Some are ad supported, and I’ve made sure to clearly point that out in each overview.

HALauncher

Google Play Store link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.i.akihiro.halauncher

HALauncher is my new Android TV launcher. I’ve put this one at the top of the list of 10 in case you just came here to find out which one I recommend the most. This is it.

It’s free but ad supported. Don’t like ads? You can disable them for free. That’s right, in the HALauncher settings you can just uncheck the “Show Ads” box. It’s perhaps the most customizable of all the Android TV launchers in this list. It’s intuitive, doesn’t lag, includes widget support, has a task scheduler (!) and it’s stable. But hey, don’t take my word for it, just give it a try.

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Simple TV Launcher

Google Play Store link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.cosinus.launchertv

Super insanely simple, so the name is quite apt. Nothing much to it other than app icons on the home screen and customizable wallpaper. It’s a very stable, small launcher. No lag when navigating between apps, which can’t be said for all of the ‘simple’ launchers in this list. The only drawback is that it hasn’t been updated in a few years. An added bonus is that you can also view the source code on github. It’s worth a try if you’re looking for something very simple.

ATV Launcher

Google Play Store link (Free version): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ca.dstudio.atvlauncher.free
Google Play Store link (Paid/Pro version): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ca.dstudio.atvlauncher.pro

ATV Launcher (Free and Pro) comes with lots of widgets – Chrome Bookmarks, Search, Photo Gallery, Google Feed, Google “at a glance” Calendar, Netflix, Spotify + other App widgets. You can also customize the wallpaper and App shortcuts (name, icon, background image/color). The Pro features (which obviously come at a cost) include: the ability to edit the border radius, column count, “show selection” and “show title”, widget column count, widget row count, and the ability to create folders. It’s worth giving a try but make sure to install the free one first to see if you like it.

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TVLauncher

Google Play Store link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.awe.dev.pro.tv
Contains ads which are $2.99 to remove, although they don’t seem to be too intrusive – so far I’ve only seen them in the settings & config screens.

TVLauncher offers light and dark themes, which is pretty cool. You can group Apps into sections/categories, which are editable. Those categories can be displayed as names or as icons. You can also add websites to the home screen, making it even easier to visit streaming sites that don’t have their own Apps. The icons are a bit oddly shaped – some fit nicely, some don’t (see screenshots below). It hasn’t been updated in a couple of years and the developers domain has expired, which is never a good sign. It seems relatively stable though.

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TV Box Launcher

Google Play Store link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eu.aei.digisender.launcher

TV Box Launcher looks quite nice. It’s a shame so many of the features don’t seem to work. I couldn’t get the weather feature to function no matter how many ways I tried, and the icons for the Apps only seem to show up some of the time. The shortcut to the Settings didn’t work at all, and I only happened to stumble across another way to access them. The ads worked perfectly though… The selection of included Wallpapers was remarkably good, but no matter how nice it looks it doesn’t really matter with so many features being unreliable.

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kicc.tv Launcher

Google Play Store link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kicc.tv.launcher

This one is perhaps even more basic than the launcher that came with my device. You can customize the language, and that’s it. You can’t even set the clock to 12hr, it’s permanently stuck on 24hr time. Calendar “coming soon”, but it hasn’t been updated since 2017 – so don’t hold your breath. The icons on the app screen don’t display properly. Pass on this one.

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Easy TV Launcher

Google Play Store link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=studio.scillarium.stblauncher

The developer says that this launcher is simple by design, and sure enough – mission accomplished. It’s a list of apps that can’t be resized or customized at all – but you can ‘hide’ them from the main screen, and you can also dock your favourites. With all of that said, the app icons display properly (unlike a number of other launchers) and it seems rock solid (no crashes or glitches at all). Plus, it has been updated in the last 6 months, which is a good sign. If you’re looking for a functional and no-frills launcher, this is the one for you.

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Gal TV Launcher

Google Play Store link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.galeps.launcher

Gal TV Launcher feels like a launcher that had potential, and then development just stopped (hasn’t been updated since 2018). The list of “Youtube Trendings” is actually pretty cool and functions exactly as you’d expect. Otherwise, there isn’t much to it. The full screen ads that are a pain to close and noticeable lag that occurs with each button press makes this a “couldn’t possibly recommend” though.

