HOME
FORUM
MEETINGS
BLOG RSS TouchFLO 3D vs. Spb Mobile Shell - why I think Spb got it right
I was a regular user of Spb Mobile Shell on my previous Windows Mobile devices (Mogul and 6600), but when I upgraded to a Sprint Touch Diamond, it had the built-in TouchFLO 3D user interface, so I stopped using Shell. That was two months ago.
Over the course of that two months, I’ve spent a lot of time working with and customizing TF3D to my liking, and despite all my efforts, I felt that it was still lacking. I’ll give an “A” for eye-candy, but I need more than that - I want substance - functionality that provides the information I need, when and where I need it. That is why I decided to turn off TF3D, install Mobile Shell and see if I would be happier. Know what? I am! Read on…
First off, let me acknowledge that I’m aware everyone has different needs and tastes, so what suits me on a device will not necessarily suit you, and I appreciate that. This is simply my observation and opinion. I will highlight the gaps I feel that Mobile Shell fills, as well as things that I will miss without having TF3D running.
The Now screen vs. Home tab
I think Mobile Shell’s Now panel better provides the information I need at a glance than the Home tab of TF3D. Look at the two screens side-by-side:
At first, I thought the old-fashioned flip clock on TF3D was cool, but I quickly tired of it, since it’s so large. I often found myself flipping the screen up to display the smaller clock, to view more stuff (the view in the screenshot above). Speaking of more stuff, I found it quite annoying that only one All-Day Event will display in TF3D’s Home tab. In my screenshots, I purposely created two All-Day events to illustrate this. Mobile Shell doesn’t display them both on the Now panel, but at least it says there’s one more…! There are days where I have numerous All-Day events, and I want to know that! Attention HTC: feature request! :)
Irritating Crashes
One of the things that got me thinking about switching over to Mobile Shell was how relatively frequently I found TF3D crashing and re-loading. I’d be in the middle of showing off some of that “eye-candy” to someone, when all of the sudden, the screen would go blank for a moment and “Launching TouchFLO 3D” would appear. That is certainly impressive! Another irritating issue was during Send/Receive (on the Message tab of TF3D or in the Messaging app itself), the screen would close and return to the Home tab. What’s that all about?! Mind you, both of these issues are discussed in numerous forums. Also, these issues were seen on the stock TF3D, before I did any customizations.
I decided that solid function (and most importantly, having the info I wanted displayed) was more important than the slick visuals.
Gimme my Today Screen back!
Okay, so I’m old school when it comes to the Today screen. It’s engrained in me since my first Windows CE device back in 1999. But I’m not alone in this! Many people who have TF3D on their devices have resorted to using an app called Second Today, which technically works, but requires so many additional screen taps just to get to essential info, it’s crazy!
Ahh, my Today Screen - that’s what I’m talkin’ about!
I prefer to operate from the Today screen the majority of the time throughout my day. As I mentioned early on, this is all a matter of personal taste and usage needs. You can see in the screenshot above that my Today screen is quite personalized. The point is, I like to have the ability to customize, and while you can tweak TF3D quite a bit, it still is quite limited (in my opinion) and the Today screen is hidden away. Welcome back, Today screen!
Another benefit of having the Today screen back in normal operation is RSS feeds, which I am addicted to. Ilium software’s Newsbreak is built in to the Touch Diamond under the name RSS Hub, and an app like this is meant to be seen on a Today screen.
You can also see that I have Spb Phone Suite installed, which I consider a must-have for a converged device. Yes, the Diamond comes with a simple version of a profile-changing application, but Phone Suite does so much more, and again, it’s an app that shines on a Today screen, not buried beneath a UI like TF3D.
