new app to fill the holes of ppc2k2

[smittyofdhs]

get on over to http://www.pocketgear.com/software_detail.asp?id=6846 and check out Pocket Plus 1.0

If this app does what it says it will, then there will be dancing in the streets tonight for all ppc2k2 and ppcpe users

[MLO]

Thanks! I'm a pretty adventurous user; I'll try it out now.

MLO

[smittyofdhs]

I just spoke with Jason Dunn who now works for SPB and he says it works pretty good and is transparent to the user. I can't wait to get my sx56 back from ppctechs. First I 'll have more memory; second my new vaja case is on the way; and third this great new app.... yes!

[MLO]

The "true close" feature is great. I'm considering buying it for that alone. The integrated program bar is okay, but does not include options to add your own shortcuts, nor does it include shortcuts to control panel applets. I don't use IE that much at all, so I couldn't say anything about the multiple window function

[Matt Cassidy]

I am going to give it a shot. Have there been any issues on anyones machines yet? I'm going to put it on my Genio e550...fingers crossed!

[RickP in AZ]

The only issue I have found so far after using it for 30 minutes is that when you have the "Close Button" (task manager) option is turned on, tapping the clock to show the next program feature is broken. Turn off the Close Button and the feature returns.

Running on an iPAQ 3875 w/ EUU3

More reports later.

[Matt Cassidy]

The only issue I have found so far after using it for 30 minutes is that when you have the "Close Button" (task manager) option is turned on, tapping the clock to show the next program feature is broken. Turn off the Close Button and the feature returns.
I am using it on my Genio e550 and if i tap next to the clock it will still do next appt and time and that is with the Close Button option turned on.

[RickP in AZ]

You are right. Tapping *between* the clock and the "X/ok" icon. Ok, one problem solved...

(Though I will still most likely turn off the "Close Button" option and run vBar in its stead. I like the 2 icon approach a bit better.)

(Posted very sleepily via PPC...)

[nightline]

Just purchased and installed it on my new h5455. Working great, I have wanted many of these features.

[Dave Beauvais]

I used this software for about half an hour and purchased it. I rarely purchase software so quickly when there is a nag-free trial period, but this single US$10 program is great! It still has a few rough edges, but if they stopped development on it today, I'd be happy. I love the fact that no extra (or visually modified) buttons are added to the navigation bar; actually, the whole suite of software integrates very seamlessly with the Pocket PC 2002 UI, right down to adding an options icon to the System tab of Settings.

Wish List: Allow tapping on the clock -- not to the right of it -- to bring up the "Next Appointment" bubble.

The frontlight brightness quick adjustments don't work on my Toshiba e740. It would be nice if it worked, but since tapping on the light bulb takes me to the brightness control panel, I can live with this.
EDIT: The quick adjustment do work! They are for brightness settings while on battery; when I was testing/playing with the software, I had my e740 on AC power. Actually, this is great since I change brightness settings most often while on battery since lighting changes depending on the environment I'm in at the time.

I'd love to have the ability to add folders to the application shortcuts on the Today screen. For example, instead of having to waste Today screen real estate for an icon for each game in the "Games" folder, simply have an actual "Games" folder that pops open when clicked and closes when a program is selected.

The "Close program by gesture" or "Minimize program by gesture" options do not seem to work very well if the "Context menu" (task manager) option is enabled. You have to drag downward from the "X" button before the red "tap-and-hold ring" starts to form or it won't work. I guess I could get used to this, but it took me a while to figure out how to get it to work. Adding more time between the moment the stylus taps the "X" to the start of the downward drag would help immensely.

Pocket Plus does not seem to be capable of closing ActiveSync. Even from the context menu, "Close" is grayed out. Scott Seligman's PocketNav (http://www.scottandmichelle.net/scott/cestuff.html) could do this. It also has problem closing SPB's own Freecell game; it takes repeated presses of the "X" to get it to close. :)

An option to alphabetically sort the program shortcuts would be nice.

A pop-up menu item in IE to open a link in a new window would be great!
Thank you to SPB for another great piece of affordably-priced software!

--Dave

[Pony99CA]

A pop-up menu item in IE to open a link in a new window would be great!

