Database Users

SPB Mobile Shell opinions anyone ?

Has anyone tried ^subj ?
I've just installed that thing on my Vario II, seems to be ... quite cool I'll give it a try for the next 2 weeks ...
link is in here
cheers
w

First impressions: bloody marvelous.
It'll take a few days to put it through its paces.

same here... looks NICE... $30.00 is a bit on the excessive side, but doable

We have been discussing it on HoFo. The consensus is SUPERB APPLICATION, why didn't we think of it first.

HOFO forum? Can you point me in that direction please.
Mobile Shell looks interesting. Might as well give it a spin as the other Spb titles I have on my TyTN are all stable and funtional.

is a cool app but for me it takes way too much today screen space and leaves little for my fav today app spb diary.
the 'show now screen when device wakes up' is the feature i like most.

@WineCape:
HOFO is Howard Forums.

Great great great.
This is fr... AWESOME.
I asked a few developers to integrate a one-finger navigation with big buttons. But it seemed that every developer was happy using his stylus just everywhere.
This application just gives you the "Nokia phone" feeling... I just deleted some components of SpB Pocket Plus (via settings) since they are not needed anymore

I've been using this for a while now and think it is awesome. I wish that my first pda had had this interface, and I believe there is more to come as the app developes.
Fastest, you get the whole screen for Diary if you use it as a tab in shell.
I use it as the first tab, that way it can use the whole screen and is the tab which shows automatically most of the time. Give it a try.

$30.00 is a bit on the excessive side, but doable
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have other SPB products it is much cheaper. I tried it yesterday and think it is a keeper. SPB DIary works great with it.

The thread on HoFo is here: http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?t=1104037&page=1&pp=30
17.99 if you have other SPB Products.

Thank you aadadams!

Very attractive.
Might one be able to achieve similar effects with the freeware app CLaunch?

This was mentioned in the HoFo thread as well. I would say that you can have a similar effect using several programs one of which being cLaunch, but one must admit that the implementation provided by SPB is very nice and the NOW screen is a great addition.

very nice indeed i haven't used diary before but I like this better than pocketplus to a degree...if i can get the mem status on the today screen cha ching

marisa4755 said:
Fastest, you get the whole screen for Diary if you use it as a tab in shell.
I use it as the first tab, that way it can use the whole screen and is the tab which shows automatically most of the time. Give it a try.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aha. just tried that. Superb! Thanks

i like it also.. i just wish they would make a plug in for it so the analog clock would actually display speed when connected to my gps reciever.... only cause i got stopped by a cop that said i was speeding.. then i checked my speed on my speedometer with my gps speed and there seemed to be a 5mph difference...

I just installed all my spb apps (time, weather, pocketplus and diary) on my new AKU3.3 ROM and then I read about the mobile shell.
Looks excellent, going to try it now, from the screen shots, it make wm5 more intuative.
One question I have, does it provide functionality as those found in PhoneAlarm?

No, it isn't a Phone control application. Basically it acts like an improved operating system, but lots of people on spb forums are asking for Phonealarm type capabilities. If there are enough requests they will do something about it.

I'll submit my vote that it's a great app. (The Now screen especially.)
I just wish that PocketWeather integrated nicely. (SPB Weather is a bit lacking IMHO.)

TF3D vs SPB Mobile Shell

hi,
i'm trying to work out which shell replacement to use on my experia. i've used the full version of spb mobile shell on my kaiser and quite like the functionality although it looks pretty dull. i'm tempted to install TF3D but would like the opinion of someone who has used both as to which is better ?
unfortunately, i need the ability to go back to the standard wm homescreen as i don't think any of the shell replacements can take advantage of standard wm today plugins (i'm thinking david andr birthdays here which i use to warn me in advance of upcoming birthdays so that i can get a present in time ...)
does anyone have any opinions ?
thanks in advance ...

I use all.. I use WM today screen. and spbshell and tf3d.. I choose what I like at that moment. Thats why the panels are so handy

thanks kev!n - you don't find that your phone slows down at all ?
how do you access all 3 ? do you have TF3D set up as a panel od you access all 3 from panel 1 on your x1 ?
thanks

Yes I installed it as a panel. And acces it all with panels. And the phone did not slow down for me so I think its great

thanks for that. did you manage to get the full version of mobile shell working as a panel or are you using the panel version ?

mobile shell + pocket plus + phone suite all the way
TF3D is only a little eye candy no more, and I prefer more info on screen than good graphics on screen.

