KeyguardExt Software Review
Like many Treo and Centro owners, I find myself regularly pressing the Power button on my smartphone in order to bring up the time and date on Keyguard (pictured here on the right).
Overall the standard and simple Keyguard works perfectly well _but_ when I need to check the time and/or date quickly it certainly doesn’t help that these are displayed so small at the bottom of the screen…
This is why I got particularly excited when I stumbled upon a tiny new application called KeyguardExt (pictured below) which makes it significantly easier and faster to quickly check the date and time on your Treo or Centro thanks to a considerably larger display of this information.
Additionally, alongside date and time, the KeyguardExt application also allows you to display the amount of Free RAM and Battery charge on your smartphone as well as the Free Memory available on your SD Card. A “Misc” selection adds icons for Network, Bluetooth, Messaging and Missed Call(s) as well as a useful middle icon to show whether your Ringer Switch button is enabled or not.
You can add or remove any of these displayed items, position the Keyguard window at the Top, Center or Bottom and also select the level of dimness that you’d like for the background (above left at 100% and right 80%).
Overall, KeyguardExt is a small, very clean and attractive as well as useful little addition to my Treo and Centro software arsenal but I would nonetheless hope for some improvements in future versions. For example, I would like to see more customization features such as color options for fonts and background – something that another favourite application called picKeyGuard does extremely well.
Separately, please remember that you can use the coupon code BESTSELLERS in your cart to get 20% Off this and any other application in our Treo and Centro Software Store [Please note this coupon is not valid in our Treonauts Accessories Store.]
Finally, if you’re wondering about my green/grey skin in the screenshot above I use the terrific PalmRevolt application and Skins to considerably enhance the look and feel of both my Centro and Treo.
Treonauts always find the best enhancements… 
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Comments
Butler by hobbyistsoftware.com also does something similar with their keyguard. Pretty nicely configurable too.
How does KeyguardExt work with alerts such as missed calls? Thanks.
I know and appreciate that other applications can do the same as KeyguardExt but the fact is nonetheless that this is the most elegant version that I have come across to date thanks to its extremely clean and appealing graphics.
Nigel - missed call(s) appear behind KeyguardExt so you may not see it if you're using the full screen BUT the right icon at the bottom (the phone with a red arrow pointing left) displays how many missed call(s) you've had.
Cheers, A.
What a nasty hack to try fix a nasty flaw that is a nasty annoyance on every Palm phone...
It is refreshing to see this blog acknowledge yet another of Palm's longstanding shortcomings.
The Palm OS is horrendous and the way Keyguard and the date and time are handled on the Palm are another example of a serious design flaw that has not been addressed and corrected by Palm for YEARS.
How many people have been deceived by the false time that EVERY Palm phone displays when first activating the handheld using Keyguard?
Other competitors that have surpassed Palm would never conceive of shipping any product with such a defective interface.
QUESTION: Is this problem due to poor management, disrespect for users, engineering incompetence or simply shoddy design and quality assurance?
ANSWER: All of the above.
no thanx; are you sure you know what you're talking about? I just checked the time on my keyguard (stock, out of the box) on my 680 and the time was perfect. Maybe you're thinking of an older model or OS?
Treo 650 shows wrong time when Keyguard is on.
Another bug Palm never fixed.
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