Moving to Symbian S60: More Third-Party Applications

After many years as a Palm OS user, at the beginning of this year I switched to a Nokia N75 smartphone running Symbian S60. This is a big undertaking, and I know it's one plenty of other people are contemplating too, so I'm doing a series of editorials on my experiences.

The last time I tested some third-party applications for my Nokia N75, I was looking at software that would just get me to a point of basic productivity. If you will, it was a matter of applications needed so that I could get comfortable with an unfamiliar device and platform.

It's been a bit since that search, and now my look at applications is more about smoothing out some performance issues, as well as just having some fun.

User Experience Enhancement Applications

Applications that help improve the overall user experience have been a main area of search for me. As I have a good deal of real-estate on the Active Standby screen, I've been looking at programs and widgets that might streamline a few things.

AutoProfiles: AutoProfiles is an application by the developers at Symbian Guru. It allows for automatic control of profiles by looking at the calendar events that are going on. For example, if you are at work, Auto Profiles can be set to put your device in an office friendly Meeting profile, rather than keeping it in the Outdoor profile, which is louder and might embarrass you during an important call or meeting.

For me, AutoProfiles has become one of those applications that I just set it and forget it. It just works. There was not much in terms of setting up that I've needed to do, other than install it and turn it on. For an application that aims to improve the user experience of using mobile profiles, this is pretty much as good as it gets.

• AutoProfiles

AfterCall: One of the aspects of taking a phone call that I enjoyed a great deal with my Palm Treo 680 was the application YourCall. It is a utility that activates itself after a call is finished, and allows you to do things such as add a new contact to your address book, add a task or appointment, or even do a reverse 411 lookup on the phone number.

I was pretty excited when Symbian Guru released AfterCall for Symbian S60. It works quite similar to YourCall, though it's not yet as feature packed. It can be set up to activate after incoming, outgoing, missed calls, or a combination of all three. It simply shows a status screen of the call that just happened, including the call duration, date/time of the call, a label to recall the number, send an SMS/MMS, add the contact to your address book, or add the contact to an event (appointment, meeting, task, or memo).

Like Auto Profiles, AfterCall simply works, without much intervention. On my smartphone there's a slightly irritating 2-second delay after the call has ended before it comes up. But that is probably because I am running at least one other high-memory application on my device at a time. This isn't a memory hog, but it does keep me in mind of the many people that call me whom I need to call back.

• AfterCall

SkyeQuiKey: The only real frustration that I have with the N75 had has been getting to various applications. Not that I use a ton, but there are some that I would like to get into quick and be done with. Even though there are the six Active Standby apps, two soft key apps, and then the calendar and music player, there are a few more apps, and definitely contacts, that I would just like to type and go to.

Handy Taskman (covered in the last Moving to Symbian S60 article) can do that with applications, but it requires me to do a long press of the menu button and then begin typing. I was looking for something a bit easier and SkyeQuiKey pretty much does it.

SkyeQuiKey reminds me a lot of TypeRight for Palm OS. Both applications allow you to launch applications and call/message contacts with only one key press from inside nearly any application.

What I like most about SkyeQuiKey is that it fixes one of my main qualms with dialing from the Active Standby screen. Upon dialing, SkyeQuiKey will automatically search your contact list and filter contacts by how you are dialing. Then you simply get a prompt to call or message the contact. Simple. Totally makes making a call or sending a message a lot easier than the default setup.

• SkyeQuiKey

Entertainment Applications

I am still concerned with getting work done, but I've at least gotten to the point where I will have a little bit of fun with my mobile devices. Fortunately, my buzz for fun is well taken care of by the folks at Astraware.

Astraware Boardgames: My idea of gaming on a mobile these days is more about quickness than anything else. If I can get into a game for a fast 5-20 minute run then I'm happy. Astraware Boardgames meets this challenge head on. Very well in fact. I was not sure how it would work on a non-touchscreen device, but I've been very impressed by the control schemes in each of the games. 

If there is anything that I could say is a downside of Astraware Boardgames, it's my device. By this point, I'm already pushing my mobile as hard as it can go, and there are some points in the graphic transitions where it slows for just a moment, then catches up. Thankfully, graphics can be tuned down some, but that does take away some for the fun.

• Astraware Boardgames

Astraware Hidden Expedition: Titanic: This is one of those games where I wish I had more time in the day to play. From the graphics, to the controls, to just the compelling storyline, I really had a hard time not wanting to get too much into Hidden Expedition: Titanic. Nevertheless, I was able to steal some time away from people and work, and shut down my Mobile Web Server, so that I could enjoy one of the better titles for the Symbian S60 platform that's not on N-Gage.

• Astraware Hidden Expedition Titanic

Concluding Thoughts

The Nokia N75 is proving to be every bit as able as my Treo 680 was in terms of using third-party applications to smooth out and extend usage. About the only thing my N75 has not been able to run has been Widset widgets. The operating system falls a release under the latest one supported for those.

Despite that, there's still a lot of software out there, no matter if you are interested in games, voice, or wireless applications. On the S60 side there are more and more applications being made every day. The hard part is just figuring out which ones you want to play with, and which ones to let stay at the top of your most-used column.