I have both installed (as panels). No problems here, running very nicely.
Using TF3D more, for the most part simply because the HTC Music Player is more touch friendly (although the eye candy doesn't hurt either if I'm being completely honest).
Can't really see a reason not to have both, especially now that TF3D is available in panel form (and also more stable in that form if others reports are to be believed).

NZtechfreak said:
I have both installed (as panels). No problems here, running very nicely.
Using TF3D more, for the most part simply because the HTC Music Player is more touch friendly (although the eye candy doesn't hurt either if I'm being completely honest).
Can't really see a reason not to have both, especially now that TF3D is available in panel form (and also more stable in that form if others reports are to be believed).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree 100% i'm using both and they both work great. I'm hoping someone comes out with a WVGA skin for spb mobile shell panel. If not who knows i might try and make one myself.

Ever so slightly off topis but....
I've got the normal version of SPB MS installed rather than the free panel version. I can access the normal today screen at any time.
A senior member called GREATBAL has made some fantastic skins/mods for mobile shell, these worked perfectly on my Kaiser but unfortunately due to screen resolution they don't work on the X1.
Anyway I have PM'ed GREATBAL and he gave me this reply
'The Xperia-ish theme won'twork on the X1's screen resolution. But it would be very interesting to get hold of the graphics files in the X1 so we came make it into an MS theme. Those graohics files would be hi-res and suitable for VGA/QVGA devices. The images i used are drawn from scratch using photoshop based on screenshots i found on the net. but they are low-res suitable for QVGA devices only'
So if anyone can send these files to the great GREATBAL you never know what magic he could do for us!!

Greatbal has a wvga spb mobile shell theme. Ultimate Windows 7 or something like that. I doesn't work on the spb mobile shell panel but it might work on the full version. I dunno.

Do you mean this one:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=407487
Post 3

nim said:
Do you mean this one:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=407487
Post 3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yup that is it. I took some screen shots and they are shown here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=407487&page=64

I followed the installation instructions in the post and installed this last night including soft reset.
It crashed my X1!.........but soft reset again and its been fine.
It's an OK theme (for the time being).

Hmmm it didn't work for me at all. The theme is chopped off on the bottom.

Does anyone know how to change the default view on the panel version of SPB Shell so that it displays the 'home screen' when opening rather than the 'shortcuts' view?
I hope I've used the right terminology, I'm a bit of a noob.
Cheers,
Ronnie

Bump...
Thanks in advance.

More items in the Start Menu

Hi there,
I know this has been discussed over and over, but I cannot seem to find the answer without installing third-party applications:
I would like to have more items in the Start menu. Normally this wouldn't fit on the screen, but with the brilliant HD screen there can be at least 4 more.
Is there a way to do this without installing other applications. Can some registry-tweak help perhaps? Any help welcome!
Thanks in advance!

No one...?!
No one have the urge to have more startmenu-items too.?

I personally hate menu style of launching application. Tried such utility before on a VGA device, not sure if they still work on a WVGA device.
Small menu is one such program. It's free.
http://www.freewarepocketpc.net/ppc-download-smallmenu-3-19.html
I much prefer to use something like iLauncher, or SPB Mobile Shell. They are more finger friendly, and takes less effort to launch IMO.

I agree...
Yeah i agree, i have tryied a lot af different 3´rd party aplikations over the years but i allway turn back to SPB Mobile shell og SPB Pocket Plus

Thanx for all the kind replies..
But as I said, I do not want to install any third-party software. I Like the Startmenu as it is, I only would like to ad a few buttons.
Any one else have a tweak for how to do this?

Really no one wanting more items in the Startmenu?
Anyone who knows how this can be done?
(see the first post)

SPB vs TouchFlo 3D

I'm seriously thinking about flashing my HTC Touch HD with the basic WM6 ROM (without TF3D) and using the various SPB products to provide me with the interface I need.
The way I see it, the SPB products will probably be faster than TF3D (I've got my HTC Wizard running pretty quickly this way), more stable and they offer more variety (TF3D tabs are very limited in what they can do and hard to customize)
Has anyone done this? Can you tell me about your experiences?

You don't have to completely install a TF3D-free ROM. You can simply go into Settings > Today > Items, uncheck TouchFLO 3D and check your replacement UI.
That's what I did when I wanted to try the new PointUI Home 2 on my Touch HD.

Zaza le Nounours said:
You don't have to completely install a TF3D-free ROM. You can simply go into Settings > Today > Items, uncheck TouchFLO 3D and check your replacement UI.
That's what I did when I wanted to try the new PointUI Home 2 on my Touch HD.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah yes! I forgot about that
What's PointUI and is it any good?