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The post 8 Free Android TV Launchers Compared & Reviewed appeared first on Simple Help.

It’s a fantastic “arm” that easily clamps onto your smartphone or tablet and acts as a stand. The photos will describe it best :)

Let’s get this out of the way up front: I was given a free unit to review. As with all of the reviews here, I’m brutally honest about the product whether I paid for it or not. OK disclaimer out of the way.

This thing is amazing. I’m paying for another one out of pocket so that I have two. In a nutshell, one end of the flexible “gooseneck” or “arm” has a clamp that holds your tablet or smartphone. The other attaches to your desk, table, nightstand or … almost anything. The price? $15 via Amazon.

The clamp can hold just about any smartphone on the market. You’d have to be using a freakishly small novelty device or a gigantic “cell phone” from the 80’s for this clamp not to hold it securely. It also rotates 360 degrees, making it that much easier to get the perfect view.

The “spring-loaded” bracket can hold a tablet up to 10 inches wide (or tall). In theory it will hold one of the Samsung 10.1 line of tablets, I don’t have one to try it out with. The list of devices that I own that worked perfectly include: the iPhone 6, an iPad Mini, a Samsung Galaxy Tab A 9.7″, the first Kindle Fire and my old iPod.

The padding that holds your tablet/phone in place is a soft but firm silicon that couldn’t possibly scratch your device.

The same holds true for the padding on the clamp that attaches to your desk/table/anything. It isn’t going to scratch or leave a mark of any kind no matter how tightly you attach it (alright unless you really go out of your way to do it on purpose) :)

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The reason I’m buying another one (aside from me being too lazy to attach/reattach it a few times a day) is that for me, it has 2 fantastic uses. The first is to clamp my tablet to my desk and have it hover above my laptop screen. Then I can use my tablet as a second monitor. I also frequently use my tablet or iPhone to run Spotify and wirelessly send the audio to my Beats Pill speakers (seriously love them too, another review for another day). That means I’m running one less App on my Mac but I can still easily access Spotify itself.

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The other use that I can no longer live without is to attach my iPad Mini or Samsung Tab to my nightstand and watch Netflix in bed. Or stream movies/tv shows from my media center. No more trying to balance the iPad on a pillow so I can watch TV in bed! The 360 super-rotating clamp and bend-y but strong neck means you can get your iPad/tablet to the exact right angle for maximum viewing laziness.

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I’ve saved the one negative for the end. While the neck is both strong and flexible, you’re not going to want to tap out long emails when your device is clamped to the device. It’s going to ‘sway’. If you clamp it to a desk and then kick the desk hard enough, it’s going to make the device swing a bit. All you have to do is lightly put a finger on it and it’ll stop swaying right away, but using the touch-screen aspect of your phone/tablet becomes annoying quickly if you’re trying to do anything that involves intensive “tapping” on your screen. That said, it will not ‘slowly bend’ under the weight of your device, unless you’re using something that’s just too heavy and was never intended to be used. For example, the first generation “regular” iPad is too heavy to support.

The device is only $15 via Amazon

The post Review: The Gooseneck Phone Holder appeared first on Simple Help.

The Jackery Mini Portable no longer seems to exist. With that said, 5 years later and I’m still using mine – so I can in good conscience recommend the Jackery family of batteries, especially the Jackery Bolt, which I own and still use as well.

Important Disclaimer: I was sent a free Jackery Mini (value: $10.99 USD) to review on this site. I was not otherwise compensated in any way, shape or form. I’m also going to be brutally honest, as you’ll read (scroll down to “The Cons”).

What is the Jackery Mini?

It’s a portable battery that you can use to charge/recharge pretty much any “USB-chargeable” device. That list includes almost every smart phone and tablet out there.

The Bottom Line

If you have one or more portable electronic devices you use often enough that you find yourself having to charge them while you’re “on the go” – the Jackery Mini is a great value at $10.99 USD.

