A Few Words on ZLauncher 4.10

I have to say a word about our top finisher from the last round-up. ZZTechs added security for individual tabs, tabbed dialogs for all settings, a WiFi signal strength indicator on supported devices & themes, built-in small fonts, improved app bundling, and the ability to compress tab background images in RAM amongst other things. The latter results in significant RAM savings if you have different backgrounds for each tab. In my setup, I have 690.8K of compressed backgrounds, vice 1,800K for the same number of uncompressed images. That's a savings of over 61%!

The security addition proved well-thought-out. If you lock any tab, the All tab will also lock (prompting you for a password if not already set) and the password will be required to exit ZLauncher. Each tab may have its own password, and your registration code will act as the master password in case you forget the magic word. If you tap Change Password, then enter nothing (blank password), the password on that tab will be removed. Very slick implementation.

In addition, all configuration screens sport tabbed interfaces, simplifying the extensive customization possible in ZL. All this and much more for $19.95 new and a free upgrade to registered users. These folks never sleep, which keeps ZLauncher as the undisputed king of the hill.

Closing Thoughts

Unlike our last round-up, the two new entries and Facer 2.0 don't really compete head-to-head. Each has some unique quality that will appeal to a different market segment, and each app has garnered a dedicated following. The lesson learned here? The Palm OS launcher market continues to grow stronger, with talented developers filling a wide variety of user needs and desires. Palm life is indeed good!

The End