Review: Vito Technology GoodWin

With all the hype surrounding the iPhone interface, it comes as no surprise to see competitors coming up with their own flavor of a similar interface for Windows Mobile. HTC led the pack with the TouchFlo technology on the HTC Touch. Actually, HTC is the only device manufacturer to have an iPhone-like interface on their devices. Third party developers are revamping their software to offer finger manipulation and Vito Technology is one them. This review is about GoodWin, a fully touch-enabled application. I don't know how these solutions compare to the iPhone interface as I do not use an iPhone and do not plan to buy one either. So let's get started with the review.

What is GoodWin?

Basically, GoodWin is an application launcher that can be downloaded for trial from Http://iwindowsmobile.com. It also includes SMS-Chat for threaded sms, Fun Contacts to manage your contacts and ZoomBoard for fast and accurate onscreen typing. The installation is quite straight forward. Connect your device and run the executable on the PC. I had no issues at all with the installation.

How it works?

When installation is complete, GoodWin adds itself to the Today screen along with icons for SMS, Tasks, Email and Call History. The buttons are big enough for the thumb. In fact GoodWin installs itself as new home screen with the battery, volume and operator icon at the very top of the screen. Just below these are the icons I mentioned above (SMS Chat, Fun Contacts and ZoomBoard).

By default, the main screen is locked, probably to avoid screen touches when the device is in the pocket. Use your finger to slide the padlock to the right to unlock the screen and start using GoodWin. There is no way to change that behavior or at least I did not find one to disabled the lock feature.

Goodwin's main screen displays:

Favorites and Running list

This is fully customizable. Meaning that you can add applications you use most often to this list for quick access. Other programs that runs on the device will also appear in that list after you minimize them. To really close these applications, use your finger and press the program icon for a few seconds until a context menu appear. You will then get the choice to Add to favorites and close the application.

Programs List

I forgot to mention that I'm running GoodWin on a HTC 8125 with Windows Mobile 6. Scrolling with the finger is fun and smooth. Even the context menu is big enough to be used with the finger. However the Programs list can make scrolling too long as you add more software to your device. The fact that GoodWin does not support subfolders is one aspect of the software that Vito Technology should review. A perfect example is the Games folder, where I have four games installed. Goodwin ignores the subfolder and displays the games icon alongside the other software in the Programs list. The result is that more finger scrolling is required. While it is indeed easier and faster using the finger to scroll, having GoodWin respect my folders arrangement would have been great. Vito Technology should consider adding horizontal scrolling to GoodWin. That would be neat to access subfolders or submenus: One flick of the finger to the right to open the submenu and another click to the left to return to the main menu.

Settings
There is nothing much to say about the Settings list. It regroups all the icons you have in Start > Settings.

Open an application.
A single tap is needed to open an application. However, as I said above, press and hold on the icon to access the context menu and you'll have options to run or add the application to the Favorites list so it's listed at the top of the screen.

You will find at the end of the screen, a Menu button that brings up another context menu that gives you access to GoodWin Settings, Help, About and the ability to close GoodWin. This button should have been at the top alongside the sms and email icons.

Goodwin is a great application that does not affect the device performance. It was easy and fast to learn scrolling with the finger even if at times, I would accidentally launch an application by pressing too hard on the screen. Nobody is perfect. After half an hour playing with GoodWin, I became very comfortable using it to the extent that it is now my default home screen.