Review for your Treo: IconsPlus

Part five in my Treo customization series deals a little bit with Icons. But first, a bit of quick history on my joy of this subject (customizing). For those of you who have used Apple for a long time, you know that one of the great things about the MacOS is it's ability to become the computer you want it to be. For Windows user, the vast majority of 95/XP users take what they get. The experienced Windows user knows how to move around and customize the OS without harming it. The vast majority will suffer a "Can't find reg edit file" or whatever the next time they boot up.

Mac users have long enjoyed changing Icons and the entire interface with no fear or deep techy experience. That's why we like Palm. It's yours to do what you want. For instance, I have a program called iPhony. Several days after the iPhone was introduced, a program called iPhony hit the net. It has all of the widget buttons, looks and performs just like the iPhone screen (supposedly, who knows, it's not on the market yet) but I love it! With the PalmOS, it's a snap to create the user interface you want and for the most part without consequences.

Now, with Zlauncher I can use a icon set and change the native and some 3rd party icons. But it will only change the icon to an icon that was specifically written for the app. Example: A Apple Icon set I have has a weird icon for preferences, but the proper Apple icon for preferences is assigned to "Power". I cannot change this in Zlauncher, or any other launcher. Appicon, a great freeware icon changer works very well but has one huge limitation. If the program is RAM based, it cannot change the icon, and a lot of 3rd party apps like Docstogo have an overlay that Appicon can't overcome. What to do...What to do?

IconPlus! IconPlus to the rescue. IconPlus allows you to change every icon on your Palm device. It does it quickly and with ease. Even with my Zlauncher icon set in full effect, IconPlus allowed me to change any Icon I wanted. If I didn't like the sets choice, I just scrolled around, found the icon i wanted and IconPlus installed it. Not only did it install in Zlauncher, it installed it on the native Palm set. So if I toss the Zlauncher icon set (which I did) the icon remained.

IconPlus is at version 2.2. There are some comments out there about a bug that effects pTunes if you've used IconPlus to change the pTunes icon. Apparently it crashes on launch. I have changed it to a great looking iPod icon and have yet to have any such problems.

IconPlus is very powerful. Once you've changed the icons, they're changed. You can then move the icon pack onto your SDcard and save your internal memory. IconPlus is far better than Appicon, but I don't want to knock Appicon because it's free and good in its own right. But never the less, IconPlus is much stronger. It truly gives you customizing control over the appearance of your Palm device. IconPlus plays well with most Launchers for the Palm platform but is not for use the a WM device.

So in conclusion and in conclusion of my customization review series, IconPlus is yet another tool that makes owning a Treo fun. If you enjoy changing your Palms icons to suit your moods or taste, give it a try, it's a great app for your Palming pleasure. And more to the point, a Palm device running the PalmOS. Try completely customizing the appearance of a Palm WM device or a BlackBerry or Symbian phone.

This is where the PalmOS excels. Allowing the end user to completely own that piece of expensive hardware just purchased. I guess the phrase "Think different" appeals to so many because being different in this increasingly cookie cutter world is fast becoming a difficult thing to achieve. And maybe that's why I've enjoyed my Palm Treo's so much. Along with the smart and adaptive Palm community, the Treo and it's ability to look and function in a manner that you see fit, allows you to step away from the pack and be in your own little Palm universe, where ever you are.
Customizing is where it's at. And good companies know this!

Change your Treos appearance:
DialByPhoto
Zlauncher
IconPlus
PalmRevolt
Skinner

Change your Treos functionality:
Butler
Launch-AnyWhere
ZLauncher

This is the last installment of a review series for customizing your Treo. The entire series can be found at PalmAddicts.