Tried PointUI
It's good - very fast and I like how colourful the interface is. It's still very limited though but hopefully that'll change in the future. It's definitely one to keep an eye out for
I'm installing the various SPB packages now and will report in a short while

Hmmm.. I'm torn about SPB
It's quite clearly a very good UI with a lot of capabilities but there's still something about it that I don't like
It has a weird sort of 'rigidity' which only allows you to do things the SPB way. I also don't like the flow from one screen to the next

Try spb mobile shell - the latest version and then install this free software from here http://www.imarche.net/omnia/index.php
Think you will be nicely surprised at what you can achieve....
regards
jpw

I really like the TF3D. It has a smooth design and runs pretty fast.
I also like the weather section and although there are some nice UI in the market i think i will stick with the TF3D.

JPW said:
Try spb mobile shell - the latest version and then install this free software from here http://www.imarche.net/omnia/index.php
Think you will be nicely surprised at what you can achieve....
regards
jpw
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm.. still too rigid for my liking.

i use spb software and have ditched touchflo, dont bother with mobile shell as it offers me nothing in function
i use the following:
spb pocketplus
spb phone suite
spb weather
also on my today screen i have owner info edited to display as follows:
Owner: MY NAME
Touch to contact
at the bottom i have rsshub on autoupdate (trailling spb insight but not sure about it
in the past i have used spb diary on the today as well, but find it can comprimise some confidentiality issues so dont bother, after all my diary is but one touch away
i save at least 3mb of program memory and subjectively id say my machine is faster for it.
i can access all my functions i use daily with one touch on the pocketplus screen (ive done away with all the tabs and just have the one screen with my program icons) switch profiles with a swipe of my finger and likewise wifi etc on/off
sure it doesnt look as glam as tf3d but it offers me so much more function
as for the rigidity of spb products... yes they do want to do things their way, but ive used their software for a few years now and its second nature to me

I found this thread when looking for replacements to TF3D on my touch pro. I've been using SPB mobile shell for a few weeks now, and would mostly be ok with it if it wasn't for the annoying notifications that force me to exit mobile shell, and clear from the normal today screen. Do any other mobile shell users have that problem, or have you figured out a way around it?

Take a look at yrgo you might like it. It is highly customizable. here is a link to its website
http://www.2daysoft.com/yrgo/videos-and-tutorials/

Switched to SPB
I'm using SPB Mobile Shell + SPB Weather + SPB Phone Suite instead of TF3D.
Never looked back. And with SPB MS 3.0 coming TF3D will be like a toy
http://www.spbmobileshell3.com/

brusko1972 said:
Take a look at yrgo you might like it. It is highly customizable. here is a link to its website
http://www.2daysoft.com/yrgo/videos-and-tutorials/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow, that's one heck of a customizable desktop. Seems like it could be really good once I get used to the UI.

I like the shell3 alot and have the tf3d and titanium actually removed from the 6.5 custom rom I'm using. Works much faster that way anyhow and I was growing weary of the limited functionality eyecandy of tf3d. But got a question and didn't want to start a new mobile shell thread. Anybody using ms who's figured a way to change font color on the shell ui? I know there are apps that will do it on the today screen, but can't seem to do it on the shell interface itself. Anybody got any info? Thanks

I bought SPB Mobile Shell 3 due to the good reviews it has generally received. However, after a week solid of use, I found it to be sluggish, so I asked for a refund which they promptly provided
It definitely has potential, looking forward to seeing what the next iteration is like. I'm using Point2Home now - quick, finger friendly and just pleasant to use, although I really wish some of these would go deeper in re-skinning the windows interface.

i like spb mobile shell 3 , but there is something which puts me off it but i just cant put my finger on what it is (maybe lack of customization) but im led to believe its getting better

I tried SPB3 and after a few weeks, I went back to TF3D. SPB was sluggish and it just was not as smooth as TF3D. I love the concept behind it and it definitely makes getting to your functions much easier. It just needs a lot more refinement. Especially in the area of text messaging

I'm not having sluggish issues at all and think it to be quite snappy. So I'm not understanding those comments, but there are so many diff roms out there that surely that is the difference in alot of cases. I thought that tf3d was sluggish on the email opening especially it would really lag at times. Then I read that the 6.5 roms had that issue. I'm not getting email open lagging at all with ms3. To each their own.

Hi there...
I've installed SPB Mobile Shell 3.0.1 and I LIKE IT A LOT!
but does anyone know HOW to get the name of provider onscreen?? (lifestyle)
thanx!

To go wm 6.5 from 6.1 when using SPB Mobile Shell?

