Ever since Widsets was closed I’ve been looking for an application which offers me news from a convenient and quick interface with less hassle. I previously tried Flyscreen which worked decently and decided to test out Snaptu which one of our readers mentioned to be really good.
Snaptu is a java application which comes with some predefined “applications” or rather widgets that run inside the main application. From here you can access news from various predefined sites, as well as adding your own and connect to the two social networks Facebook and Twitter.
Application in use
When the application is installed you are prompted if you want the application to access the internet. After allowing it it will load up the widgets in a grid layout with big explaining icons. When first installed you get a couple of widgets: one with a collection of different news sites as well as other widgets for displaying sports results (which I shortly after removed). Navigation is done by mainly using the D-pad, with the left softkey bringing up the menu (options) and the right softkey going back and exiting the application. Navigation in the application is also very intuitive as the user interface will display what the center D-pad and the right and left softkeys will do when navigating around.
When pressing the left softkey it brings up a menu with numbered choices, and pressing the corresponding number will trigger the action making it faster to make the choices. Selecting “add application” you get a screen with different widgets you can add to the main screen. Here you can choose from a few such as Google Calendar and Picasa being some of the more useful ones (in my humble opinion).
Using the Facebook widget you are able to see the last 29 status updates from your friends, update your status and see recent messages in your Facebook inbox. With the Twitter widget you are able to do the most basic options such as updating your status, reply to someone, see replies and direct message and so on.
The most interesting one is the News & Blogs widget which comes predefined with some different feeds. Here you can also add your own. Users of Widsets will immediately feel comfortable in this environment as you are able to load up items with pictures within Snaptu getting the ease-of-use reading experience. A handy star also marks that you have new unread items.
Final conclusion
I’ve been trying to find a replacement for Widsets and in my quest of doing so I first came by Flyscreen which I found too inconsistent. Snaptu finally brings back the quick reading of news on my phone which was basically what I was looking for. The other widgets that you can add can be considered as an added value and they also work very fast and smooth. If there is one bad thing I would like to point out in the application it is that I was not able to choose the placement of the widgets on the main screen. This means that if you remove a widget the one next to it will take its place and the new one you add will be placed at the end. It is not the biggest issue as you can work around it by first removing the widgets and then adding them back in the order you want. It would however be nice to have this feature. Another smallish strange thing is that the application says “loggin in” when starting it. I was never prompted to log in with any form of credentials, so what this login actually does is to me unbeknown. Besides that, the application is very fast in loading articles and will give you quick access to information you need while on the go.
You can read more and download the application from Snaptu.com or go to m.snaptu.com from your phone’s webbrowser to get it. Have you found your equivalent to the Widsets application and what is that?
