Review: TealSpeed 18

As I browse through the App Catalog on a day to day basis, I’m sometimes drawn to the applications that endeavor to improve on the ease of use and functionality offered by webOS. Call it a morbid fascination really, as none of the applications I’ve come across in this space so far have actually improved much of anything, and end up being little more than just the waste of a few dollars. We visited the ActiveCard (2.99 in the App Catalog) application a few months ago, and found it to fit the status quo in this regard quite well.

You may be familiar with TealPoint Software, the company that got itself into hot water with Palm early last year when they mimicked the webOS interface on Palm OS devices with TealOS . Since then, the company has stocked the virtual shelves of the App Catalog with a number of apps, ranging from shopping list managers to world time clocks. The app we’re looking at today, TealSpeed ($4.99 in the App Catalog), a speed dial and launcher, is one of those applications that aims to enhance the functionality of the UI employed by webOS. Does it make the grade?

Installation and setup

Rather ingeniously (on a conceptual level, anyway; more on that later), TealSpeed utilizes the notification bar to display an unlimited number of rows, with each row sporting 5 customizable icons. Each icon can be configured to perform a task, such as dialing a contact, launching an application, or playing/viewing a file. The program comes pre-configured with a slew of the shortcuts you’d expect from an app like this – voicemail, phone, SMS, web and the like are all ready to go out of the gate. The default icons do leave something to be desired in the aesthetics department, and thankfully you can use photos from your phone to create custom icons if you so choose.

Creating shortcuts to the core applications is easy enough; you’re presented with a simple list of the built-in apps to choose from. Creating shortcuts to third party apps, on the other hand, can be a little more hit or miss. Instead of querying the device itself for which applications are installed, the program goes online and downloads a database containing all applications currently available via the App Catalog. There is a search feature that finds the app you’re looking for, but only after a few minutes of the UI flickering to an almost absurd degree. 

There will, of course, come a time where you will have to add a program that isn’t included in that automatically downloaded list, and manually adding applications is more of an onerous chore than linking to the built-in apps.  You have to manually enter the App ID code in order to link TealSpeed to the desired program, and while there are detailed instructions on how to obtain the App ID of the target app, this solution is less than elegant. 

Beyond those gripes, creating shortcuts to contacts is easy:  the program brings you to the contacts app for you to choose the desired contact. 

Use

After all of your shortcuts are set up and configured, I found that TealSpeed launched them speedily and reliably.  Getting to the shortcut icons was always an easy task, as it took just a quick tap to bring up the notification area.

As was mentioned earlier in the review, on a conceptual level it’s ingenious that the developers behind TealSpeed thought to use the notification area as the launcher, but in practice I’m not entirely sure that utilizing the notification area for things other than notifications is really the best approach - that area tends to get cluttered up enough as it is without having a small square representing each row of custom shortcuts occupying that space.  Sure, your desired apps and contacts are only two taps away, but then again, universal search is only a swipe away, and launcher pages are only a gesture away (don't forget about the wave dock!).

On the performance side, I found that my Sprint Palm Pre became noticeably more sluggish when the program was active; an effect that I would imagine would be exacerbated on the lower-spec’d Pixi.  It is also worth noting that battery life appeared to take a significant hit while the program was running.

Summary

This brings us to the fundamental question: does TealSpeed enhance the usefulness of webOS? The answer is, in short, not really. The shortcomings mentioned above, coupled with the $4.99 asking price, should have you spending your hard earned dollars (or, if the application is available in other countries, your local currency) elsewhere.

Sure, it’s nice to have quick access to a list of contacts and programs, but do you remember those launcher pages you probably don’t use that often because of universal search? Don't forget that those pages can be configured in the exact same manner as TealSpeed with shortcuts to programs, webpages and contacts, and you don’t have to waste that precious space in the notification area. Combine that configurability with the patches out there that modify webOS's UI, such as the 4 x 4 (or 4 x 5!) icons patch and the unlimited launcher pages patch, TealSpeed’s value proposition goes right out the window.