Review: Winterface

Posted by: dgoldring on Jul 10 2008

For roughly the past year, there has been a raging debate between iPhone users and Windows Mobile users about which platform is better.  In my opinion, there are pros and cons of both, however, I have been extremely interested in watching the debate rage ever forward.  The most fascinating offshoot to me is the way in which the mere presence of the iPhone has forced Windows Mobile and Windows Mobile developers to make drastic changes and improvements, almost overnight.  I am convinced that without the iPhone, there would be no HTC Touch Pro, and the upcoming release of Windows Mobile 7 would be significantly different.

Similarly, without the iPhone, it is highly unlikely that the growing mobile shell genre would have taken off the way it did.  Programs like Spb Mobile Shell, PointUI, and others, now completely replace the outdated and outmoded Today Screen interface with a finger-friendly interface which completely takes over your device, giving you access to all of your necessary applications and information.  The latest offering in this rapidly rowing genre comes from Vito Technology’s iWindows Mobile line.  Vito has done an amazing job of implementing the lessons of the iPhone with the other products in the iWindows Mobile line.

One of the things I like is that iWindows Mobile does not try to turn your Windows Mobile device into an iPhone.  Instead, it takes the best features of the iPhone and employes them in crafting slim, sleek, easy to use, and finger friendly programs.  Not only does their latest offering, Winterface, fit into this concept, it may just be the best one to come out of the iWindows Mobile studios to date.  Hit the jump for a closer look at how Winterface will revolutionize your Windows Mobile interface.

Mobile Shell: The biggest component of Winterface is the all new mobile shell.  And I was excited to give it a try.  I love shells like this, which replace the boring old today screen with something much better.  In this case, a kinetic scrolling screen, waiting to be filled with your applications, settings, and contacts.

The first thing I noticed was that this is not a true shell program, like Spb’s Mobile Shell.  It does not replace the today screen.  Instead, it overlays on top of the today screen.  After a soft reset, therefore, it will not load automatically, which I found to be a bit odd. To activate Winterface, just make a swooping gesture across the screen.  This was a bit of a problem for me, because I have SBSH PocketBreeze installed on my Today Screen.  PocketBreeze tends to intercept my gesture and interpret it as a command for the plug-in  So, I have to be careful where I swoop.  That being said, it is still pretty cool to activate the program with a sweeping gesture, rather than trying to click a tiny button with the stylus.

Once you are into the program, the first thing you will notice are the default icons.  These are actually not icons at all, but tiny status monitors.  Look closely at the battery icon in the top row there, and you will notice that it is accurately reflecting the status of your battery.  Same thing for the clock, memory, calendar, and others.  Likewise, the email and SMS icons will show you whether you have any new mail.  I was surprised, however, to find that there was no voicemail indicator.  The phone icon will change to show a missed call, but none of the icons will show whether a new voicemail has been received.  I also found it odd that tapping the missed call indicator took you to the phone dialing screen, instead of the call log.

One thing to note about these default icons, however, is that you can only use them to access the built-in applications.  In other words, the calendar will access Outlook, the email will access Outlook email, phone opens the default dialer.  There is no way to reprogram these buttons.  So, if you use Pocket Informant and FlexMail (both from WebIS) then you are just plain out of luck here.  You will have to open those programs manually.

OK.  I can see the funny looks on your faces.  You are saying, but Doug.  You said this program was a launcher.  The whole thing is already filled with icons.  How can we launch anything?  Well, not so fast, my friend.  You see, what you get is much more than what you see.  Winterface is not a single screen.  Instead, it is a series of screens, called pages.  Although I felt pages was a bit of a misnomer.  It is really like one long sliding sheet, but you could only see a small portion of it at a time.  Either way, flicking your finger left and right will cause the screen to scroll.  See those dots at the bottom?  Those will show which page you are currently viewing.  It gives you a little extra help when navigating.  I also would have expected these dots to allow you to jump from one page to the next.  So, if you knew the item you needed was on page 5, the dots should have allowed you to jump from your current location to page 5.  This was not the case.  Instead, you will still have to scroll with the fingerflicking until you reach the correct page.

Other than flicking and swooping your way through the picture, you can also use finger gestures to drag and drop your icons and arrange them however you want.  Just tap and hold in the corner until the icons start jiggling (yes, jiggling).  Then grab the “x” which will appear in the corner and drag the icon to any position, even on a different page.

Of course, in true modern fashion, all of this is happening on top of a plain black background.  Hello iPhone and HTC, I suppose.  Personally, I was never a huge fan of the plain black background.  It would be nice if users could adjust the background color, or even add their own background pictures to each page.

Locking: When your phone goes to sleep, you will notice that it wakes up to a pretty nifty locking screen.  This screen has a nice sized clock with the date, as well as a very faint top bar(is there a reason it had to be so hard to see?)  I liked this top bar, which showed your signal strength, phone profile, and battery indicator.  Perplexingly, it also showed the time.  Since you can only see this top bar when the locking screen (with the giant clock) is activated, the second clock on the top bar made little sense.  I thought it was pretty cool the way this screen hovered over your front page of Winterface, so you could see the icons behind it.  A nice touch.

To unlock your phone, just slide the button across the unlock bar.  I did notice two significant lags in this unlock feature, which made it a bit frustrating.

