SkyeQuiKey by Skyestream
It’s no mystery that I’m a big fan of Skyestream due simply to the fact that they develop outstanding applications, but I’m not exaggerating when I say that their latest offering blew me away. After only a few minutes with this app Skyestream’s stock catapulted to the top of my “app portfolio” and I don’t think that I could possibly own a phone without this app. If by the end of this review you don’t agree with me, then I clearly haven’t done my job.
SkyeQuiKey in a nutshell allows you to quickly and easily access contacts, apps, web bookmarks and messaging center elements from your standby screen. When I say ‘quickly’ I mean that it literally couldn’t be easier. This app instantly replaced about five other applications that I have on my N95! Enough build up… This app speaks for itself.
Essentially this app gives you an ‘always-on’ search utility that is accessible from your standby screen. In its current form it searches for four types of content: Contacts, apps, browser bookmarks and messaging center. Once you find what you’re looking for, the app allows you to launch it (app/bookmark) or initiate communications with it (contact) quickly and easily. To search from your standby screen you simply start typing (T9 style) and the app automatically and instantly comes to the foreground. In the example below I wanted to call my fiancee Melissa, so I simply typed “M, E, L” in T9 and there she is. I then pressed [send] and SkyeQuiKey allows me to chose on of her numbers and then connects the call. If there is one number that is dialed most often you can also set it as the default number and the [send] key will simply connect the call to that number.
If I had chosen to do so, I could have also initiated an SMS, MMS or email to Melissa or even opened up her contact entry using SkyeQuiKey. In fact within the app options you can configure shortcuts for [right] and [left] presses on the directional pad. So for example I can highlight Melissa and press [left] to open a new email addressed to her or [right] to send an MMS! Also note that you can search by first name, surname or company when looking for contacts.
So that’s contacts, but SkyeQuiKey goes further than that. What if you want to launch an application or game? Why should you have to dig through my menus to find it? Well using this app you don’t! Simply start typing the name of the app and press the center directional pad key to launch it.
The same goes for browser bookmarks. Don’t bother opening your browser and scrolling through your bookmarks, that’s for Windows Mobile users. ;) Just start typing out a bookmark name from your standby screen and select it from the SkyeQuiKey list to launch it in your S60 Browser.
Last but not least is your Messaging Center. Simply start typing out “Inbox”/”Outbox”/”Sent”/”Drafts” and the app gives you instant access to the relevant messaging folder. You can also type “new” for fast and easy access to a blank new SMS/MMS/Email.
Now I know exactly what you’re thinking at this point; if SkyeQuiKey is initiated when I start pressing keys what happens if i want to just dial a number and make a call? Don’t worry about it! Simply dial the full number as you would if SkyeQuiKey wasn’t even there. When you’re done dialing press [send] just like you would normally and your call is completed just as it always would be.
The app interface itself is merely a few simple settings that help determine some options that you have when interfacing with the app. Of course SkyeQuiKey autostarts but here you can disable the app and it won’t appear again until you enable it. You can also change the display order of contact names (first, last or last, first) and configure your right and left shortcuts as I described above. “Screen size” allows you to toggle normal (as seen above) and full screen modes. Full screen mode lists your search results from top to bottom as opposed to having the app icon/battery/signal/etc at the top of the screen. The last setting option here is your search history. You can set the app to remember your last 10, 20 or 30 searches, or no history at all.
SkyeQuiKey is compatible with a huge range of S60 3rd devices and it should be noted that it works slightly differently on full-keyboard devices. On qwerty keyboards you must press a button to bring the app to the foreground before you start typing your search, but clearly SkyeQuiKey is equally as useful on 1-9 and on full keyboards. As much as I love the app now I know that Skyestream already has a few very interesting items in the development pipeline and believe me when I tell you that SkyeQuiKey is going to get better and better. As always, Skyestream provides a brief free trial period with this app because no one likes to pay before they play. My advice? Click over to their site and start playing as soon as you can. Act soon and you can even take advantage of their limited time 25% off offer that surely won’t be around for very long.
Note: Thanks to SiMo readers, a few bugs have been identified in this version. Skyestream will have an updated version released by the end of this week (barring Symbian Signing) and I’ll post an update once it’s available.
UPDATE: Version 1.01 is now available here and should resolve the issues found in the comments below. Wow that was fast!
subscribe to comments made about this post
