Open Zip Files
HandyZipperLite (v1.2 June, 2008) I don't know why the Centro's can't open zip files out of the box, but they don't. This little guy is great for downloading apps directly to the centro. If they're zipped, HandyZipper will let you install them from inside the zip. Handy++
Hiding Unwanted Application Icons
Application Panel (v1.3, June 2008) is what you need. Run it and then check out the new "Applications" option at the very bottom of your "Prefs" app. Clicking on an application in it's list will toggle between showing and hiding that app in your launcher. I'm a bit of a UI minimalist, so I hid all the crapplets that the phone and your carrier dump on you, as well as all the apps I bound to the function keys since I don't need the icon to access them.
A Better Contacts List
2Cool4U (v1.0 June, 2008) by MetaViewSoft is a contacts app that mimics the iPhone's flickable contacts list. I sometimes just find myself playing with, it's quite good. If you use the grouping feature to sort your contacts, a push on the left side of the screen opens a menu that lets you filter your list by those groups. Swiping the panel to the side opens up your most recent calls in the same flick-scroll-able list. This zip also contains pnoJpegLib.prc, which 2Cool4U needs in order to show your contact's photos, and some skins.
Upgrading the Launcher
The awkwardly named Treo Launcher is our tool of choice. Onscreen calendar, launcher wallpaper, filtering apps as you type, recent apps on the bottom. Everything from the original launcher is kept, and more great features are just added to it.
Ditch VersaMail
ChatterEmail (Go there on your phone) If you actually use email, you need to get rid of that crap Palm passed of as a mail client. Use it, play with it. Check out the settings, and if you use more than one email address, be sure to set up the summary list. For Exchange compatiability, you need a plugin that's no longer distributed called Chatterexch.prc and EXsend.prc. They're tough to find.
Any Website as an Application
SharkLinks (v1.2 June 2008) lets you add bookmarks to useful websites into the launcher as if they were their own apps, saving you the steps of opening the browser and then digging around for them. I added in links for Yelp, GrandCentral, Google Reader and the Waffles.fm forum for chatting when I'm bored.
Ignore Call with a Text
SharkMsg claims to let you ignore a call by choosing one of a couple predefined messages and having it send back a text. I really wanted that feature, but I couldn't ever get it to work. If someone has better luck, knows how to fix it or knows of a better program that does that let me know. I'll bake you a cake or something. Ludus Tech has some other widgety apps like SharkBtn (Why all the shark names?) that you may be interested in, but these are the only two I've played with.
Better Function Buttons
It's time to redo the bindings for your funtion keys, and bind them to applications that you actually want to be able to quickly access. Each key has a primary and alternate target, so we actually get a few choices to work with here. Go to: Home > Prefs > Personal > Buttons. You'll see a chart with each of the 3 buttons you can change and the applications they relate to. Home always goes to the launcher, and the phone primary always goes to the phone, but that seems reasonable. I set mine up like this:
| Primary | Secodary | |
| Phone | Phone | Web |
| Calendar | 2Cool4U | Doom |
| Envelope | Messaging | Chatter Email |
Manage Files and Bluetooth
Softick Commander (v1.03) is the best file manager for palmOS, hands down. Tabbed interface, browse rom, ram, sd cards and nearby bluetooth devices. Drag and drop, cut or copy and paste. The only unintuitive thing about it was that you have to click the icon of a file, not the name, if you want to select multiple files.
and now...
Doom on the Centro!
In case you're wondering: It works. Flawlessly. It's as if Doom was made to be played on the Centro, and it's tons of fun to play. It's also kinda tough to set up. You will need to:
- Get a micro SD card - Doom uses way more memory than the centro actually has, so get
- Install UDMH (unlimited dynamic memory hack by PalmPowerups, v1.7) to trick your phone into using the extra card's space as extended memory. The shareware version doesn't re-enable itself when your phone crashes and only works for a week, so go register for $10 as if you run Doom without this enabled it will crash your phone again. (Since this is a guide to making your phone as awesome as possible, I'm going to let you know that a keygen exists and you can find it if you're awesome, but I really suggest paying the 10$)
- ZDoomZ (v1.2 by yoyofr)- A port of the doom engine for palm OS5. Install the prc, and use commander (get it above) to move zdoomz.zkd to /Palm/Programs/Zdoomz on your sd card.
- Doom wad files (a wad is a package of levels and sprites). The shareware levels are in doom1.wad. It also goes in /Palm/Programs/Zdoomz on your sd card. The full version is called doom.wad, doom 2 is called doom2.wad, in case you want to search for them. There's a lot more mods and such but I haven't figured out how to get them to work yet.
- To listen to music, you'll need the timidity library. Zdoomz will crash without this if you don't disable music in the options panel. I haven't set this up yet, so I don't have the files or details. Find them on yoyofr's page.
- If you have trouble with zdoomz crashing, you may be running out of usable expanded memore. This is more likely to happen if you have a smaller micro sd card. To fix it, install DBCacheTool. I've never used this, but from what I gather you need to set clear type to DB, enable safe mode and turn off auto clear, then click apps and enable it for ZDoomz. A 1GB microSD card has more space than you'll ever need if you're not filling it with music. If you've got a card that big you wont need this, but I've noticed ZDoomz load a little faster with it.
Anything Else?
I'd love to add to this page, so if I find anything else that makes the centro better here's where it will show up. Leave me some comments if you want to recommend another program or tweak, or if you have problems with anything. I wrote all this from memory, so it may not be perfect.