Hi there!
I don't like manila / TouchFLO / Sense. I use SPB Mobile Shell and I'm quite contempt with that. I'm on WM 6.1 -would there be any reason for me to move to WM 6.5? I mean in terms of functionality?

windows 6.5 and SPB shell
Hi,
I've just updated my windows and found a lot of interference from windows 6.5 when using the sbp shell. Im considering to go back to 6.1.
If anyone can help to get 6.5 to work with spb shell please do.
Thanks!

Thanks, I guess I'll stick with 6.1 for now

No reason at all really, SPB Mobile Shell hides the interface of WM6.1 very good and you hardly see it. WM6.5 is laggy and unstable imo so I will stay with 6.1 for a while..

Cool, I'll do the same
I just hope SPB Mobile Shell will run smoothly on the HTC Leo when I get my hands on it

niknik76 said:
Cool, I'll do the same
I just hope SPB Mobile Shell will run smoothly on the HTC Leo when I get my hands on it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No worries dude, if it can run WM6.5+HTC Sense 2.5/2.6 it will 100% run SPBMS without problems.

i think manila is much better than spb

spb shell 3.5 and wm6.5
i am using spb shell 3.5 with wm 6.5 for a couple of weeks without any problems.
The improvement of wm6.5 which is more finger friendly than 6.1. Is a better match for MS3.5.
Athorwise it doesn't matter much, what you use, because you're using MS3.5 most of the time.
You have to manually disable HTC Sense. Without third party applications they don't work well together.
I use tfd detacher to switch between them, but the downside is that it uses a lot of resources.
HTC Sense looks nicer but MS3.5 is more flexible and efficient when you design the lifestyle screen(s) to your needs.

I haven't tried wm 6.5.
From what I learn about the information of wm 6.5, I don't find anything that worth upgrading. I will stick to wm 6.1.

Feedback
I have installed SBP Mobile Shell 3.5 over my WM 6.1 and it works great .
I like below features of Mobile Shell:
- Multiple pages in home page (placed side by side), which can be used for multiple items in home page.
- Beautiful scrolling/touch.
- Widget features that can be placed anywhere in home page (in all pages).
There are couple of issues too:
- There is NO interface for making calls to a new number.
- We need to use the Luncher - Programs - Phone.
- But the other features of the call window does not work. Like we cant open the call history/contacts etc from that screen
Also refer another similar thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=573320
Thanks.

You can press the call button or you can add the phone as an widget.

prabhat said:
- There is NO interface for making calls to a new number.
- We need to use the Luncher - Programs - Phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Press call send key?

ArtieQ said:
Press call send key?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I know that and that is what I said in the post.
It does work by pressing the call key or adding the widget of the Phone too.
But the issue is:
- Other functions on the call window (like the opening contacts during call) etc does not work .
I am not sure how offen you open you contacts during a call. Which is NOT possible when you have SBPMS installed . Similarly there are many other issues too.
Thanks.

Indeed the functions on the call menu work only when touchflo3d is activated.
I think the shortcuts go to the actual touchflo3d.
Maybe there is a registry change so you can point them to the actual program and not to the touchflo3d alternative.
My workaround is press Startmenu - Today and from here anywhere you want.
You can read about this problem in the SPB shell forum under Topaz/Rhodium Dailer issue. They know the problem. The question is why is takes so long to come with an answer.

f.canak said:
Indeed the functions on the call menu work only when touchflo3d is activated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. That is TRUE. It does work when TF3D is ON.
f.canak said:
You can read about this problem in the SPB shell forum under Topaz/Rhodium Dailer issue. They know the problem. The question is why is takes so long to come with an answer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ohh OK. Thanks for this info. Infact I did a post in their fourum, but no reply yet.
May be we need to wait for 6.5 from HTC for TD2 and may be that will be more user / finger friendly.
But it is sure that it will NOT have the beautiful Multiple Pages in Home Page .
Or a newer version from SBP with a Phone/Call widget similar to default dialer.
PS: also I found the image viewer from camera menu is much better in default WM 6.1 than SBPMS.
Thanks.

Mobile Shell 3.5 is slooooow
I was extremely happy with 3.0 and decided to upgrade to 3.5. I like some of the extra features a lot but I quickly noticed that this eye candy has two major drawbacks:
- My battery drained twice as fast, reminding me of my Diamond 1
- The - otherwise very attractive - GUI is slower; opening the Wireless Manager takes 1.5 seconds and other operations that were very swift before were now slow and shaky
So I reverted to 3.0 (I have build 6501) and things are again what they were before: fast and beautiful!

I don't experience any decrease in speed jumping from 3.0 to 3.5
And my battery life improved
So I guess there must be different effects on different ROMs, settings or other stuff...