Android smartphones get smarter with Phoneweaver
Phoneweaver Review/ App Showcase
I have been waiting ages for the awesome Windows Mobile app, Phoneweaver to finally make its way onto the android and yesterday was the day it finally hit. 
The one major downfall of the Android platform is that it could do more to be more aware of the phones state to streamline the user experience. Such as if the battery is low, it should switch off the power hungry processes. If the phone knows I am in a meeting, then it should give me the option to mute my ringtone automatically.
Well all the above and much more is exactly what Phoneweaver did well on Windows mobile and am delighted to say does great on Android too.
All about Profiles!
The secret sauce that makes Phoneweaver so compelling is the ability to create, personalize and trigger the built in profiles.
It comes standard with various profiles which can be triggered manually or automatically by the system. In addition you can also use an on screen widget to activate a profile, or even swipe down your notifications panel which also has a phoneweaver entry. The following profiles are created by default:
- Mute- This allows you to temporarily mute the phone, which turns off all the audio, and will time out after 1 minute 30. ( perfect for shutting off that unimportant call mid meeting)
- Day – This is the standard mode that the phone is on during the day.
- Night- This mode automatically switches on after 11.30. I configured this to automatically increase the brightness and reduce the phone volume.
- Car GPS- This mode is ideal when going on a long journey. With Wifi off and GPS on but also fires up your bluetooth and google maps ( or in my case ) Nexus Car mode.
- Airplane Mode- Deactivates your phone and wifi
All about Customization
What happens if you want more control than the standard? The real power of Phoneweaver shows when you press the menu button and click edit profiles. Pressing menu again and clicking add profile starts the process off.
Stage 1: Trigger
Once your new profile is named you can click on it and start the customization. Firstly you can set the trigger type, which can be:
- Manual- Must be manually switched on
- Time Based- triggers at a certain time
- Location Based- triggers within a certain distance from a location.
- Agenda Based- Phoneweaver can check any of you calendars and trigger a profile based on meeting subject or Location
- connection based- Can trigger a profile depending on if its plugged into an external power source, headset or even a dock.
You can also set the timeout period for the trigger, and decide if it can override settings from other profiles.
Stage 2: Actions
Once the trigger has been set, its now time to tell the phone what it needs to do when a profile is switched on. Under the sounds menu, you can get the phone to automatically
- switch ringer to vibrate or silent
- Change the ringtone ( have a silly one for home and a serious one for work!)
- Change the phone ringer volume
- Change the voice calls volume
- and loads more sound options
Under the comms menu, you can specify whether
- wifi/ bluetooth is switched off/ on
- The phone radio is switched off and on
- automatically activate speakerphone on call.
Finally the “other” menu lets you specify
- screen timeout and brightness
- profile icon
The best feature here is that Phoneweaver will automatically let you run a program when a profile starts and will automatically close it when the profile is changed. Examples of this are : automatically run the Google Maps Navigation in car mode or run the clock mode when its docked to my charger at home.
Once a profile is created it can be used or modified at any time, and if you have built an ideal profile schema to suit your life, you can also back up these settings to your SD Card from within the app.
There are already a few apps on the market such as locale that do a fairly similar thing. The great thing about Phoneweaver is that firstly it is cheaper ( Currently $6.99), its very user friendly and simple and for me it feels just as solid as the Windows mobile version that has been developed and matured over time.
To get Phoneweaver, just head over to the Android Market
For more information visit the phoneweaver webpage, or view their video below.
Popularity: 48% [?]
Related posts:
So it’s Locale but 1.5 years after it was released…?
There are a few programs the do something similar to what locale does. Phoneweaver has been around a lot longer than locale on other platforms, but does the job really well.
Another program in this area, that has just been released to the market after several development betas is Tasker. You can find it on the market (either Cupcake, or Eclair+) or at http://tasker.dinglisch.net/
It has more triggers (Wifi Network, Wifi Near, Bluetooth Connected, Notifications Clicks … in addition to the standard ones like Time, Location, Calendar).
Up to three triggers (called contexts) can be combined, allowing for more refined control.
It also supports more actions, which can be combined into tasks and allows for the use of variables in order to make real funky stuff.
Hi thanks for the headsup. I looked at this app ages ago. Looks like they have improved it. But looks really complicated.
My preferred app for this is Setting Profiles Full. It seems to have to more functionality that Phoneweaver.
Thanks for the feedback David. I haven;t checked that one out yet. Would you care to elaborate what features you use and like?
[...] our review of phoneweaver for Android, we have managed to get hold of an extra copy of this awesome profile app to give away [...]
I prefer using toggle settings – great looking app that works really well, and the profiles can be triggered using a variety of keys (including all mentioned above and more – like when headset is plugged in).
Been around for a long time – at least from v1.5 when I first found it. Comes in two version paid and ad version – can’t remember what I paid and what it costs now, but definitely cheaper than your suggestion.
Interface is really easy to use, has some great features and has great manual options two whether changing profiles or just individual settings.