Symbian in Motion

Skyecaller by Skyestream

by Zach at 1:50 pm | March 12th, 2007 | Category: Application Reviews, Multimedia, Utilities

If you’re like me, then you’re not too happy with the fact that S60 3rd devices only display a tiny thumbnail image associated with your contacts. I, like many people, like the functionality of photo caller ID as it enables the user to quickly and easily identify callers at a glance. The thumbnail images that S60 3rd allows you to attach to your contacts do not help in this area at all - in fact I probably have a harder time identifying callers because the tiny thumbnail draws my eye away from the name/number of the caller ID display as I squint to try to determine exactly whose face it is in the microscopic image shoved into the bottom corner of my display.

There are currently two solutions when it comes to remedying this oversight and they both do the job well. My preference goes to Skyecaller by Skyestream. To be perfectly honest, it’s the simplicity and minimal visual style of Skyecaller that sold me almost immediately. More importantly, Skyecaller is the only option that currently autostarts with your device and this is probably the second most important function of this type of app next to (of course) displaying full screen caller images.

I don’t want a complex setup and too many bells and whistles when it comes to this sort of app. I just want my N80IE to do what any modern mobile phone should do - display a nice big image when I get an incoming call/sms from one of my contacts. Setting up Skyecaller literally could not be easier. The user interface has only two tabs. The first displays your contacts list and the second is home to five simple settings that determine the situations where Skyecaller will display a full screen caller image (Incoming call, Outgoing call, Incoming text, Outgoing text) and how your contacts are displayed (First name, Last name or Last name, First name).

The simplicity continues when is comes to assigning images to your contacts. Simply scroll to a contact in your list (or just start typing to use the integrated search function) and either press your center joystick key or Options -> Set image. Images are automatically resized by Skyecaller to fit your display.

A list of the images on your phone is now displayed complete with thumbnail previews. Just scroll through until you find the image you’re looking for and press the center joystick key to preview it or Options -> Set to assign it to your selected contact.

Each contact with an associated image is also clearly marked in the contact list and a thumbnail is displayed at the top of the screen.

Now every time Gary calls or texts me I’ll see a great big image of him and there’s no mistaking that famous smirk - I’ll definitely know it’s him right away!

Beneath the caller image during an incoming call, Skyecaller displays the name and phone number along with two options: ‘Answer’ and ‘Silence’. If you choose silence, you will then have the option to reject the call as well. If your phone is on a vibrate-only setting the silence option is omitted and you can reject the call right away (very smart!).

Skyestream offers users a free one-day trial to get a feel for this app but I hardly needed that long to know it was a winner. Also, despite the fact that Skyecaller is already slightly less expensive than its competition, Skyestream is offering a 15% discount right now if you purchase through their online shop!

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