Reviewer: Jake Richards (JakeRich)
Product: ilauncher Release 3.1

Manufacturer: SBSH
Price: MSRP - $14.95, (Free Upgrade to all v3.0 owners)

One of the things that Microsoft didn’t include in the Windows Mobile operating system is the ability to put icons on the desktop (Today Screen) and then directly run the associated application by tapping the icon. You have to get to programs through multiple taps and menus. One of the vendors to step into the void created by that omission is SBSH Mobile Software. They created a product called iLauncher that allowed for exactly that functionality. Their latest release is 3.1, and it adds some significant improvements in functionality.

For those of you with iLauncher already installed, here is a partial list from SBSH of the changes and new features of this release:

• NEW! - Thumb Tabs layout for optimized for thumb navigation.
• NEW! - Floating Panels technology! Maximize your Today screen experience!
• NEW! - Special action shortcut for soft-reset, power-off, screen rotation, switch-tab and toggle iLauncher minimize mode
• NEW! - Show Running Program shortcuts on top of the title bar to easily switch or close running applications
• NEW! - Support Pocket PC 2003, Windows Mobile 5 and Windows Mobile 6 Pro/Classic devices
• NEW! - Use custom shortcut icons for each of your shortcuts, including PNG icons using alpha blending to perfectly match your Today screen theme!

This screenshot shows iLauncher at the bottom of the screen. I’ve configured it to share the today desktop with SBSH’s Pocket Breeze. The five icons across the bottom of the screen are the tabs to iLauncher (house, die, toolbox, globe, chart). Those five icons I chose from the standard ones that come with iLauncher, but you can create your own PNG file to use as an icon. You can have more or less tabs on the Today screen, until you run out of space. The five seemed to make sense to me because I’ve organized them like this:

House = Most applications I use daily

Die = Games and entertainment

Toolbox = Utilities

Globe = GPS related applications

Chart = Gauges

Tapping on the house opens the tab with floating icons that appear on the screen. In this case I’ve chosen the small icons that are suitable for tapping with a stylus:

You can, however, select large icons that are finger-friendly:

And you can also add the option of including the filename with the icon, just in case you forgot what an icon meant:

In any case, I’ve set my options to have the floating icons disappear as soon as I’ve tapped one, although you can leave them floating until you minimize the bar yourself. One really nice feature is that you can mix sizes on the toolbar. I, for example, use the small icons for all the tabs except the GPS tab. That one I have the large icons. My logic for that arrangement is that for most of them I’ll be in an office environment and can easily use the stylus, but for GPS I am more likely to be in my car, so I want the big, finger-friendly icons. You can also chose the size of the bar on the Today screen by choosing large or small icons. I chose smaller icons for there to minimize desktop space consumed by the application, but if you want big finger-friendly icons there, too, you can do that simply by choosing large icons for the tabs.

Also note that across the top of the screen I’ve configured iLauncher to show the icons for running applications. The green PDA icon is from iLauncher itself and returns you to the Today screen when tapped. The other icons show what is currently running and also allow quick access with a tap. iLauncher has also suppressed the display of the name of the running application. That suppression is a configurable option of iLauncher. I chose to suppress the display so that the icons are more easily seen and because I didn’t see any real value in the display of the name in the first place. One of the real beauties of SBSH software in general and iLauncher in particular is that you can pretty much configure everything to get it to look and feel the way you want it to.

iLauncher also can configure the X in the upper-right corner to do what it should have been doing all along—actually ending the application when tapped. That is an option, of course, for those who prefer the X to push the application into background. You can also tap and hold in that upper right area and get a full menu of options, including one to close all but the current application, which is a quick shortcut to make more program memory immediately available. That last function is really handy if you are memory-constrained and don’t want to have to close a working application just to get to one you forgot to close.

The final icon, the chart, I’ve mapped to the gauges provided by iLauncher:

As you can see, iLauncher gauges include (from left to right) Built-In storage memory, both types storage card memory, program memory, main storage memory and battery power, both main and backup. You can add or delete from these gauges to configure as you wish.

Speaking of configuration, iLauncher is very configurable, including an extensive menu of options to change the Today Bar to your liking:

From the “Options…” selection you get into the full menu to configure the application:

You can download a demo version from SBSH at their website and try it for yourself. Installation is easy and the software is installed as a Today Screen option. At $14.95, iLauncher is easily the best addition I’ve made to my PDA.