Suggest software for a new Pocket PC!

July 10, 2007 2:10 PM

I need software for my new PocketPC. What do you use? I'm an experienced Pocket PC/Windows Mobile user. I have a new Sprint Mogul (to replace my PPC-6700), and I want to get some good software on there.

1. I'd like some kind of software that will check my Gmail for me automatically on a schedule. Does this exist?
2. Games. I want some. I like Bejewelled, but it's not free. Can you recommend good, free ones?
3. Utilities. I love 'em. Like a good PocketPC backup solution? Free? Tell me.
4. Has anyone seen a recent NES/SNES Emu for PPC? I have PocketNES, but it never worked quite right.
5. Window manager/app closer. I used to like one, but it's not good with the WM os's.

Finally, if there's any software I missed above, tell me. What do you love to use on your PocketPC?

posted by SlyBevel to computers & internet (17 comments total)

I already have/use PDANet and MS Voice Command. I use YanceyWare for certain books, and I'm planning on buying an Opera license for the device.

I've also tried PocketNester, which doesn't work well for me.
posted by SlyBevel at 2:15 PM on July 10, 2007

And I've seen this thread with game recommendations, but it was last year.
posted by SlyBevel at 2:46 PM on July 10, 2007

I might have pirated myself a copy of sim city 2000 back when I had a PDA, just saying...
posted by cschneid at 2:53 PM on July 10, 2007

I don't think you need PDANet. I've got a 6700 and have had no problem using it as a modem with the included wmodem.exe and a driver I download from a link on howardforums.net (you know about that site, right?)

Right now I'm running a modified firmware that includes the Internet Sharing feature from WM6, which works great without installing special drivers on the Windows box, so try that out before installing a 3rd-party app.

Don't really play games on it, don't have a good program closer (I'll be watching here.)

Octrotalk for IM.

MS Live Search is great for mapping and traffic, though I gather the 6800 has GPS so that might change things.

WiFiFoFum is a good "war-walking" app, especially since it supports GPS and keep of where it saw access points so you can get back to them.

Total Commander is a good file manager.
posted by contraption at 3:16 PM on July 10, 2007

oops. "Howardforums.net: It's Dot Com!"
posted by contraption at 3:18 PM on July 10, 2007

Best Answering the above for OctroTalk...I've been looking for a PPC IM solution. Thank you.
posted by SlyBevel at 3:29 PM on July 10, 2007

Thanks.

There's a real hole in the WM IM market since Verichat was discontinued: they were the only one that gave you the option of receiving an IM via SMS while your data connection is off, then switching to EVDO to continue the conversation (huge battery savings, since you only keep the connection open while actually using it.) The developers of Octrotalk have stated that they may offer this service in the future, so please bug them about it.
posted by contraption at 3:39 PM on July 10, 2007

By "program closer", do y'all mean something like Magic Button? It's one of the few apps that doesn't give me constant grief on my ppc-6700. (By which I mean I recommend it)
posted by Squid Voltaire at 4:01 PM on July 10, 2007

That's what I meant, thank you. Task Manager would have been better, If I'd really thought about it.
posted by SlyBevel at 4:12 PM on July 10, 2007

I tried magic button when I first got my phone and it made the thing freeze constantly, so I got rid of it. Maybe I'll give it another go now that I've been through a couple firmware revisions.
posted by contraption at 4:16 PM on July 10, 2007

Another cool app is vxutil, which gives you a suite of networking tools like ping/tracert, whois, a basic port scanner etc.

I had a good vnc client installed at one time, but I can't remember what it was called or where I found it.
posted by contraption at 4:19 PM on July 10, 2007

There's another utility I used to have that put shortcuts to apps on the Today screen. Kind of like having shortcuts on your Windows desktop.

Does anyone have a recommendation for something like this?
posted by SlyBevel at 8:38 PM on July 10, 2007

first, check the list out. i haven't even scratched the surface on that list, and it's regularly updated.

i really only have two apps i'd recommend, but they're fairly old, and expensive ... SPB pocket plus is ultimately necessary, it has the today screen shortcuts, a battery status bar right up the top which is invaluable IMO (see the screenshots), task manager and other features.

of all the launcher/today apps, its just useful. i know SBSH cloned it, there are others out there. plus, i know the iphone look will be in vogue soon, so you can always cash in and get SPB mobile launcher to accompany pocket plus and diary, the whole SPB kit, etc. all good, but very, very optional.

