GLOBAL – As our phones become more like computers, our expectations of how they ought to behave have risen in all kinds of ways. Perhaps one of the key ways this happens is in the area of customisation. The idea of a one-size-fits-all interface is quickly becoming quaint, a relic from a bygone era. And we’re not just talking ringtones and wallpapers anymore. Users today expect as much control of their phone’s inner workings as they do of their laptop.
So, for me, the highlights of the Ovi Daily App blog last week were Auto On and Profile+. They control what happens automatically when you power on your phone and switch profile, respectively. Both work with S60 3rd Edition and S60 5th Edition devices from Nokia.
Auto On is made by Migital and costs $2.99. As the name suggests, it starts other applications automatically when you power-up your device. Activating it brings up a list of all the applications you’ve installed, plus the native applications including settings widgets. You can put a tick next to the ones you want to start automatically. Whether or not this is a useful thing depends on your individual use of your phone’s wider functionality. If you use your device’s camera several times a day, or your instinctive habit is to check into Twitter and Facebook whenever there’s a spare moment, then you’ll save several seconds on every power-up.
Even more versatile, Profile+ from CEALogs ($0.99) does automatic app launching on a profile change. You might, for example, set up a ‘Driving’ profile that not only switches on the loudspeaker, but automatically launches OviMaps ready to give you directions.
Unfortunately, though, the program can’t close applications – so you can’t just instantly switch from your ‘Driving’ suite of apps to your ‘Meeting’ suite to your ‘Social Networking’ suite. Well, you can: but if you do, you’ll end-up opening more and more applications. Kevin at Daily App points out that there’s a security risk in allowing a third-party application the level of control required to switch off apps, but it’s one that I, too, would be prepared to accept for this degree of versatility. Here’s looking forward to the next iteration of this handy utility.
image credit: planegeezer