Southway's MultiIE (http://www.southwaycorp.net) will do this (and more -- like allowng you to view where the link will go).

Speaking of which, I was wondering if Pocket Plus would have any conflicts with MultiIE, as they both install an icon in the Pocket IE toolbar.

Steve

[MLO]

So far so good. The only problem is that Microsoft Reader appears to run noticeably slower when the app is enabled.

I haven't tested other apps to see if this is the case; I'll report back if I notice anything different.

So far this is great. I'll probably wait a couple more days before registering to make absolutely sure there are no kinks.

By the way, someone should send this in as a front page mention. This is some good stuff!

MLO

[smittyofdhs]

So far so good. The only problem is that Microsoft Reader appears to run noticeably slower when the app is enabled.

I haven't tested other apps to see if this is the case; I'll report back if I notice anything different.

So far this is great. I'll probably wait a couple more days before registering to make absolutely sure there are no kinks.

By the way, someone should send this in as a front page mention. This is some good stuff!

MLO

I already did send this in for front page, according to the respnse it will be up today.

[analog_chainsaw]

So far I'm impressed by this program. I don't really enjoy programs that kind of "sit on top" of the OS interface or completely modify it. I like the way PocketPlus integrates with the interface and doesn't clutter up my system. Looks like I may be buying this one...

[Mark R Penn]

One question - has anyone found a way to get the task manager to work using a hardware button? I need this to close/minimise my full screen GPS app.

Cheers,

Mark

[bgate]

Does anyone else have this installed on a Dell? I can't seem to get the screen brightness to work. Am I just missing something? It is not chrging in the cradle, I saw that prior post and verified that I was attempting to configure out of the base.

[bgate]

Agenda Fusion users. Are you experiencing crashes with Pocket Plus? If I let the PPC go to sleep, it crashes on startup.

V 1.1 of Pocket Plus
V 4.82 of Agenda Fusion

[analog_chainsaw]

Does anyone else have this installed on a Dell? I can't seem to get the screen brightness to work. Am I just missing something? It is not chrging in the cradle, I saw that prior post and verified that I was attempting to configure out of the base.

I can't seem to get it to work either. I didn't spend a ton of time messing with it, but initial attempts didn't seem to do anything.

[goirish!!]

Just got an email from Spb concerning some up coming feature additions:

Reoccuring Task alarms

Memory card meters

Organized launchers; folders with short cuts contained inside - similar to the feature in Scott Launcher v1.3

Due out in two to three weeks. :D

[Wiggin]

Good little app. Nice addition to the utility set of apps I use to manage the iPaq. Only problem I can see (or complain about... or request for a future improvement :wink: ) is that the quick launch context menu only shows 3 running applications to select from...regardless of how many apps are running!! :x Kinda defeats the purpose n'est pas??
Oh well, I'm sure they'll get on it one of these days soon!
Cheers

[smittyofdhs]

here's a neat little feature that I don't think has been mentioned. Go to the today screen, and tap-n-hold where the X would normally be in the upper right hand corner? you've got the task manager ability all the time, not just when an app is open.

[goirish!!]

I really like this program so far, and barring a MAJOR melt down will buy it before the 15-day trial runs out. The support seems to be excellent as well; I have emailed them twice and received a reply almost immediately.

One thing I was wondering about that I have not seen mentioned is the lack of icons for open programs. I may be answering my own question, but is this due to the fact that the program does not run in the same manner as say Wisbar does across the entire top of the screen? So far that is really the only thing that I am missing. Would that cause the program to take up too much memory space thus defeating the purpose? Or is it that the developer wants this to be as seamless as possible?

Any thoughts on these things?? :?: :?:

[smittyofdhs]

I really like this program so far, and barring a MAJOR melt down will buy it before the 15-day trial runs out. The support seems to be excellent as well; I have emailed them twice and received a reply almost immediately.

One thing I was wondering about that I have not seen mentioned is the lack of icons for open programs. I may be answering my own question, but is this due to the fact that the program does not run in the same manner as say Wisbar does across the entire top of the screen? So far that is really the only thing that I am missing. Would that cause the program to take up too much memory space thus defeating the purpose? Or is it that the developer wants this to be as seamless as possible?

