Once in a while you probably find yourself looking for an application to fit a specific niche. Just occasionally you find something that fits that niche so perfectly that you heave a sigh of relief!
A few days ago I was playing with a new Windows Mobile 6.5 build for my HTC Diamond. Although a nice looking interface, it lacks any means of quickly accessing a favourite program, let alone frequently used settings or files. Application launchers available for the main WM6.5 interface are poor to say the least, and the new 'Start' menu needs repeated scrolling to access some items due to the loss of the scroll bar and recent programs list.
A quick Google search brought up a few program launch applications but most were either incompatible with WM6.5, or added little to the default system. One program that did catch my eye was LaunchPad by Panoramic Software. This was released in May 2009 and the features chart specifically mentioned WM6.5 compatibility. One quick trial download later and I had it installed and operational. So, does it have that 'sigh of relief' factor? Read on to find out!
| Supplier: | Panoramic Software |
| Product: | LaunchPad |
| Platform: | Windows Mobile 5 onwards; Touchsreen devices at all resolutions. |
| Price: | $4.95. Free 2 day trial available. |
| Devices used for review: | HTC Touch Diamond (WM6.5) & O2 XDA Flint (WM6.1). |
With thanks to Patrick Abadi of Panoramic Software for supplying the software.
Introduction
| The purpose of Launchpad is simply to provide a quick and easy method of opening your frequently used applications, settings and files. By default it takes over the Start button at the top left of the Taskbar and on opening presents the user with a grid of definable Shortcut icon hotspots. A slider at the bottom of the screen also allows the user to select from a list of programs and settings, and also to exit the program. The Favorites section also has a slider in its top bar, allowing a second screenful of shortcuts to be accessed. |  |
Installation
The installation file size is about 700KB, and it has to be installed via a PC installer over an Activesync link. The end user agreement is accepted on the PC and again after installation on the device. The two day trial can be download as a PC or CAB file installer.
Although the installer gives the option for the program's location, this is a system program so it is essential to install it to the device's Main Memory. Once installed, the normal Start menu icon is replaced by a PC Windows type icon though this can be reversed in the settings and the program loaded from Programs or assigned to a hardware button. There is also an option to link LaunchPad to the left Soft Key. No soft reset is required after installation unless a soft key link has been selected.
Once the Favorites buttons have been defined, Launchpad uses about 5MB of progam memory. Launchpad runs equally well in Portait or Landscape modes; in the latter, the menu icons are on the left side and the scrollbar or screen select slider on the right.
If the program is purchased after a trial, the developer provides a new fully registered copy of the program that can be installed over the trial version. Currently Handango only supply a PC based installer, though the developer provides them with a CAB installation file as well.
Program updates are installed by downloading a new copy of the program via an Update link on the product page of the developer's website. This can be downloaded as a CAB file or for installation via a PC. The updated file simply overwrites the existing installation though there is currently a small error which returns some of the settings to their default state. This is being addressed by the developer.
Edit: Version 1.3.0 of LaunchPad, which is now available on Panoramic's website has fixed this issue, though it will only be operative from this version onwards.
Using LaunchPad for the First Time
Once installed, the first job is likely to be assigning shortcuts to the Favorites screen, but one can simply use the lower icons to access Programs and Settings directly. The icons are very well designed and are finger friendly. You can tap or drag to select which icon you want, and the animations are smooth and fast. The Programs and Settings screens are presented as a scrolling list which can be navigated in four ways:
- Kinetic scrolling, where a finger drag will move the list proportional to the speed and direction of the dragging.
- Dragging the Scrollbar: As normal, the list can be dragged with the scrollbar, or the upper and lower arrows can be tapped to move the list by three items at a time.
- Touching the Scrollbar: The height of the Scrollbar is proportional to the total list of items, thus touching the bar in the middle will immediately access the midpoint of the list, and so on. I found this to be very effective when populating my Favouites screens as I found myself able to get pretty close to the item I was after with a little practice.
- Keyboard input: This only works in devices with a hardware keyboard, as LaunchPad does not have a Soft Input Panel. When a list screen is open, tapping a letter (or sequence) with the keyboard displays a ghosted image of the letter in the centre of the screen, and the nearest matching item on the list is located.
Once the desired item is visible on screen, a tap selects it. |  |  |
The Favorites Screens
On first use, the Favorites screens are simply presented as a grid of '+' icons. The grid can be 3*3, 4*4 or 5*5 depending on your preference and is selected in the program Options. (If you use an early version of WM6.5 I would advise choosing your grid size at the outset, and keeping to it as I encountered a few glitches when trying to resize the grid after assigning many of my shortcuts, which required a removal/reinstallation of the program. This has not occurred since I updated to a later build of WM6.5.) With the two available Favorites screens there is thus a total of 18, 32 or 50 possible shortcut locations. Each of the two favorites screens can be assigned a title from a list of eleven options.
To assign a shortcut, the simplest method is to tap the '+' sign on the required square. You can also tap the Favorites icon on the bottom bar to spawn a context menu including the option to add a link. The Add Favorite options are:
- Add program link: this opens the Programs list which is navigated as explained above. tapping the required item assigns it to the selected icon. The top item in this list is a Today link which allows a quick return to the Today home screen, as seen in the middle screenshot above.
- Add setting link: this opens the Settings list and operates in exactly the same way as for programs.
- Add file/folder link: this opens up a folder tree view, and allows any folder, or individual file to be selected.
Managing Items
If there is a spare location on the Favorites screen, existing icons can be dragged to a new location. There is no facility for dragging to the other screen. Items can be removed by selecting the icon using the device's direction pad, or simply tapping and holding the icon for 1 second. Once the desired icon is selected, tapping the Favorites icon opens a menu allowing its removal. Once all items are in place, they can be locked by tapping the Favorites icon and selecting Lock Items which places a tick against the Lock Items menu entry. |  |
Options
The Options screen is accessed by tapping the currently active section icon and tapping 'Options' . The Options screen is laid out in sections and allows a fair degree of customisation.
- General: Here the overall colour scheme can be changed, the Start Menu icon can be selected as one of three options and the binding to the Start Menu and to the left Soft Key (a little ambiguously called 'set today screen menu') configured.
- Favorites: Settings for icon size, top slider labels and whether to display the item's name on it's icon.
- Settings: Simply a toggle allowing the Settings screen to display as a full alphabetical list, or to retain the standard Windows Mobile sections.
The only other context menu item is 'Help'. Somewhat unusually these days, Panoramic includes a good local help function, which integrates with the standard Windows Mobile help system.
Pros and Cons
 Excelent functionality |  No CAB file installation for the full version |
| Price | Requires 5-6MB of Program Memory |
| Flexibility | |
| Appearance | |
| WM6.5 compatibility | |
Conclusion
I asked at the start of this review if LaunchPad provided me with that 'sigh of relief' feeling at finding an application that did exactly what I wanted. The answer is an emphatic YES. Despite a couple of small quibbles, which I'm sure will be addressed by the developer before long, LaunchPad does what it sets out to do an an excellent manner. It's price of $4.95 and its comprehensive device support make this a program that could be installed on pretty much any touchscreen device. For me, it has changed WM6.5 from being unusable due to its poor program launching methods, to being a joy to use, and is equally at home on my WM6.1 XDA Flint.
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