It’s small enough (see ‘The Stats’ below) to be considered totally portable. It holds enough of a charge that it’s worth the space in your pocket, certainly your bag. If you lose it, it was $11 – not the end of the world.

The Stats

You can find all of the fine details here (not anymore), but the things you care about:

1. It’s 3.7 by 0.9 by 0.8 inches. So about the size of a tube of lipstick. It weighs 2.7 ounces, about as much as my keys & keychain. All in all – pretty small, pretty light.
2. In theory it charges the following devices, x number of times before needing to be recharged itself:

   

   From my experience using the Jackery Mini I have no reason to disagree with those stats. My iPhone 5’s battery is so horrible that I can get six full charges out of the Jackery Mini – but do not expect the same results if your iPhone 5’s battery is still half-way decent.

   I was able to charge my 1st Generation iPad Mini from 3% all the way to 80%, and there isn’t anything wrong with its battery. I was very pleasantly surprised that it was able to charge my iPad Mini as much as it did. I play a lot of hours of Plants vs. Zombies 2 before it needs a charge, so again – from 3% to 80% is great.

   It was able to charge my Samsung Galaxy Tab A from 2% to 40%. After how “much of a charge” it gave my iPad Mini, I was a bit surprised it only went to 40% on the Tab A. Regardless, 40% is another hour of fairly intensive use on that same device – I’ll take it.

The Cons

It takes about 5 hours to fully charge the Jackery Mini itself. This could be completely standard for this type of battery, I’ve never owned one of this size before. So don’t really plan on using it more than once a day, and remember to charge it at night.

The USB cable that came with the Jackery Mini, that one the device uses to charge itself, was literally the wrong kind. The unit I was sent included a Mini-B USB cable, not the Micro-B. I can’t remember any device I’ve purchased that came with the wrong USB cable. Sometimes no cable, but never the wrong one… I happen to have dozens of every possible type of cable, so it wasn’t a big deal to me. Otherwise, this would have been seriously irritating.

There’s an App. It’s supposed to keep track of how much time it thinks your battery has left, how long until a charge is complete – info like that. Please, don’t install it. It’s free so you may be tempted, but I found it to be nothing but a waste of the very battery it monitors. I won’t even provide a link to it :)

The post Review: The Jackery Mini “Portable Charger” appeared first on Simple Help.

]]> https://www.simplehelp.net/2015/11/18/review-the-jackery-mini-portable-charger/feed/ 0 https://www.simplehelp.net/2008/12/09/review-setup-openarena/ https://www.simplehelp.net/2008/12/09/review-setup-openarena/#respond Tue, 09 Dec 2008 09:45:17 +0000 http://www.simplehelp.net/?p=1839 OpenArena is an open source First Person Shooter based around a Quake engine. It’s fast, violent, and very entertaining. And best of all, it runs on Windows, Linux, and OS X! It also has very low system requirements and can is portable, making it perfect for passing around the office and playing a few games …

Review and Setup: OpenArena for Windows/Linux/OS X Read More »

The post Review and Setup: OpenArena for Windows/Linux/OS X appeared first on Simple Help.

]]> OpenArena is an open source First Person Shooter based around a Quake engine. It’s fast, violent, and very entertaining. And best of all, it runs on Windows, Linux, and OS X! It also has very low system requirements and can is portable, making it perfect for passing around the office and playing a few games while the boss isn’t looking. Not that I encourage that type of thing.
Please note: This guide was initially published back in 2008 and OpenArena has changed (not super-significantly) since then. Also, it won’t work in modern versions of macOS.

The games website gives a warning that the game may not be suitable to children under 17 due to violence and some women with very little clothing (which you usually don’t notice during all the action). If you’re alright with that, you can find some download links here. You should get a .zip file containing a folder with the game in it. Extract the folder where ever you like and (assuming you’re on Windows) just double click openarena.exe in the folder.


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The first thing you might want to do is go into Setup. Under Player you can put in the name you want to use. After that, you can click on Model in the lower left hand corner to choose your character. There are many to choose from but they are all the same except for how they look and the sounds they make. Penguin is my personal favorite.


