Series 60 tips and tricks

Symbian's still supposedly got the largest market share of any smartphone operating system in the world, but just because it hasn't (yet) made a big splash in the American market doesn't mean there's not a wealth of helpful tips 'n' tricks to make the most of that Nokia (or Samsung, or Siemens, etc.). So let's see your hand, what have you been doing to make the most of that Series 60 smartphone of yours?

[Phil Dokas @ Feb 6th 2006 6:05PM]

Press and hold the application menu button to see a running process list that you can quit apps through with the C button.

[sean @ Feb 6th 2006 6:06PM]

Zedge.no - for wallpapers and themes
FExplorer - for organizing and seeing whats on your S60 phone
Agile Messenger - if you can get it to work, great IM tool
Helix - best media player for S60, and its GNU
And then theres a few commercial (S)NES emulators out there

[anonymous @ Feb 6th 2006 6:07PM]

Samsung? Are there even Samsung S60 phones... aren't almost all of them Nokias?

[bluengu @ Feb 6th 2006 6:32PM]

I think S60 is a Nokia trademark. Symbian however is used by several phone makers such as Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Siemens, and Motorola.

[shivakumar @ Aug 5th 2007 11:50AM]

can word or exel work in nokia n80

[Rich @ Feb 6th 2006 6:33PM]

These aren't secret, but they're some of the best features of S60, and not as obvious to newbies as perhaps they should be:

1. Managing your running applications. A foreign concept to Windows Mobile users, S60 thankfully includes a task manager to view, choose, and close running applications. Just hold down the application key for a second (the one with the two-dots-spinning icon) to bring up a menu of open apps. Choose one to switch to it, or press the "C" (clear) key to Exit that application to free memory.

2. Related to the above... Know the difference between "Exit"ing an application and switching to something else. If you're in an app and choose the "Exit" softkey (or use the task-manager shortcut above) that will actually shut down that application, and take you to whatever you were doing before. But if you press the red end (hang-up) key to jump to the home screen, (or switch to another application,) the app stays running in the background.

3. Full text editing. To select text, just hold down the text (pencil) key and move the cursor. A "Copy" option appears - press it to copy the selected text to the clipboard (just like a PC). Then go to where you want to paste the text - even another application - and hold the text key for a second. A "Paste" option appears.

[Paul @ Feb 6th 2006 6:34PM]

Salling Clicker all the way!

[David Boome @ Feb 6th 2006 7:09PM]

Tip: If you forget your MMC password Plug it into a computer Navigate to the system(hidden) mmcstore file and open it in notepad. Voila! your *confidential* password

[gtox @ Feb 6th 2006 7:09PM]

a few great applications: CtrlFreak(controlling your pc via bluetooth), TotalIR (IR remote control for... everything) . A great website (though a little messy) for apps and games: iphone-forum.org. I really like my Nokia 6600, it gets a little slow sometimes, but a format once every 6 months cures that. Can't wait to get a N93 in a couple of months.

[matthew bennett @ Feb 6th 2006 7:39PM]

I use the ReadM ebook reader. Calcium is a good free calculator. Autolock, um, locks your phone automatically. Salling Clicker is a remote control for my Mac. Cell Track tracks what cell you're connected to. And of course, Frozen Bubble is a good game.

I've tried a bunch of free and shareware software for my Nokia 6682, but these are the programs I've still got on my phone.

[Donald @ Feb 6th 2006 8:02PM]

OggPlay is a great (free) mp3 app. There's even some skins that can make it look like an iPod or whatever you want.

I'll second FExplorer. I can't live without it.

CellTrack is also good for the engineering nuts among us who need to know exactly how much seeg you actually have.

[dick @ Feb 6th 2006 8:05PM]

Here is a tip:
DO NOT BUY ANY SYMBIAN VERSION 3 PHONES!
as you will no longer be able to run any 'homebrew' apps and games on them due to the new "Symbian signed" DRM, erm I mean, security feature.

[aaron @ Feb 6th 2006 8:49PM]

As previously suggested, Calcium, FExplorer, and Autolock are my top 3 add-ons.

