App Catalog to Filter by Device 1

There’s been some worrying about what will happen to the App Catalog with the eventual diversification of webOS devices. While the Pixi isn’t too different from the Pre, it is different enough that some apps may not work (e.g. an app that is WiFi only or is built only for the Pre’s larger screen). As such, Palm has updated the App Catalog in webOS 1.3.1 such that it will now recognize what Palm device you are using and will filter available apps accordingly.

Of course, we’d like for developers to use Palm’s guidelines to assure for cross-device compatibility, but sometimes that just won’t work. This also lays the groundwork for the App Catalog to serve webOS users well into the coming years as new hardware makes future Palm devices wildly more powerful and capable than the current generation. We can see this now with the original iPhone and the iPhone 3GS - the much more powerful 3GS can run more intensive apps than the older 2G iPhone. And that phone’s really not all that old.

On the subject of a device-aware App Catalog, those of you switching from the Pre to the Pixi needn’t worry about loosing any Pre-exclusive apps you may have purchased just because they’re not Pixi-compatible. Your Palm Profile will still download those apps onto your Pixi, though there’s no guarantee they’ll work properly. Given the current crop of webOS apps, we can’t say that’s going to be a major concern, aside from some necessary interface tweaks in a few apps.

Lastly, as anybody who has replaced his or her Pre knows, your Palm Profile can only be active on one phone at a time, so switching to the Pixi will shut down your Pre, unless you create a new Palm Profile. If you do that, then you have to reenter all of your Synergy account information, redownload and pay for apps all over again, retype your memos and tasks, and everything else. Given the hassle that is just starting with a fresh phone but a backed-up profile, we can’t say we’d recommend switching back and forth between a Pre and a Pixi, not to mention that calling Sprint every time you want to switch would also be a pain.