PictureLink Shortcuts to Everywhere
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If you peruse mtdn’s Applications Forum, you might notice that one of the most frequent requests is the ability to change the application icon. While some third party launchers (like ZLauncher) give you this ability, not all do, and it leaves no hope for those users who prefer the minimalism of the default launcher. Taking this idea, and going several steps further, Toysoft has released PictureLink, a program that will not only allow you to change the application icon, but allow you to create your own icon shortcuts to quickly dial a contact, go directly to any favorite webpage, begin listening to your favorite playlist, and much more.
PicLink is perfect for those people who don’t use a third party launcher, but is also the ideal companion for launchers like Initiate. It gives you just enough extra control over what and how you see what you can do on your Palm os device. Each shortcut you create is only 14-15k, so you can make a lot without putting a dent in your RAM.
The initial PicLink screen is simple to figure out, easily navigable by stylus or nav pad, and gives you two rows of icon options. The first row shows you Dial, Web, SMS, and Email. The second row shows you GMap, PTunes, Kinoma, and Apps. I must confess, I’m not sure why anyone would need a shortcut to a map, but I’m finding the rest of the options extremely useful.
We’ll first look at Dial. With this option you can create a photo speed dial right in your launcher. No need to leave your launcher to go to the dialer, and if you use PhoneSwitch, you can come right back to the launcher when your call is through. I really think PicLink is putting the “smart” back in smartphone. If you’re like me, the majority of your outgoing calls are to speed dial numbers to start with, so adding your speed dial to your launcher (and thus the recent launch list) is a no-brainer.
Setting up your Dial shortcut is simple. After tapping the Dial icon inside PicLink, all you have to do is either fill in the name and number, or tap the contacts icon to fill the information in from your address book. After that, you name the icon and choose your picture. As with any application, you also have the option of assigning your PicLink shortcuts a category. For the purposes of this review, I have assigned all my PicLink shortcuts the category “Shortcuts,” so that you can see a selection in one launcher tab. You can, of course, assign them the category of “Favorites,” or any category of your choosing.
The second option is Web. I like this feature almost as much as the dial shortcuts. The majority of the times I fire up Blazer is to go check the unread threads by board on mtdn. It’s great to have a shortcut key that takes me straight to my unread posts without having to go to Blazer first, even if the unread posts page is my “home” page.
I like to think of the next two options as templates for SMS and Email. They need a little work before they’ll work quite that way, but if you regularly send either sms or email to the same people for similar purposes, you’ll find these options useful.
I’m going to pretty much skip the GMap shortcut. As I mentioned previously, I don’t find the use for it. Even with my awful sense of direction, once I’ve found a destination twice, I don’t need the map. But maybe my sense of direction is still better than some other people’s, in which case you might get some use from a Google map shortcut.
The PTunes playlist shortcut rocks. No need to open PTunes and scroll around for your playlist. Just go directly to listening to all your favorite songs. I’m sure for many audiophiles, this feature alone will justify the low $9.95 price tag of PicLink. As simple to set up as the Dial shortcut, you just tap on the PTunes link and then choose Select Playlist. From there you are taken into your PTunes music. All you have to do from here (depending on your last music view), is navigate to the Playlists, and choose the one you want to turn into a shortcut.. Choose an icon, give it a name, and you’re all set.
The Kinoma option works in a similar fashion to PTunes, only for streaming audio or video. There are a few youtube videos that I find myself going back to over and over, and this is a great way to get there fast. All you need is the url and you’re ready to watch or listen to streaming audio/video.
The last option is a user requested feature, and especially helpful to those users who aren’t using a 3rd party launcher. The Apps option will let you change the icon of any application on your device. Not only will it allow you to change any application icon, it will allow you to create shortcuts to apps on your sd card. Some of you may wonder what’s so great about that, but without a 3rd party launcher, you are limited to the card tab to view and access apps on your card. With a shortcut, you can access those sd apps in your favorites tab, games tab, or wherever you’d prefer to see them.
PicLink makes it easier to organize your apps, and isn’t organization what most of us got our Palm devices for in the first place? As with all Toysoft apps, PicLink comes with a fully functioning trial. The trial limitations are the number of shortcuts you can create, but if you want to create more than four, it’s because you’re already hooked and have found the added functionality a must have.
Related Links
Discuss PicLink in the mtdn forums
See Toysoft’s other apps on mtdn
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