Robust Programs screen
The Programs panel in Mobile Shell just makes sense. Spb put a lot of thought into the layout (obviously a payoff from those surveys they do annually). In my screenshot, you can see at the top, I have 12 of my most frequently used apps. The nice thing is, those could easily be changed to a Setting, a Tool or a Connection, etc - highly customizable, whereas the Programs tab of TF3D only affords what is listed in the Programs menu. Additionally, the bottom portion of the Programs panel includes very intuitive navigation to all sorts of other things - again, highly customizable if you wish. You can still get to the same things with TF3D, but I think it’s grouped together more logically with Shell. This one panel really is a one-stop shop.
Contacts tab - not as flashy, but works better for me
The animated “Rolodex” tab of TF3D looks darned cool, but again, the eye-candy loses appeal when it becomes too cumbersome to quickly pull up a contact. At one point, I had over a dozen contacts listed in the “Rolodex”. Countless times, I would mis-gesture on the screen and accidentally pull up the wrong contact, when I intended to flip the rolodex to the next person! Annoying! Yes, there is the thumbnail scroll area on the right side of the screen, but you have to drag your finger in just the right spot to make that work well. And if you want to pull up someone not listed in your “Rolodex”, you have to tap on All People, which brings up a (pretty nice) scrollable list of your contacts. Given that I have 700+ contacts in my device, I’ve never been a fan of scrolling through all of that. Yes, there is the alpha-scroll feature on the right side of the screen, but all that’s doing is getting you in the general area of where a desired contact is - you still have to scroll up & down and hopefully tap on the correct one (sometimes the screen keeps on moving slowly, and I miss-tap!).
Compare that to the Contacts panel of Mobile Shell. There are 15 slots available for favorite contacts, with the 16th slot designated for pulling up all contacts. This screen is certainly not as flashy as the Rolodex animation, but it works, and works well. I frequently pull up this panel from within any app I’m in by simply dragging downward at a diagonal from the upper left part of the screen (known as Smart Gestures, you can pull up any of the three panels in this fashion). By comparison, if I wanted to pull up a contact in TF3D and I was in another application, I would have to first hit the Home button, then scroll over to the Contacts tab, then I’d still be flipping up & down to find my contact!
As for contacts outside the favorites, I like how Spb incorporated a T-9 keypad which allows you to quickly pull up a desired contact. From that screen, I can pull up any of my 700+ contacts in a snap (or should I say tap!).
Comparison of the Contacts features of TF3D and Mobile Shell
I’d like to add that one thing I love about the Diamond is having Microsoft’s Voice Command already built in, and if I am in a quiet environment, I always use that feature to dial a contact. But in those situations where ambient noise makes Voice Command impractical, I like to have a contacts screen that works well and works fast.
OK, things that are missed
While Mobile Shell provides me with a lot greater UI satisfaction, there are still some items that I miss from not having TF3D running, namely the cool weather tab and the photo tab. They are just very cool eye candy! Mobile Shell’s weather provides good info, but one critical thing it’s missing is the current temp. I really like that feature in the TF3D weather.
There isn’t even a photo feature to Mobile Shell, and the default Pictures and Videos application of Windows Mobile 6.1 is lamer than lame. I really like how you can zoom in on photos with the circle gesture in TF3D, as well as how the images flip with the rotation of the device. Perhaps there is some way to tap into that applet separately?!!! Anyone?! :)
Memory
Some of you might be wondering about memory usage. While I am not an expert in those kind of technical metrics, I took a screenshot of the memory usage with TF3D running, then reset the device and did the same thing with Mobile Shell running. Mind you, with the Mobile Shell setup, I also had other apps running on the Today screen, which contribute to the overall Program memory in use. Again, this is not scientific - I just grabbed some screenshots for comparison!
Conclusion
TouchFLO 3D is a really cool user interface, and I am delighted that HTC has made something that gives Windows Mobile devices a badly needed facelift in a time of steep competition. I look forward to their continued developments (as well as the continued plethora of hardware to choose from!). But at this time, I have to say that Mobile Shell simply provides a superior interface for the way I use my device. Three very logical panels, my Today screen - I’m a happy camper!
Screenshots obtained using SOTI Pocket Controller Professional
Tags: comparison, Spb Mobile Shell, TouchFLO 3D, UI