No place like Home 1.51a

Finally found some time to write about Home again, and there is a bit to talk about.  A couple of weeks ago I noticed a little change in the home page and a new version of my beloved Home.  Now after my last post which touted Home as a possible saviour for the whole Windows mobile platform, I had to follow up some thoughts on the new version and on the new business model the Pointui team are taking on.

Home is still one of the coolest free apps for a Windows Mobile phone, and even though there are some things missing from the new version, I'm pretty happy.  Before we get into the missing stuff, let's look at the new bits.  One of the failings in the 1.02 version was access to Contacts, but with 1.5a we saw Contacts added nicely into the interface with a direct button on the home screen.  With 1.5a though, you couldn't add Contacts from this new screen, this was a little problem discussed in the forums, and like all good software, was fixed 4 days after release with 1.51a.

1.51a is a good stable release with a nice set of features building on the previous versions without many useful surprises, other than the changes to Contacts.  If you have played with Home before there isn't much new.  The interface has had a bit of a face-lift, and there has been a shift to black as the main colour. 

One of the annoying omissions from 1.51a was the "notifications" introduced in 1.02b.  This was a handy feature notifying you of calender events on the Home screen after the initial pop-up message.  Also Home seems to be a little heavier on memory, and the delay on viewing Calendar and Task details is a real pain.  But I'm still using it because unlike Windows Mobile, I know it can get better.

One of the reasons I know this, is because of the direction the Pointui team are taking with the site and business model.  After noticing that they had a good product and a few people were happy with their work, they have decided to do it right.  Soon we will be able to choose between a free version of Home and a paid version.  The difference looks to be just eye candy, which is a smart move.

Home is still a great interface fix for Windows Mobile and I suggest if you have a compatible phone to try it out.  And hopefully with a reasonably priced paid version with some nice features to support development, and a good community behind them, Home will stay that way.

Jason

Home Demo