the other is pocket informant 2007, though i don't ever use 1/10 of the features and it's still another app to buy.

i use an older version since my o2 xda2 never had much luck finding contact specific ringtones, or contact specific anything when i looked in 2004/5, but it's improved now so you can get SMS/MMS GPRS/BT/WiFi, all well supported and enabled, etc.

at the moment, i'd get an equivalent PIM to pocket informant, maybe agenda fusion or something else.

what else ... sudoku and bejewelled are light enough, tcpmp and gsplayer are good WMP replacements, and mobipocket reader is also good, since you can get fictionwise ebooks for mobipocket, as well as encode your own rss feeds, encode your own word docs or pdf files as ebooks

if you don't buy ebooks, get FeederReader for podcasts (and a larger SD card), or another rss feed app and just acquire the web every night. don't bother with avantgo if you have another feed/pod reader, though the feeds it has, are very cool. yahoo go or google maps are other apps you might like, but they use a lot of space, and GPRS/EDGE traffic, no point in it.
posted by toliman at 10:51 PM on July 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

1. I have a 2GB MicroSD Card. Storage isn't much of a problem.
2. This is a Sprint phone, so the net service is EVDO, soon to be Rev. A.
3. MobiPocket reads Docs and PDFs (or does conversions of them?)? I checked their website and didn't find anything about that. Can you link me to more info on that?
posted by SlyBevel at 12:01 AM on July 11, 2007

I personally have the same phone. Working in reverse:

5. I personally swear by iLauncher because it handles both the window manager/app closer issue and shortcuts on the today screen that SlyBevel asked about (I actually use most of SBSH's suite, but it doesn't sound like you need all that). A competing suite that is also popular is called SPB Pocket Plus -- I've used it, and just prefer one suite over the other. Simple task manager/closers that work very well and are free include the aforementioned MagicButton and VBar.

4. For NES Emulation, PocketNES and PocketNester are both free, and kinda "standard." I've run into little that won't run tolerably on one of the two.

3. I'm not aware of any free, good backup solutions. Sprite Backup is widely used, as is SPB Backup. I've tried both and had no issues with either -- utility-wise, I wouldn't personally want to be without MemMaid or Resco File Explorer.

2. Free, good games are kinda sparse on Pocket PC, since it seems to be one thing folks will happily pay for... I don't think I have any non-emulator games that I didn't have to buy. I'd try looking on freewarePPC or Pocket PC Freeware.

1. I am not aware of any such utility, but you can "fake" one using gmail filters and an exchange service. mail2web provides free basic exchange accounts (in the hopes you'll upgrade), and you can set your gmail to either forward all your mail there, or filter only certain messages. Then you simply set up Activesync to hit the exchange server to check mail as often as you like. Note that "sent" e-mails from the phone will not say they come from your gmail address unless you actually log into the gmail interface to type/send them... this eventually annoyed me enough that I paid for an exchange account I could link to my personal domain address.

I could blab for hours on this stuff, but I won't. Happy to help if I can any further, though!
posted by Pufferish at 8:11 AM on July 11, 2007

PocketPlus was slowing down my device something awful, so I'm trying iLauncher.

Best Answer for that. Thanks.
posted by SlyBevel at 9:56 AM on July 11, 2007

Looks like I won't be getting any more answers here, but I got what I needed. For those Googling this later on, I'm going to write here what I ended up putting on the Mogul.

I'm also going to make this a best answer so that it stands out.

So here's what I'm using:

IM: OctroTalk
Launcher/TaskManager: iLauncher
Game: KevTris
Game: Xonix (Qix Clone)
Game: BubbleBreaker (Preinstalled, part of OS)
Games: PocketNES
Internet: Opera
Calculator (the built-in one sucks): Flow Simulation Calc 98
Religious Reading: YanceyWare Reader
Internet Tethering: PDANet (Already had it, easy to use.)
Registry: PHM RegEdit
Backup: SPB Backup
Mapping: Google Maps for PocketPC (Works great!)
Explorer: Resco File Explorer
Media Player: TCPMP
Flash: MacroMedia Flash Player 6 for PPC (Via Torrent)

So there it is.

For email, Pocket Outlook has a new option in WM6 to automatically log on to the web every x min/hours and check for email. So it's pulling my Gmail every 30 minutes via POP. Perfect.
posted by SlyBevel at 1:04 PM on July 12, 2007