I’ve been using the beta version of Handy Shell now for several days, and after some initial tweaking, I’ve come across several rather annoying bugs, and also come up with several things that I hope get added before the full version is made available, which should be later this month. Read along, and if you’ve been using Handy Shell, see if you didn’t come up with the same bugs/suggestions I have. If I missed something, be sure to let me know in the comments.
First, let’s start with the good things. I really like the overall appearance of Handy Shell. It’s easy on the eyes, and the insignificant information (such as my operator’s logo) is minimized, while the important stuff, such as the clock, is maximized. I also really like the preview feature, so that when I get a new SMS, I can simply highlight the SMS link and get a pop-up preview of the message. I also rather like the customization options, and the fact that I can move things around, or disable them if I see fit. I can definitely see the potential in Handy Shell.
Now, to the bad things. First, there are some major things that need to be addressed immediately. The first is that Handy Shell takes up 2MB of RAM on my N95-3. While that’s not much off the 70MB+ that my phone has, it is when you’re talking about older S60v3 handsets such as the E65, N73, or N95-1. We need to minimize that as much as possible.
Also, and this is a biggie to me, I can’t seem to send touchtones while I have Handy Shell activated. For me, this is big because I use Grand Central as the number that I give most of the time. It’s what’s on my business cards, and my email signature. When I get a call through Grand Central, I have to press 1 to accept the call, and I cannot do so with Handy Shell running. The ’smart’ dialing takes over, when it should be disabled while I’m on a phone call (or at least have the option to disable).
The other major issue that I can see is in the re-mapping of the menu and red ‘end’ key. While there are some great options, I still found myself periodically back on the default Active Standby screen, when I’d much prefer Handy Shell to completely take over this screen in every single instance. This mostly happens if you go to the regular S60 menu screen, and then press the right softkey (for ‘back’).
The other, more minor, issues that I have, believe it or not, are related to the lack of options currently. I realize this is beta software, though, which is why I classify these as ‘minor’. For example, I’d like to be able to have more options with the Calendar plugin, such as the number of upcoming appointments shown, as well as when they disappear (before or after the event begins/ends, for example). I would also like to be able to set the mailbox to be shown, as I can on the Eseries handsets. If nothing else, I’d like to be able to substitute the Nokia Email Beta for the default mailbox on the row of system icons (the one with Bluetooth, calls, sms, etc). As it stands, I’m forced to use up one of the application shortcuts.
While I’m asking for options, I would like to have the option of restoring the default behaviour of the right softkey, from the main screen. I have mine set as ‘New Message’ and use it quite frequently to create an SMS or MMS or Email. I personally have no use for either the Applications or Contacts shortcut screens, and thus would like to be able to use the right softkey as I wish, rather than having it default to menu.
I realize I’m likely alone on this, but I would also like to be able to bring the Share Online bar over to Handy Shell, so that I can see when my friends upload new pics or comment on my pics on Share on Ovi.
Aside from these items, I’m a huge fan of Handy Shell, and can definitely see myself using it when it comes out as a full application. It does a great job of replacing the default Active Standby screen, and provides a bevy of great options that have been needed for a while. I have not noticed a significant drain on the battery, either, which is good.
Did I miss any glaring bugs that you’ve found? What things do you like about Handy Shell, and what really annoys you?