Any thoughts on these things?? :?: :?:

when you say no icons do you mean across the taskbar at the top, or in the context menu that appears when doing a tap-n-hold on this app?

[goirish!!]

I really like this program so far, and barring a MAJOR melt down will buy it before the 15-day trial runs out. The support seems to be excellent as well; I have emailed them twice and received a reply almost immediately.

One thing I was wondering about that I have not seen mentioned is the lack of icons for open programs. I may be answering my own question, but is this due to the fact that the program does not run in the same manner as say Wisbar does across the entire top of the screen? So far that is really the only thing that I am missing. Would that cause the program to take up too much memory space thus defeating the purpose? Or is it that the developer wants this to be as seamless as possible?

Any thoughts on these things?? :?: :?:

when you say no icons do you mean across the taskbar at the top, or in the context menu that appears when doing a tap-n-hold on this app?

I was actually referring to the taskbar at the top. I see that they appear as the app name in the tap-n-hold drop down which for me is quite sufficent.

Maybe just a matter of getting use to the differences in the programs.

Even with this difference I think it is one of the best apps I have tried in some time.

[smittyofdhs]

I was actually referring to the taskbar at the top. I see that they appear as the app name in the tap-n-hold drop down which for me is quite sufficent.

Maybe just a matter of getting use to the differences in the programs.

Even with this difference I think it is one of the best apps I have tried in some time.

Wisbar actually skins the entire taskbar and that's why it can display those icons, this app is merely just a task switcher/closer. I agree though this is a great app, mainly because of it's transparent integration with the OS.

[Dawson]

Being new to the PocketPC (Had my Axim for 3 days now). I was wondering what made this program better than Wizbar. I only need it for the close feature. ( I use Battery Pack for the other features ) Is there a down side to Wizbar that I am not seeing. Thanks.

[dcharles18]

Being new to the PocketPC (Had my Axim for 3 days now). I was wondering what made this program better than Wizbar. I only need it for the close feature. ( I use Battery Pack for the other features ) Is there a down side to Wizbar that I am not seeing. Thanks.

Wisbar and its several clones take over the entire startbar, so notifications (new messages, connection, battery warning etc) are blocked. The advantage of pocket plus is that it is not taking over anything, simply altering the function of the 'X' to make it do what it should have in the first place.

[Dawson]

Thank you for your response, dcharles18.

WizBar does have a Display Notifications and Conection Status setting. And I just love the way WizBar makes the StartBar look.

[dcharles18]

The settings are there, but they are not very functional as of yet.

[Dawson]

I did not know that they were not functional. Thanks again.

[dcharles18]

No problem. I do like wisbar's skinning ability. I have some Christmas buttons on mine right now.

[Pony99CA]

Wisbar and its several clones take over the entire startbar, so notifications (new messages, connection, battery warning etc) are blocked. The advantage of pocket plus is that it is not taking over anything, simply altering the function of the 'X' to make it do what it should have in the first place.

It's funny, but four days before this thread was started, I posted a suggestion to have the close icon behave similarly. See the "What I don't like about Pocket PCs" thread (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5500&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=31).

Steve

[Unreal32]

Wisbar and its several clones take over the entire startbar, so notifications (new messages, connection, battery warning etc) are blocked. The advantage of pocket plus is that it is not taking over anything, simply altering the function of the 'X' to make it do what it should have in the first place.

It's funny, but four days before this thread was started, I posted a suggestion to have the close icon behave similarly. See the "What I don't like about Pocket PCs" thread (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5500&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=31).

Steve

Why is that funny? Lots of people have suggested this from the very beginnings of the PPC Operating System. I've seen at least three threads here that suggested the same. What is surprising is that it took this long for a solution!

[Duncan]

Wisbar and its several clones take over the entire startbar, so notifications (new messages, connection, battery warning etc) are blocked.

Lots of people have suggested this from the very beginnings of the PPC Operating System. I've seen at least three threads here that suggested the same. What is surprising is that it took this long for a solution!

vBar - based on WisBar but stripped right down to X and task manager functionality - is free, has offered 'X' functionality for a long time, is only 21K and unnoticeable in terms of resources used.

Nothing against PocketPlus - just wanted to put in the correction!

