I’ve been a long time user of Windows Mobile Standard (non-touch) devices. There are a number of differences between the two platforms, more than just the touch / no touch element that many people focus on. One such difference is the concept of ring Profiles. With Windows Mobile Standard devices, you can pick between a number of pre-defined ringer profiles like Normal, Silent, Outdoor, etc. When I left the house in the morning, I would switch to Outdoor – when I got to work, Silent – hanging around the house, Normal. These profiles don’t just change the ringer volume, they also switch the Notifications, Alerts, New Message, and system key press volumes. Further, you could tweak each of the profiles so they did worked best for your needs.
The concept of these profiles is totally lost on Windows Phone Professional (touch) based devices. You have to mess around with the volume settings every time you want to change the volume. This is a simple task that most people do 3 or more times a day. It should be easy or even automatic. With PhoneWeaver from SBSH, it can be fully automatic and you can control so much more than just the volume of your speaker.
PhoneWeaver allows you to define smart profiles that can be activated automatically based on some predetermined event like Time, Phone Status, Agenda, or even GPS co-ordinates. The profiles can do so much more than just change the volume of your ringer. They can also enable / disable features like Bluetooth, WiFi, Cellular Radio, and the GPS. That means you can set PhoneWeaver to turn off WiFi, turn on Bluetooth, and turn up the phones ringer volume at quitting time. That way, your phone will be ready for the drive home.
The first thing you’ll notice once you’ve installed PhoneWeaver is the new icon in the top title bar of your device. The icon shows what profile is currently loaded on the device. Now, I’m not a big fan of putting extra icons in the top title bar of the device. I prefer the non-cluttered look for my device. However, I found this icon to be very helpful, at least while you learn how to use the software. Once you’re comfortable, you can dig into the settings and move it’s location left or right, or even turn it off.
Tapping on the title bar icon will pull up the list of configured profiles – Auto, Mute, Night, Day, Car, Flight. Under each of the profiles it tells you how that profile is activated. The possible options are Manual, Time, Agenda, ActiveSync or Power, and Location. The green light on the right hand side, beside one of the profiles, indicates which profile is currently enabled. Scrolling to the side will switch the list to basic functions of the phone that you can quickly toggle the state on. This includes things like Bluetooth, WiFi, Phone, Cellular Data connection, etc… Just tap on any of the profiles to quickly switch to that profile, or tap on the function to toggle it’s state.
To customize your profiles, tap on the last item in the first window – Options. This will open the PhoneWeaver Options window. Here you can set a number of the more general settings like language, skin, and backlight. You can customize and add new profiles, tweak the Today screen plugin settings, turn on and off the title bar icon and what is included in the menu that opens when it’s tapped.
Under Profiles you will find a list of all the currently defined profiles and here’s where you will add any other profiles that you need. When you edit a profile, there are 5 parts to it – Trigger, Sounds, Comm., Backlight, and Other. I found the tabs in this section a little confusing and was disappointed that they don’t follow the coloring scheme of the device. Also, you can’t tap on the < > symbols. They are great indicator that there is something to either side, but they’re not actually clickable. You have to tap on the name beside it instead.
Basically, what you’re looking to do is configure a different profile for each of the various configurations that you set your phone in each day. Once you have all of them created, you’re going to need to set a way for them to be activated. I’ve used time for mine as my activation trigger, but you can pick from other options like Agenda, ActiveSync or Power, your GPS co-ordinates, and manual activation. Once you have everything configured start using your phone as you normally would. Over the next couple days keep a close eye on it and make sure that the profiles are changing when you want and that they are configuring the device the way you expected. You might need to tweak a couple settings here and there. You’ll quickly find that you no longer have to think about enabling Bluetooth or WiFi, or turning the ringer volume up or down.
PhoneWeaver has quickly become a must have utility for me. I know that the volume is automatically reduced when it’s time for the kids to go to bed, and turns back up when I leave the house in the morning. Bluetooth is turned on during my drive times, and off otherwise.
Head over to SBSH.net and download the trial version. I’m sure you’ll quickly agree that PhoneWeaver is a must have utility.
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