Ever since the days of the Treo 600, we’ve been looking for ways to increase the functionality of the keyguard. When newer devices featured date and time on the keyguard, it was a welcome improvement. However, if you aren’t in the phone application or the launcher, you still won’t be able to see the battery or signal strength meters. That’s when I got KeyGuardTime+. Even though KeyGuardTime+ puts everything you might ever want to see on thekeyguard  screen, it is a bit cluttered and delays the keyguard.

Then I heard about TopSignalOnKeyguard and TopGuardEx, both of which are written by mytreo.net Star Developer, RNS, and decided to give them a shot!

At a low price of only $4.95, TopSignalOnKeyguard (TSOK) does exactly what its name implies – it puts the signal meter (as well as the battery meter) on the keyguard.

TSOK has an extremely small footprint of only 8KB, but that comes at a price (only if you consider it to be a drawback). TSOK cannot be disabled. Once it is activated, it will remain activated until it is deleted from the device. That could be a nuisance if you want to temporarily disable it for whatever reason, but since it is so small, it wouldn’t hurt to keep a spare copy on your card.

Another interesting aspect of TSOK is that when you run the initial setup, it asks you whether or not to permanently hide the icon. Since TSOK can’t be disabled, hiding the icon is a great feature because it will reduce launcher clutter. Regardless of whether or not you hide the icon, it can still be deleted from the delete menu in the launcher.

TSOK left a bit to desire, so I looked to see if there was a “professional” version of it. And to my surprise, there was! TopGuardEx (TGE) can be purchased for $9.95, only a couple dollars more than TSOK, and is basically an advanced version of TSOK.

Written as a preferences panel (which, again, reduces launcher clutter), TGE can be disabled and customized. At 12KB, it isn’t much larger than TSOK, but it offers much more flexibility.

An interesting feature of TGE is the “Enhanced Keyguard” option. When it is enabled, TGE will prevent the four hard buttons from waking up your device. I had been annoyed by random applications launching or the launcher category not being where I had left off, and this feature has ensured TGE a permanent spot on my device!

I have always been a fan of using stock applications whenever possible, and TSOK and TGE are excellent enhancements to the stock keyguard without increasing clutter or slowing down the device. Take a moment to download the trial versions and see for yourself!

TopSignalOnKeyguard

• Pros
  • Simple and easy to use
  • Very small application footprint
  • Icon can be hidden to reduce launcher clutter
  • Low price of $4.95
• Cons
  • Cannot be disabled
  • No customization possible

TopGuardEx

• Pros
  • Preferences panel
  • Small application footprint
  • Self-explanatory options
  • More flexibility - incudes option to choose which icons to show
  • “Enhanced Keyguard” option
• Cons
  • None

Related Links

Download TopSignalOnKeyguard trial

Download TopGuardEx trial

Purchase TopSignalOnKeyguard

Purchase TopGuardEx

Filed under: Software reviews