• When you initially wake up your phone, it will not go immediately to the lock screen.  Instead, it will flash to the last page you viewed while the settings load (just a second or two) and then go to the lock screen.  Depending upon what you were viewing, this could pose a bit of a security or privacy concern.
• Additionally, if you try to unlock the phone too quickly after the lock screen appears, nothing will happen.  You need to give it a few second before it becomes responsive.

These lags, while annoying, where also not out of the ordinary for Windows Mobile devices.  I had the exact same problem when using the popular freeware application Slide 2 Unlock along with Spb’s Mobile Shell.

Launcher: A shell just wouldn’t be a shell if you could not access all of your critical applications with it.  And that is exactly what Winterface allows you to do.  Using the launcher component, you can add any installed application, settings, or contacts to your Winterface pages.

The interface for adding applications and settings was extremely easy to use.  Just scroll through the alphabetical lists, checking any applications you wish to add.  Then, click done and the applications or settings will be bulk added.  Very nice.  I have used some similar programs which require you to scroll through and add each program individually.  This can be quite a daunting and time consuming task.  One thing I really liked here was that no matter what you are doing, you are never more than one button click from your main Winterface page.  No getting buried in submenus of submenus here.  That kind of easy access really goes a long way toward making the program attractive to advanced users and beginners alike.

Contacts works much the same way, with a scaled down version of FunContact included as part of the program.  Just scroll through the contacts list using the alphabet ribbon on the right.  In this way, you can jump immediately to the first letter of the person’s name.  From here, however, you will have to scroll through all of the entries starting with that letter until you find the one you are seeking.   Unlike other programs, there is no way to further refine the search by entering additional letters.

Contacts: One of the real questions I had for the program was how it would handle contacts.  I mean, sure you can slap your contact onto one of the pages and have quick access to that person.  But many of my contacts have a several phone numbers and email addresses.  Which one will it choose?

I need not have worried.  When you select a contact, a contact overlay will appear.  This screen (which is semi transparent like the lock screen) will display all of your contact’s phone numbers and email addresses.  Just scroll through the list and tap on the one you wish to use.

One thing I really liked here was that unlike most contact managers, you can actually send an email from here.  Many contact managers will allow you to place a phone call or text message, but not email.  I really appreciated this extra functionality.

I did notice, however, that there is no way to access the person’s mailing address.  There are many instances in which I want quick access to someone’s mailing address for any number of reasons.  It would have been nice if the mailing address had been included in this screen, or if there has simply been an option to open the full contact information.

Task Manager: The final component of Winterface is the task manager.  Task Management has been a significant sore spot for Windows Mobile users since…well, since the dawn of the platform.  As long as there has been Windows Mobile, task management has been a real problem.

I really liked Winterface’s approach to this problem.  Just tap the Running programs icon and you will open the task manager.  Again, this is a floating overlay (a touch which I really enjoy in this program) which will show all of your running programs.  To switch to a different program, just tap the icon.  To stop any program, just tap the red stop button on top of the icon.  I thought this was a great approach.  It is simple, yet effective.

What’s Missing: For all that Winterface could do, I felt that the program fell far short of its potential.  There were a lot of actions I felt it should have been able to perform which were not included.  For example:

• You cannot access a weather forecast from within the program.  With the abundance of dynamic icons, there should have been one for weather.  Vito does not currently offer a weather application, however, the free application Slide to Unlock is able to draw data from a number of popular weather programs.  There is no reason Vito could not have done the same.
• There is no way to add files to the pages.  Only properly loaded icons, settings, and contacts can be added.  I can think of numerous occasions in which you might want to have ready access to a document, media file (such as a video or music), or even an Internet favorite.  Additionally, some programs are not loaded via ActiveSync or cab.  Instead, you simply copy and paste the files into your device’s memory.  Such programs, however, do not appear on the applications list.  As such, there would be no way to add them to your pages.   This is a function which absolutely must be added in a future version.
• There are also many occasions in which it might be nice to add a today screen plugin to your Winterface pages.  For example, to view news feeds, weather forecasts, or even your tasks.  This may be a less important feature request, but it is something I would like to see in a future version.
• Finally, there is no way to manipulate the icons on your pages.  You cannot rename them.  You cannot change the icon image.  The truth is, most of us would never think to do such a thing.  However, I think Vito is missing a significant audience of people who like to manipulate every nook and cranny with icon packs and new images.  The ability to change the look of an icon, again, is not a significant feature request, but would be a nice addition to the program.

Conclusion: I have to say that I was extremely impressed by Winterface.  It is simple and easy to use, yet it is also ready to become a powerful tool on your device.  I say ready to become, because I look at this as much more of a starting point than a finished product.  This is a program with a lot of potential, which has just barely begun to be recognized.  I pointed out some of the features which I felt were missing and I am sure you could find more.  Winterface is a rare program, however, that I think could easily add numerous features and become considerably more powerful, without significantly increasing the complexity of the program, due to the fantastic job Vito has done designing the core of this program.  I have tested pretty much the entire iWindows Mobile line, and I have to say that while I thought they were all good programs, none of them impressed me as much as Winterface.  I think Vito has a real winter…er…winner on its hands with this one, and I cannot wait to see what will be included in future versions.

Vital Stats:

Name: Winterface

Version: 1.01

Developer: Vito Technologies (iWindows Mobile)

Test Platform: Sprint Mogul (PPC-6800) with Windows Mobile 6.0

Also Available: Windows Mobile 5

Trial: 14 days

Price: $19.95

Where to Buy:     iWindows Mobile

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