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Android App Review: Flyscreen breathes life into your lock screen

Oh your lock screen. It is what it is. Time, date, press menu to unlock. It does its job. What more could you ever ask from it? Even with some lock screen alternatives out in the market, some of you may have been yearning for something that is a little more than just the time and date. Well, Flyscreen may be just for you. Flyscreen adds functionality and some fun to your lock screen. I’ve been using it for a few days, and i’m here to share my thoughts on this new, fun app.
 
Flyscreen allows users to add live widgets to your lock screen and interact with it from there, without unlocking your phone. From finance to Facebook, this application lets you access many of your favorite social networking sites to your favorite tech news blogs. There is also an SMS, and calendar widget to boot. With so much going on with this new application, it’s hard to know where to start. I may be leaving out some things, but i am going off of how i use it, and feel free to ask me questions of anything i may leave out.

 


When you start the application, it helps you set it up with simple bubbles that guide you through the process. Once you have the widgets you want, you’re good to go. every time you wake up your phone, you have access to Twitter, Facebook, custom RSS feeds and more. the screen consists of your first set widget, and below the usual time and date. Flyscreen also adds an ‘+’ button, which allows you to add widgets, update your feeds, or go to the settings menu. It also adds a dedicated Google search button, with the usual magnifying glass. Only one widget is allowed per screen, and is quite small with the time and date showing, so to get a better view, all you have to do is hold down onto the bottom of the widget, and drag it down, and you have a full screen widget. As simple as it is, it’s the small things like this that makes me really like this application. You can tell the guys at Cellogic put great thought into this application.

 
This is where it gets sticky.. To tell you the truth, i like this application, but I do not love it. The functionality is there, and the widgets are great, but i do find myself skipping over it a lot. Don’t get me wrong, I cannot find a engadget mobile widget for android, and i sure haven’t seen a cnet widget floating around either. the app was made to make things easier without having to unlock your phone, but sometimes I just find myself wanting the full functionality of my phone. I do have the Hero, so live widgets are what makes it different, aside from hardware. Although this could be a G1 owner’s wet dream. I know you are out there.
 
From my experience, the live widgets were very nice to use, and just the thought of having most of everything at your fingertips without diving into the phone, and going into an app or the browser just sounded awesome, and it is! I tried the application when it was in invite only status, so hopefully some of the bugs were worked out. One of my main gripes was about the calendar widget. You could add it just fine, but if you swiped to the screen, it would force close.
 
Oh, I forgot the best part. All of your widgets are synced to the Flyscreen website. to access your widgets, all you need to do is go to MyFlyscreen.com, log in and add, edit, or remove anything without touching your phone! Unfortunately, I am having some trouble logging in the website, or getting access to the app now, even with a password reset. Hopefully that will get sorted out in due time, because now I’m starting to miss it!
 
Flyscreen lets your lockscreen become a great part of your phone, serving up some functionality like never before seen on an android based handset, go to the market and try it out, it’s free!
 
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