From the less known developer Zeng Jianguang, come two very useful applications that seem like Siamese twins separated from birth. The first one, which is the older, is Smart Installer version 2.0 and the second is Smart Remover version 1.5.
A look at Smart Installer
SmartInstaller, as the name suggests, is an application that lets you quickly install other applications in an automated process. This is really handy when you have several applications you want to install in one go such as when switching phones or just to test different new apps or games. At launch, a pop up will say that the files are not found and that you should copy the installation files to either the directory E:\SmartInst or C:\SmartInst. These directories are conveniently created for you by the application and all you have to do is copy your installation files over. The second time you launch the application it will show up the files you just copied over.
The options menu lets you choose between the one press install, install, share with friends, register, help or exit. The one press install option is used to install all the applications files in the SmartInst directory whereas double tapping or selecting a highlighted file will install just that one. Should you still be clueless on how to use the application, the help section of the application will explain it to you quite understandably.
A look at Smart Remover
SmartRemover is the counterpart and upon start, the application will search for installed software and provide you with a list of these. It also seems a bit smarter than its twin by showing you a list of where the software are installed as well as if it’s currently running or not.
Not suprisingly, when using the left softkey to bring up options it offers you to remove all the application or individual ones. A rather unusual feature however can be found here. The third option lets you run the highlighted application. Why would you have such an option in an application that uninstalls applications is unknown to me, but I’ll take it as a bonus. This can help you see if it was that particular application you wanted to remove by running it first.
Compared to the built-in Application Manager on Symbian, it launches as fast as the one in the N97 and considerably faster than the one in the N82.
Final thoughts
Both applications are available from Handango and support both S60 3rd and 5th edition handsets. What’s funny is that even the pricing of Smart Installer and Smart Remover suggests that they are siblings, both priced at $15.00.
While Smart Remover is fast to launch and features the one press remove, it did not show up where the applications was installed rightfully on the N97. Applications I have installed on memory card, the F:/ drive was shown to have been installed on the E:/ drive. This is not a big problem on Symbian-powered handsets that only have C:/ and E:/ drives, and can be said to be more of a cosmetic problem. Nevertheless it doesn’t provide the user with the right information and as such can lead to confusion.
They share the similar issue of not being able to select multiple files you want to install or remove. You can only choose one at a time or all at once, nothing in between. As far as Smart Installer goes there are other free alternatives out there that do the same such as the AutoSisInstaller we’ve mentioned (but which unfortunately requires signing before being used) as well as InstFast also know as LFile which lets you select the files you want to install.
What’s neat is that both applications are really small, in application as well as installation size, only 47 kb at maximum. They are a great additions to useful tools on the Symbian platform and Smart Remover is also something completely new in the market (as far as I know of). The pricing however along with the mentioned weaknesses of these applications can be a real deal breaker for many. Do you consider these applications a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist, or do you switch devices regularly and believe that they could really help you set up and reset your phones?
