WebIS: Sticking With Windows Mobile, Frustrations And All
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I mentioned in my article about SPB and SE that I have faith that Windows Mobile developers will continue to create software for Windows Mobile even if they start to test out the waters with iPhone or Android apps. I was checking on the latest status of Pocket Informant when I came across a blog post from Alex Kac, CEO and Founder of WebIS. WebIS is the company behind great apps like Pocket Informant and FlexMail. They have been one of the top developers for Windows Mobile since I can remember. They recently released Pocket Informant for BlackBerry and are in the process of creating a top-notch Pocket Informant port to the iPhone. Despite branching out into these new environments, Alex has stated that they have no plans to drop Windows Mobile development.
So why are they sticking with Windows Mobile? Here is what Alex had to say:
So here is the absolute truth:
1) We spend more on WinMobile development than on anything else.
2) We make more on Windows Mobile than anything else
3) Looking at the next 6 months (its just stupid to plan past that) we have major investments in Windows Mobile coming.
It makes me all warm and fuzzy inside when I read posts like this. I work for a big company that uses Windows Mobile phones on AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon. They have the options to use other platforms, but Windows Mobile is the most cost effective when it comes to creating in-house software solutions. I am glad to see that other software developers are also able to see Windows Mobile is still going to be a money maker.
Alex also brings up a good point about some of the customizations that companies like HTC add to Windows Mobile devices. After the iPhone was released, a lot of Windows Mobile companies woke up and wanted to cash in on the “Touch/Gesture” craze that the iPhone had created. SPB Software added gesture scrolling into Mobile Shell and Pocket Plus 4, Vito released Winterface which is a gesture based shell replacement, HTC has been developing their TouchFLO UIs that replace the today screen and add gestures, Samsung released a new widget interface with the Omnia, and Sony Ericsson released the new Panel interface with the Xperia X1 (I could have missed a few, but you get the point). We certainly cannot fault any of these companies because we, as the WinMo user community, were begging for someone to improve on the boring Windows Mobile UI and give us some of the fun that our friends using iPhones were experiencing.
This is where some of Alex’s frustrations come in, and understandably so:
The fact is that yes, I’m quite frustrated with the current state of Windows Mobile and mostly frustrated with HTC for writing their shells on top of Windows Mobile without ways to extend them or use them with/within our apps. I am less frustrated with Microsoft because frankly Windows Mobile is good. Its standing still which is a bit of a problem because people want new UIs and we’re stuck with a decision of one of the lesser of two evils.
My hope would be that somehow developers of the shell and UI replacements would follow Sony Ericsson’s lead by releasing SDKs to work with the new interfaces so that other developers could integrate their applications and make the Windows Mobile experience the best possible.
I personally use Pocket Informant on my Tilt as the default PIM, SPB Diary and Weather for my Today screen, and Mobile Shell as my launcher. I really enjoy the look of Today screen and UI replacements like TouchFLO 3D, but it just does not show me what I want as far as tasks and appointments go.
So what about you, do you enjoy the fancy new Today screens/Shells/UIs, or are you a user that just wants the most information they can get on one screen like me?
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I am just like you Brett. I actually enjoy more information on my Today screen instead of icons. But thanks to Windows Mobile, I can have the best of both worlds thanks to launchers like iLaunchers.
So I have a row of icons at the top which expands to show shortcuts to other applications and then I have my next 2 appointments in another row and below that, when my device was last backed up and below that, the date, day and time.
Who said Windows Mobile is static?
I too belong in the “maximize the information/ minimize the steps to get it” fraternity.
My Today Screen runs 3 apps:
phoneAlarm running the Simple Manila skin which shows me the status of all the important phone factors: charge, signal, WiFi, BlueTooth, VoiceMail, SMS, EMail, 3G Connection, current weather and running profile. I can launch my 9 most used apps with 1 touch, 19 most used with 2 touches, switch between running apps and review last calls – with 1 touch.
Below that, I run Pocket Breeze, which gives me a graphic representation of each of the next 6 day’s schedules with the forecast weather for each of those days supplied by Pocket Weather, integrated into the daily Pocket Breeze Graphic.
All my friends with iPhones are amazed at the information to be gained by simply picking up my phone and doing nothing by looking at the today screen.
I’ll be moving from my Tilt to a Fuze next week when ATT launches and I know that I’ll be turning off touch flow – which is just for show – IMO (couldn’t resist).
That sounds like a nice setup, Richard. I need to take a look at Pocket Breeze again to see how it compares to SPB Diary. I do like the weather apps that show the icons, but I also like to see the temps without having to click on anything, especially with the crazy weather going on around here lately (30 to 70 to 40 to 60 to 30).
I hope the Nov. 4th launch date is accurate for the Fuze. If it is, I will hopefully be picking one up too. As nice as TouchFLO is, it will sadly be disabled to give me a nice large VGA view of my weather and daily schedule. Of course I may still use TouchFLO to show off the power of the Fuze because I still think that is better than anything the iPhone has too.
flow…show…I see what you did there
I have more or less the same setup as you have Brett on my HTC Herald.
On my today-screen I have SPB Diary (great app!) and at the bottom PhoneWeaver for my profiles. My left and right bottom-buttons are hidden so my today-screen is just that much bigger.
I also use Mobile Shell as my launcher
It’s nice to know there’s people out there who think like me
PocketBreeze is the only one plugin on my today screen, showing me appointments and tasks for 7 days. My PDA is a productivity tool, I dont need those fancy TouchFlo things, and most applications I use are 2 clicks away inside a PocketBreeze tab running iLauncher.