YouTube
There's a new version of YouTube for Symbian. At first glance there's nothing new in the latest update of YouTube for Symbian. For example, you still can't log into your YouTube account.
But on closer examination something did change: when you launch YouTube for Symbian for the first time, it asks you to choose your location from eleven countries, up from five in the previous editions.
Not that it really matters, because the program works no matter what location you pick.
Another thing that didn't change: the option to erase your search history and other private data is still hidden in the help menu of the YouTube player. It's about time this function gets a menu entry of its own, but don't count on this happening anytime soon. Google likes cookies, so they won't make it too easy for you to stop them from tracking your online activities.
YouTube for Symbian is distributed by Google as an on-the-fly installer, but if you want to download the program as a .sis file you can do so from Mobile Castle. This may also help if you can't download the YouTube player because your IP address is not on Google's list of supported countries, or if you want to install YouTube on a touchscreen Nokia that runs Symbian S60 5th edition.
• YouTube (official site, on the fly installer, download only works with the default web browser of your phone)
• YouTube v2.2.1 on Mobile Castle (downloadable .sis file for everybody, works with all mobile and non-mobile web browsers) UPDATE: this link expired
• MobiTubia, an alternative YouTube player UPDATE: this link expired
Evan MP3 Player
There are plenty of mp3 player programs for mobile phones. Evan MP3 player works on almost every phone, because it is written in mobile Java.
And mobile Java causes a lot of trouble. Before Evan MP3 Player can play any music it has to find some songs first. To locate music the player has a (not very intuitive) explorer-like menu. You have to guide it to every folder with songs in them, because Evan won't load all tracks on a drive (internal or memory card) in one go. It won't even load songs from subfolders unless you open every subfolder first.
Newer Symbian phones have an overly tight security system for mobile Java programs. As a result, you'll have to give Evan MP3 player permission for every folder it opens and every song it loads. You can't tell your phone something like "yes, you can read my music files, so don't ask me again." The security warnings will drive you crazy, especially if you have a lot of music. When one song ends, your phone will ask for permission to play the next track. And then again and again and again.
Once you've loaded your tracks it's time to play them. But you won't hear any music if you have warning tones switched off. And to switch to a profile with warning tones enabled just because you want to listen to some mp3s...
Most parts of the Evan user interface ignore the central navigation button, and the player doesn'thave an equaliser.
The verdict: forget about using Evan MP3 player on a Symbian phone. Evan may be OK on a Java phone, but if your phone runs Symbian you're better off with PowerMP3 or TTPod. Even Symbian's own music player is better, especially if you make it folder aware with this folder structure workaround.
• Evan MP3 Player at metlock.cz (in czech) UPDATE: this link expired
• Evan MP3 Player at Softpedia (in english) UPDATE: this link expired
• check the music label for PowerMP3, TTPod, and other Symbian music players
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