SlideScreen Hope Replacement - An Android App Review

Shadez

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Err should say home :) Maybe a mod can fix..






App Name: SlideScreen, by Larva Labs

Description: SlideScreen is a home screen that creates a meaningful hierarchy out of your information. Built for Android-based handsets, our home screen is designed for heavy phone users and people struggling with information overload.

How it works: The draggable center bar divides messages and appointments from news, stocks and more general information. User can show more or less personal information by sliding bar vertically.


Weather, Date and Time where a selection of system information and your latest weather conditions are always visible. A micro-forecast gives a compact indication of the week ahead. Icons on the right-hand side link to the full application for each category. Color coding indicates different categories of information (e.g. text messages, phone calls, calendar events.) The latest information in each category is always visible.


The main apps supported are phone, messaging, Gmail and Google Calendar, which are prominently displayed at the top of the screen. Below those is the Center bar which houses date, time, signal strength (two spots, one for 3G and one for Wi-Fi), battery charge and finally weather on the right. This replacement of the status bar is actually quite nice and put together really well. Unfortunately, if you keep the standard status bar hidden (enacted by default) then you may have a few steps to jump through to respond to a Google Talk conversation or an email from a source other then Gmail. (That last part is being worked on, according to the developer’s Web Site, so that you can add in other email accounts)


Below the Center bar you’ll find feeds for Facebook, Twitter, Google Reader and stocks from Google Finance. The drawback is the limitation of the display of these items, showing only the most recent updates rather than scrolling the last 10 or so. Another major drawback is the force close issue with Facebook…every time I tried to set it up it force closed when authenticating my login. At least you have the ability to toggle which feeds are shown, so the ones you don’t want can go bye bye and the ones you do want will have more room.


Speaking of customization, you have to hit the menu button twice to get to settings, the first time gets you to the app drawer, with eight persistent apps of your choosing at the top. The second press takes you to Settings where you can change items like whether you want the status bar visible, if you want SlideScreen to follow the orientation of your phone, which services you want visible and so on.

Opinion:
SlideScreen is a nice attempt at making all the various information and data available on an Android phone easy to get to and understand. It brings together notifications and feeds in a way that normal widgets don’t. The downside is that SlideScreen does not excel at any of the functions it tries to replace and ends up duplicating functionality, making it seem more of a redundancy rather than enhancement.


For whatever reason, SlideScreen would only show the Verizon stock info, and when I pressed on it, it took me to the Verizon stock page in Google Finance. Not a great way to get stock quotes, unless you are just interested in one stock…and hopefully that’s the one that shows up!

Ratings :

  • Speed (4/5) – SlideScreen is very responsive, with little lag in switching between screens and different apps.
  • Features (4/5) – There’s a whole lot packed into this one program!
  • Theme (2/5) – Not much going on here, basic white lettering on a black background with splashes of color thrown in to differentiate the different goings on.
  • Overall (3/5) – SlideScreen is a nice app for those looking at getting every little piece of info available on your phone in one place, but be sure to keep the status bar visible because, as of this writing, SlideScreen is not totally complete and still has some force close issues with certain parts.
Pros: A lot of information in one place; Information displayed in a logical, easy to understand manner; Center bar is the best part!
Cons: Does not support official Twitter app, or any other Twitter app other than Twidroid; The Facebook login does not work; Stocks only shows one stock and takes you to that one stock’s page when pressed.
Conclusion: While SlideScreen is a great attempt at putting all your pertinent info in one place, it should still be considered in beta form and there’s no way anyone should have to pay for it, especially not $6.99(US) to just get rid of the small advertisement at the bottom.
Price: Free (ad supported) or $6.99 (US) to get rid of ads
App Authors Email: [email protected]





SlideScreen, Information Overload Home Replacement – Android App Review | Androidheadlines.com
 
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