When the Widset service by Nokia launched in 2006 it gained a huge popularity. Being easy to use and from within one application to gain access to several feeds is important for people. As myself, many of our readers used it to check various feeds.
I previously wrote about WidSets To Become Ovi Store and when I wrote about the Bloomberg Widget Now Available For Download, Widsets was still active. However from observant readers this is no longer the case as Widsets have (finally) been closed and evolved. Dotsisx however, unlike me, thinks that Widgets is the future.
So what are we left with? For one, we could use the feed function via the built-in browser on our Symbian-powered handsets. We can also use mobile friendly websites such as Google Reader or third party application such as Skyfire, Opera Mini and Flyscreen. The last one is a new application which lets you import the feeds you want as well as having widgets that handles feeds from popular websites such as Engadget, BBC sport, Facebook, Twitter and many more.
The application is available for handsets running Symbian OS 3rd Edition and 5th Edition (Ed note – though the version currently available for S60 5th is a torture to use, we’re told a new version should be out very soon) and is presented as being easy to use, offering more information for lesser clicks. After going through the usual application installation, you can set up the application easily from your phone or by using their website Myflyscreen.com. Obviously you have to create an account to manage widgets but once you’ve done it it’s really easy to get the feeds you want.
Application in use
Navigation in the application is simple with right and left clicks on the D-pad selecting screens, where each screen is a widget that shows a list of feeds. A neat detail here is the white dots which indicates how many screens you have. Up and down on the D-pad navigates on the feed list itself while using the center D-pad selects the item you want to display. When selecting an item it automatically loads the built in browser so you can read the content in its whole. This is however not always the case as for instance on the Twitter widget you can do most of the actions from within Flyscreen. On the main screen the left softkey brings up search using Google, and the right softkey is used to update the application, edit widgets and edit application settings. When choosing to “open settings” you can use the left softkey to customize the application further such as setting the autostart to on. It is also from here you exit the application.
Final thoughts
Flyscreen is overall decent when it comes to speed but has some small glitches. On my N82 the backlight turns itself up to max which is a bit annoying (as I usually have mine set to the minimum possible). It’s a decent RSS reader but mainly uses the browser to launch the items. For those using the built in feed function, they’re better off keeping that. Feeds can be displayed inside the application but this is not consistent, for Twitter and AccuWeather this works fine, while for BBC UK (default) it doesn’t. I’ve got a mixed feeling about this but will continue to use it as of now. It doesn’t quite live up to expectation of a good RSS reader or a Twitter client but it does offer another alternative way to do things.
You can try the application for yourself by downloading it from Flyscreen. If they can iron out these glitches and keep things consistent so we can display the information within the application I would be a very happy user. What do you use to get the feeds you want from your Symbian-powered handset?