[guilmon]

There are freeware programs out there that give you some of this functionality for the start bar, like Icbar http://icbar.ictinus.com/ . I don't really like this program too much so I uninstalled, and I don't recommend it to people who like to save cash.

[Pony99CA]

Wisbar and its several clones take over the entire startbar, so notifications (new messages, connection, battery warning etc) are blocked. The advantage of pocket plus is that it is not taking over anything, simply altering the function of the 'X' to make it do what it should have in the first place.
It's funny, but four days before this thread was started, I posted a suggestion to have the close icon behave similarly. See the "What I don't like about Pocket PCs" thread (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5500&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=31).

Why is that funny? Lots of people have suggested this from the very beginnings of the PPC Operating System. I've seen at least three threads here that suggested the same. What is surprising is that it took this long for a solution!
I thought the coincidental timing was amusing (i.e. funny). That's why I mentioned the "four days". I suppose if you've seen this suggestion many times, it's less amusing. :-)

As for the suggestion being made in the past, it doesn't surprise me; it does seem rather obvious. I wasn't claiming that I had some unique insight, just that I have some experience as a user interface designer, and I made a suggestion to seamlessly integrate closing applications into the Pocket PC OS. I honestly don't recall having seen it before, but I may have, and simply remembered it subconsciously (but how can I know? :-)).

Steve

[goirish!!]

I have been following this thread and have posted some comments concerning Pocket Plus, and I have a few questions for those who do not like the program:

1: Why is this app not better than running several similar programs?

2: Does this single app not take up less memory than running several apps?

3: For the purchase type(non-free) apps does the cost factor of the single not out weigh the cost of the many?

These are not meant to be questions to attack anyone's point of view, I am just looking for reasons that would not make Pocket Plus the better choice.

I have seen several posts where single parts of Pocket Plus are "picked apart" as substandard when compared to task specific task apps. I think that the whole purpose of this thread was to introduce a NEW app that took up some of the slack in the M$ OS. I have used virtually every free app and many on trial that do what this one program accomplishes.

Let's not forget that this is the first real build for Pocket Plus, and not a bad start at that. There is room for improvement but for the $10 cost you get way more than anyone else is offering in a single program (as far as I know). Let's not forget how far PI and AF have come. I'm glad that they weren't shot down by saying "You can use several different M$ apps to get similar results".

I'm not trying to open up a can of worms here; I just see where there are several new PPC owners posting for information and I really think this program should be given a serious look by anyone who wants a Launcher, Task Killer, Repeating Alarms, System Status Meters, Multi IE windows, and whatever else they decide to throw in. I have been using a PPC since May of 01(EM500) and Pocket Plus seems to have their finger on our needs if we support their project. Of course this is JMO.

[wbgordy]

I've been putting this program through its paces and think its a fine program. My only beef is I wish Spb offered the individual parts of the program individually. Let me explain: I love the close feature, the multi explorer windows, and the repeating alarms, but the today screen add-on is just too much for my already cluttered today screen. I know I could disable that feature, but triming and offering PocketPlus as its individual parts would help save some space for me. Well, that's my $.02.

[goirish!!]

I've been putting this program through its paces and think its a fine program. My only beef is I wish Spb offered the individual parts of the program individually. Let me explain: I love the close feature, the multi explorer windows, and the repeating alarms, but the today screen add-on is just too much for my already cluttered today screen. I know I could disable that feature, but triming and offering PocketPlus as its individual parts would help save some space for me. Well, that's my $.02.

That might be a suggestion for SPB: Set the program up as a series of plugins, or have a base program and plugins for a dollar each. That would be interesting. I don't know of a program out there that does that. New marketing angle? :wink:

[Johnny Blaze]

Wisbar and its several clones take over the entire startbar, so notifications (new messages, connection, battery warning etc) are blocked.

I guess you aren't running Wisbar. Wisbar does show notifications, battery warning, and connection status. Please don't frown upon it if you havent tried it. Yes the old discontinued version doesn't do these things but the current version distributed free by Pelmar is very nice fully skinnable right down to the battery meters.

I actually think SPB Pocket Plus compliments Wisbar. For me these are 2 must have apps. Yes I also believe the individual components are substandard also. But as individual components you see similar stuff going for $5 so getting all for $10 is quite a deal not to mention it is the first release so its only going to get better.