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Under Controls go to Shoot and I recommend turning Auto switch Weapons to Off. The rest is pretty self explanatory, so lets move onto System. Here you can change a lot of things. Like resolution, whether it is running full screen or windowed, if you want bloom, and all kinds of other things. Now, back out into the regular setup and go to Game Options. Here you can change your cross hair and I also recommend that you turn Automatic Downloading to On, so you can download custom maps other people are playing.


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Now to the fun part! You may want to try out Single Player before diving into Multiplayer. It is basically the same, only you play against bots. Click on a stage and you can choose your difficulty. One thing I found interesting about the bots is that they taunt you! Every now and then their character’s name will show up having typed something. I find this pretty entertaining sometimes.


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Anyway, onto the game play. It’s your typical run and gun shooter. With a heavy emphasis on ‘run’. This is a pretty face paced game compared to most of the stuff out today. There’s a wide arrangement of weapons, too. From the close quarter combat saw (which you can switch to at any time by pressing 1) to the long range sniper (or rail gun) with some shot guns, rockets, and more in between. When I checked, there were 83 servers up for OpenArea. This isn’t too much, but it’s very easy to find a server to play in. And you can always create your own. There is also a wide range of maps, for good old death matches and for the slightly more tactical CTF mode.


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I enjoy playing this game from time to time. It is updated fairly regularly, and I can’t wait to see what all they do with it. There are other free (and better looking) shooters out there, but I love OpenArena’s retro feel and simplicity.

The post Review and Setup: OpenArena for Windows/Linux/OS X appeared first on Simple Help.

]]> https://www.simplehelp.net/2008/12/09/review-setup-openarena/feed/ 0 https://www.simplehelp.net/2008/09/02/10-windows-application-launchers-compared-and-reviewed/ https://www.simplehelp.net/2008/09/02/10-windows-application-launchers-compared-and-reviewed/#respond Tue, 02 Sep 2008 12:30:20 +0000 http://www.simplehelp.net/?p=1003 In this article you’ll find brief reviews, screenshots and download locations for 10 4 different Windows application launchers. Please note: This guide was published back in 2008 and since then a number of the original launchers have been discontinued. However, the following 4 still remain and have only gotten better in the meantime.   Name …

10 Windows Application Launchers compared and reviewed Read More »

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]]> In this article you’ll find brief reviews, screenshots and download locations for 10 4 different Windows application launchers.
Please note: This guide was published back in 2008 and since then a number of the original launchers have been discontinued. However, the following 4 still remain and have only gotten better in the meantime.

 

Name	Price	Rating (x/5)
Find and Run Robot	free	****
Launchy	free	****½
SlickRun	free	***½
True Launch Bar	$19.90	***

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Find and Run Robot

Find And Run Robot (FARR) may not have the slick look (by default) of some of the other keystroke based application launchers, but it certainly doesn’t lack in features. And if there’s a feature not included by default, you can probably find an addon to include the missing functionality. FARR had a very small memory footprint in Vista – about 7MB. It indexes your files, bookmarks, folders, pictures and of course, applications. If you’re still using an older version of Windows you’re in luck – FARR works on Windows 9x, 2000, XP and Vista. A detailed (and always up to date) feature list for FARR can be found here. Like most of the DonationCoder.com software, FARR actually includes a list of its “competitors” in the help file, which isn’t something you see a lot of software packages include.

Default View	Launching an app
Advanced Visual Preferences	Search Behavior Preferences

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Launchy

Launchy is an open source keystroke based application launcher. It was designed to work on Windows XP, but there’s a .dll file available to get it to work (probably) in Windows 2000. It also worked perfectly in Vista (from my experience). Launchy is probably the most popular of the Windows keystroke based application launchers, and for good reason. It’s stable, uses minimal system resources (about 10MB in Vista) and has an extensive list of features (for the full list see the Launchy Readme file). There are also a number of very useful Launchy plugins for extra features.

Launching an app	Search Google
General Preferences	Default Plugins

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SlickRun

SlickRun is a keystroke based application launcher. It resides just above the clock in your system tray (by default) and since it display the time and date when not being used, you can remove the time from your system tray to recover some space. Type help into SlickRun and you’re taken to the online help files, which are actually quite helpful. One of the neat features included in SlickRun is SlickJot – a place to store brief notes. You can add text to SlickJot by highlighting it and dragging it to the SlickRun window. You can also search through the clips using the built in find tool. Notes are automatically saved.

