Nice Touch is buggy as well.

Posted by Physboy, Monday, Jul. 28th, 2008

Still using HiNavigator. The weather issue has not been corrected and no matter what the developer says, it doesn't work on my Cruise the way it should. I am willing to do the manual update when necessary since the rest of the interface surpasses what is offered by the HTC plug in.

Edit: Using the 1.6 Beta version now.

Posted by JNGold, Sunday, Jul. 27th, 2008

What about HiNavigator? Are you still using that? I hear the Weather issue has been resolved as of 1.5.2 and the 1.6 beta for the today component is out too. I do like the weather implementation from HTC better though, since it ties in directly with Accuweather and has measurements exactly for my city.

Posted by Physboy, Sunday, Jul. 27th, 2008

Software like this is all the more reason why more WM devices need to be bezel-free. :) I tried ultimate launcher for a bit but always go back to the HTC type today plug-in.

Posted by JNGold, Sunday, Jul. 27th, 2008

Great job Alli! I think the real thing to remember here is that we all have to be patient with our new Treo's. Given time, developers will get there software updated to work correctly with our screens. Having either used or played with several windows mobile devices, this is by far the fastest version of 6.1 I have tried. I think Palm still has work to do, but out of the box vs. other 6.1 devices I've used or played with this phone rocks! So all that being said, to know Alli like I do, and for her to actually *like* a WM Treo, thats saying a whole lot! lol Keep up the good work girl!

Posted by silversurfer20, Sunday, Jul. 27th, 2008

WM5 was really bad. It deserved the beating it got. Palm OS had/has it over windows in many ways. SIMPLICITY. This is why Apple is so popular. Regardless of it's problems it's what they strive for. If Palm OS could (among other things) multitask and had better graphics out of the box, windows would probably fade away. BUT WM6/6.1 improved SO MUCH over 5 that for those of us who love to tinker/change/improve/trick/ and have fun with our devices AND use WM OS to make things simpler, (and ultimately have most of it's operating system invisible and in the background) it's a system we see great hope for it's continued evolution and growth. I STILL love Palm OS, and still have hope for it. But in the meantime WM6.1(and my 800W) is my avenue for phone and fun in the sun.

Posted by Perry Gonzalez, Sunday, Jul. 27th, 2008

Alli, WM isn't that bad at all. It just needs to be updated to keep up with the times. For example PIE is definitely outdated! I think the UI also needs to be optimized for better touch navigation as well. I also wish that they would make Mobile Office more powerful. It's sad that I have to purchase third-party software to view Microsoft Office documents correctly. Anyways, I'm shocked that you are getting used to WM this fast. I know when I tried the PalmOS out for a week or so, I definitely didn't like it. I had to go back to WM! LOL

I tried this app out, and it's definitely worth it!

Posted by Michael Herald, Sunday, Jul. 27th, 2008

Either WM has improved, or it's not as bad as people have been saying. I have very few complaints.

Posted by Alli Flowers, Saturday, Jul. 26th, 2008

Thanks Alli its amazing how quick you are getting used to WM!!

Posted by David Ciccone, Saturday, Jul. 26th, 2008

Nice Alli! I will have to give it a try.

Posted by Michael Herald, Saturday, Jul. 26th, 2008

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