As I posted before, Rock'n'Scroll is available starting Friday the 29th of February. There's an updated version (bugfixes only) as of March 5th. Get it by registering on Keynetik's forum.
Here are my thoughts on this piece of software, after extensively using it since its release.
First of all, I must also point you (again) to Bery95's (p)review over at the Symbian Web Blog.
Now let's get started. Once you run the app, this is what you'll see:
Accelerometer Polling describes whether or not the app is using accelerometer feedback. When you don't plan on using it for a while (and your keylock is off), I recommend turning off Accelerometer Polling, as it is a rather battery-intensive feature. You can do this by pressing Pen+C or by pressing Options->Toggle Acc Polling (especially noteworthy for phones that don't feature a Pen key).
Also of note is that the Polling turns itself off when the keylock is on. Sadly though, this version doesn't enable automatic turning back on after the keypad is unlocked, so you'll have to do it manually via the method described above.
The Notifications are indicative messages that show up whenever you use one of the toggles.
Game Mode is by default turned off in portrait mode, and on in landscape mode.
Let me explain: the app auto-rotates the screen based on how you're holding the phone. In portrait orientation, while Game Mode is off, you can use the app to navigate the menu or to make use of any other app by flicking your wrist in the desired direction (up, down, left, right). This mode is thought out especially for menu usage, as it is highly unlikely that a lot of continuous scrolling in one direction would accidentaly take place.
When you hold the phone in landscape position, the screen automatically rotates and Game Mode is turned on. Game Mode doesn't require flicks of the wrist for movement, rather you just (slowly, I suggest) turn the device in the desired direction. This is very useful in, well...games, but also while browsing (more on this later).
There is also the possibility to use Game Mode in portrait orientation and the Flick Mode in landscape orientation. You can always toggle between these two modes by either going to Options->Toggle Game Mode or by simply pressing the Pen key (if your phone has it).
Also regarding Game Mode, it's important to note that the exact position your phone is in when you enter this mode (either by rotating the phone or by toggling it) will then be the 0-degree position, which is the position in which the cursor isn't moving in any direction.
Push/Pull means you can push the phone downward to simulate a press on the center D-pad key ("OK") or pull the phone upward to simulate a press on the right softkey (usually having "Back" assigned to it).
It has been my experience that this feature of Rock'n'Scroll needs a lot more polishing, because it is very difficult to use, and very often I would find myself actually simulating a Pull ("Back" command) instead of the Push I intended. I usually turn this feature off (Options->Toggle Push/Pull) immediately after I start the app.
The single most annoying thing for me yet has been the so-called Dead Zone. This is what renders the Game Mode unusable if you hold your phone at a 90-degree angle to the ground, and also from that to almost a 45-degree angle (a notification shows up telling you that you're in the Dead Zone and you should reposition your device and then try activating Game Mode again).
I really do not understand why this has been implemented and surely wish it will be removed from the final release. Keynetik, I hope you're reading this (and my posts regarding it on your forums)! What's the point of personalizing the 0-degree position, if it can't be any position?
Uses
What is obvious from the beginning, because of the definitions used by Keynetik, is that Game Mode is created for gaming and the Flick Mode for browsing through the menus, using other apps, and so on.
However, what I've been most looking forward to since I heard that Rock'n'Scroll will allow the user to configure the 0-degree angle (but didn't know how much that would be compromised by the Dead Zone) is using the Game Mode for browsing the web. I still find it rather odd that no one else seems to have thought about this usage scenario. To me it seems pretty logical. The S60 browser is the single most scroll-intensive app on my N95. Using the Flick Mode doesn't go quite well for me in this case, since we're not talking some scrolling, we're talking a lot of it.
I only occasionally use the S60 browser since I've tried Opera Mobile (a comparison of web browsers for S60 will follow in a dedicated post), but even there Rock'n'Scroll's Game Mode is really useful.
Opera Mobile spares me the horizontal scrolling (by using its proprietary Small Screen Rendering technology), but there's still a lot of vertical scrolling to take care of. Which instead of repeatedly hitting a key (you can assign any of the numeric keys for "Page Down" functionality) can now be accomplished by just slightly turning my device.
Wonderful! It would be perfect (ok, this is the last time I'm saying it!) if it were not for that silly Dead Zone!
Anyway, don't get me wrong. I love this app and recommend it to anyone interested in having a more user-friendly accelerometer-touting S60 device. What I wrote above about the Dead Zone and the Push/Pull functionality was because, as with any Beta app, feedback (be it good or bad) from the users is always welcome. I certainly hope these issues will be fixed in the final release.
Please note that this app is unsigned. To be able to install it on your smartphone, you will have to sign it with a valid Developer's Certificate. To find out more about this procedure, contact me by using the form at the bottom of the sidebar of this site.
My previous posts on Rock'n'Scroll can be found here and here.