SlickRun has a very small memory footprint – only about 5MB at any given time. To add additional functionality to SlickRun you can install MagicWord Packs (found on the homepage in the MagicWord Packs section).

Default view and location	Search with Google
SlickJot feature	Right-click Menu
SlickRun Library	SlickRun Options

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True Launch Bar

True Launch Bar isn’t a keystroke based application launcher, rather, it’s a replacement for the Windows Quick Launch Toolbar. Think of it as the Quick Launch Toolbar on steroids. Though it isn’t free, there is a 30 day fully functional demo (though it has some annoying nag messages). Setting it up takes a bit of work – there are a lot of options and settings, and if you try to use the settings page to create new menus, it can be a bit confusing. True Launch Bar works with Windows 9x/ME/2000/NT4/XP/Vista.

QuickLaunch Replacement	Custom Launch Toolbar
Access TBL Settings	Right-click Menu
General Options	Menu Appearance w/ Preview

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Some other Windows application launchers that I didn’t include above are: keybreeze, Skylight, ObjectDock and RocketDock

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]]> https://www.simplehelp.net/2008/09/02/10-windows-application-launchers-compared-and-reviewed/feed/ 0 https://www.simplehelp.net/2007/09/25/overview-mailplane-a-gmail-client-for-os-x-plus-beta-invites/ https://www.simplehelp.net/2007/09/25/overview-mailplane-a-gmail-client-for-os-x-plus-beta-invites/#respond Tue, 25 Sep 2007 12:00:16 +0000 http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/09/25/overview-mailplane-a-gmail-client-for-os-x-plus-beta-invites/ Mailplane is a stand-alone Gmail client for macOS. Besides including all of the great features of Gmail, Mailplane adds extras such as built-in drag-and-drop attachments, quick import from iPhoto and iTunes, Growl notifications when you get new messages and much more. Please note: This guide was originally published back in 2007. Quite obviously, a lot …

Overview: Mailplane – a Gmail client for macOS Read More »

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]]> Mailplane is a stand-alone Gmail client for macOS. Besides including all of the great features of Gmail, Mailplane adds extras such as built-in drag-and-drop attachments, quick import from iPhoto and iTunes, Growl notifications when you get new messages and much more.
Please note: This guide was originally published back in 2007. Quite obviously, a lot has changed since then. Mailplane still exists and is actively being worked on and updated. With that said, the steps and screenshots used in this guide have likely changed. This article is staying online as a historical/archived document, and should be treated as such.
1. When first launched, Mailplane will ask a few questions. I opted to install the iPhoto plugin and check for updates when Mailplane is started, but not to make it my default mail client quite yet. These settings can be changed later, so don’t worry about them too much. Click Finish when you’re done.


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2. Enter your Gmail account info in the spaces provided. Review the optional settings as well. Click Login when you’re done.


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3. If Keyboard shortcuts are turned off on your Gmail account, Mailplane will let you know. Click the Open Google Settings button.



4. Scroll down to the Keyboard shortcuts section, and select Keyboard shortcuts on. Then click Save at the bottom of the window.


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5. And your Inbox will open.


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6. Exactly the same as the web version, your messages display in the manner you’ve grown accustom to.


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7. But there are dozens of excellent “hidden” features. For example, you don’t have to hold down the Shift key to select multiple messages.



8. Google Talk will pop up in its own window if you select it from the top Toolbar.



9. And you can browse your Photos, Music and Movies by selecting iMedia from the Toolbar.



10. A number of the user interface options can be changed if you select Tweak UI from the Preferences menu.



11. Some of the other settings can be altered from the General tab of the Preferences menu.


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12. Growl notifications are supported, and work perfectly.



13. And last but not least, there’s also a menu icon for Mailplane. From it you can quickly compose new messages, check for new mail etc.



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]]> https://www.simplehelp.net/2007/09/25/overview-mailplane-a-gmail-client-for-os-x-plus-beta-invites/feed/ 0