MyNotes and ActiveFile fix bugs, but users of Contacts Transfer be warned

MyNotes

Symbian's built-in Notes application does its job, but MyNotes does more. With MyNotes you can protect your notes with a password, encrypt them, and organise them into folders. MyNotes used to choke on passwords that contain a zero, but the latest update fixes this bug.

MyNotes is a mobile Java program, so it doesn't launch as fast as Symbian's built-in notes application. But that's a small price to pay for password protection, encryption, and filing your notes into folders.

• MyNotes


ActiveFile

A new beta test version of file manager ActiveFile appeared on the ActiveFile website, but was quickly removed. For details about ActiveFile, check this review.

What's new (according to the changelog)?

The beta test version comes as a single installer for all versions of Symbian S60, and numerous bugs were fixed.

What's new (according to my own test, which is far from complete)?

The SMS backup and restore function has improved. The "backup options" entry in the menu of the SMS backup tool works now, so you don't have to click all the way to the settings menu to change your SMS backup/restore settings. And the "ignore duplicate" setting (which you can set to yes or no) doesn't forget your choice anymore.

The "fake SMS" feature has a new bug. When I created fake messages with the beta test version, ActiveFile got the dates wrong. August 10 became July 9, September 11 became August 10, etcetera. If you want to set a certain date for your message, you'll have to increase the day and month by one. This means you can't fake an SMS for the last day of the month, because ActiveFile won't accept the 32nd of August. If you set the first day of the month (or the first month of the year) and hit "create," ActiveFile crashes without creating the message, since one minus one produces an invalid date. On the bright side, ActiveFile can fake outgoing messages in addition to inbound SMSs, a feature you won't find (yet) in Free-iSMS or Fake Messages.

What's not new?

SMS backup files can be stored on your phone's built-in memory or on your memory card, but ActiveFile won't let you choose in which folder you'd like the backup to be stored. It doesn't even tell you the location of the backup file, which makes it unnecessarily difficult to copy the backup to your computer, store it online, or send it to another Symbian phone to merge different messaging folders.

You can move, copy, and send the SMS backup files manually if you know where they are. If you choose to store SMS backups in "internal memory" the backup files are stored in C:\Data\Others. If you choose "memory card" the files end up in E:\Others.

A bug that has not been fixed, and which may cause very unpleasant surprises: when you delete SMS backups from within ActiveFile's SMS backup screen it will also delete phone book backups created by Contacts Transfer if they're on the same drive. To be on the safe site, tell ActiveFile and Contacts Transfer to use different drives to store their backups until ActiveFile is fixed.

Other bugs may have been repaired (or introduced), but I'll wait for future updates to look into that. For managing my files I still prefer X-plore, and KillMe and JBak TaskMan are better than ActiveFile's built-in task manager. What really sets ActiveFile apart from other file and task managers is its nondestructive SMS backup and restore option and the Fake Message creator. These features work, even though there is plenty of room for bug fixes and other improvements.

• ActiveFile from Alie Tan
• ActiveFile v1.43.1 beta at Mobile Castle

DEdit, Ped, MyNotes, and MDictionary for texts, notes, and words

DEdit and Ped

Text editor DEdit does more than the built-in Notes application of your phone. DEdit works with large text files, has search & replace options, and you can use bookmarks to find your way in your texts.

The latest version lets you search in bookmarks. It's so new that you won't find it on the official site yet, but Mobile Castle offers a sneak preview.

• DEdit official site
• DEdit v0.76 R10 on Mobile Castle

My mobile text editor of choice keeps changing, because programs change and I don't believe in brand loyalty. My current favourite is Ped, a no nonsense text editor with a simple but effective user interface.

• Ped


MyNotes

MyNotes offers more than Symbian's built-in Notes application. MyNotes can protect your notes with a password and organise them into folders.

The latest version of MyNotes lets you encrypt your notes. Unfortunately it's written in mobile Java so it starts up a bit slow.

• MyNotes


MDictionary

Word translator MDictionary combines a simple, efficient interface with an increasing number of language pairs. The latest edition adds english to dutch, french, italian, and finnish.

• MDictionary

Take time, take notes: QuickStopwatch and SafeNote

QuickStopwatch

All mobile phones have a free stopwatch built in. It's been like that for ages. Well, almost all mobile phones. Symbian S60 phones come without a stopwatch.

But there's QuickStopwatch, a very simple mobile Java stopwatch program. No split timers, no laps, just a single clock that counts up. It can be paused, and that's the only extra.

For more options there's Stopwatch, which can run five different clocks simultaneously and includes split and lap timing.

• QuickStopwatch
• Stopwatch

Phat^Trance from Daily Mobile mailed me about a stopwatch for the touchscreen Nokia 5800 XpressMusic:
• Timer for Nokia 5800

If you need a free countdown timer, there's Buzzer:
• Buzzer


SafeNote

SafeNote stores notes in groups such as "business," "personal," and any groups you make yourself. You can search for text within a note, but you can't search all notes at once. It comes with optional password protection to keep you notes private.

SafeNote has no backup and restore option of its own, but with the latest version your notes are backed up when you back up the contents of your phone from the Symbian file manager or data manager.

• SafeNote

If you don't like SafeNote, try MyNotes:
• MyNotes

Take notes with Life Remarks and SafeNote, make spreadsheets and calculate things with Calc Sheet Lite

Life Remarks

Life Remarks is a mobile Java note application in diary format. It looks better than Symbian's built-in Notes feature, and Life Remarks can do more. You can attach notes and appointments to diary entries, and you can protect your secrets with a password.

I had to restart my phone before I could uninstall Life Remarks.

• Life Remarks


SafeNote

SafeNote is a notes application with optional password protection. It organises your notes in groups such as "business," "personal," and any groups you make yourself. You can search for text within a note, but you can't search all notes at once.

• SafeNote


Calc Sheet Lite

Calc Sheet Lite is a bare bones spreadsheet application. You can enter formulas, and that's about it. Selecting multiple cells by using the # key (which has replaced the "pencil" key on most Nokia phones) didn't work on my phones, so I could only move cells around one by one. Calc Sheet Lite is good for simple spreadsheet calculations, but don't expect Excel-like functions.

• Calc Sheet Lite

Notes On The Phone puts stickies on your screen

Do you like Post-it notes? Now you can stick them on your phone without leaving glue all over your screen. Notes On The Phone is a program to make digital Post-it notes. It runs in the background and shows your notes on your standby screen once in a while (if your phone supports this feature). It works on most (all?) Nokia, Samsung, and LG phones that can run mobile Java programs.

• Notes On The Phone