After that I would have to recommend Opera for web browsing, assuming you have a reason to pay $20/mo. for a data plan.

The one I am surprised nobody mentioned is EEMame. Mame on a cellphone is a feat and fun for a bit at the airport. The joystick is a little difficult on the Nokia 6620 though.

Also check out S60Zip. Freeware zip application.

[Nik @ Feb 6th 2006 9:23PM]

I have a nokia 6682 and when i press certain numbers in the correct order and hit the little green button, the phone makes funny noises and then i can talk to my friends and family. Who ever thought of using a cel phone to make phone calls? OH MY GOSH.

[Mark Nutter @ Feb 6th 2006 10:06PM]

I have had palm phones, windows mobile smartphones, and generic plain old regular phones, but I only recently made the plunge into the Symbian world with the 6682. My initial impressions after a week's worth of using it is that I should have done this a long, long time ago. Overall, I find it to be the most intuitive of the three major smartphone OS' out there. It combines the application switching of windows with the stability and intuitiveness of Palm's offering. The games out for the 60 series phones are unrivaled thanks in large part to the late n-gage (it was good for something - getting good games for REAL phones). Prince of Persia - Warrior Within absolutely blows me away as far mobile gaming goes. It's hard to believe I can have a near console experience on my little phone.

Other apps I have found extremely useful are Profimail which is a great looking and versatile email client, sProfiles which turns my phone on silent for me automatically according to the schedule I set for it so that I don't have my phone go off in class because I forgot to mute it, iSync which allows me to sync basically everything you possibly can sync with a mac, including caller id pictures which blows me away. I spent about an hour taking photos of friends in my iPhoto collection and making caller id pics for them. It's sweet to have every single number in my phone accompanied by a picture.

Opera is the single best mobile web browser I've ever used, hands down. It makes surfing on a screen as small as the 6682's actually bearable. The apps I'm looking for and haven't found, however, are a more advanced todo manager and an internet radio client (for the BBC). If anyone knows any s60 apps that would fit the bill let me know.

I love my 6682 (and may consider jumping right into the N80 when it releases.)

[Deluxe @ Feb 6th 2006 10:12PM]

#12 Nik, Why don't you just use an old 5110 then? Seems more like your style.

[Nik @ Feb 6th 2006 10:40PM]

No, really, i was shocked that it made phone calls.

[Darla @ Feb 6th 2006 10:59PM]

The first thing I do whenever I get a new series 60 phone is change the fonts. Not that its very important but just because I like to have everything personalized a certain way. I also have to have the important apps and Fexplorer is always the first to be installed. That is very important because once you begin installing apps its great to have a file management system to know exactly where everything is.

[illucid @ Feb 7th 2006 1:50AM]

I Have a 6600.

for internet radio i did use avec radio for a while,
never bothered much with PIM applications for S60, though i probably should.

Other stuff i found useful were:
Helix (already mentioned)
SkyForce (i love this game)
Explode Arena (only other game i loaded on my 6600)
Appman (manages memory, running apps/processes etc.)
Quickword
Netfront
Smartmovie
Salling Clicker
PDF+ (pretty self explanatory)
And i also picked up a file from a particular forum that someone made so it would work as a USB drive but i'm not sure whether it exists in commercial format.

As to non-software things, not that much, except that the phone runs faster if you compress memory with something like appman, store only vital info on the actual phone (rest on MMC, faster system but longer loading for those things) and turn down the call register length, at its default setting for some reason in Symbian OS 6/7 it seems to be a memory hog, but is very much less so if you change it to a lesser number of days.

[Maho @ Feb 7th 2006 2:35AM]

The best thing I have on my 6680 phone is the TomTom Mobile 5 navigator (Available in Europe). This way I can have mobilephone (GSM+3G), PDA w. Quickoffice and Navigation system in One. Even though the screen is small Tomtom gives me the information I need and the map and voice directions are easy to follow.

[xbit @ Feb 7th 2006 2:51AM]

"Samsung? Are there even Samsung S60 phones... aren't almost all of them Nokias?"

Nokia licenses S60 to a lot of different manufacturers. There's been S60 phones from Samsung, Siemens, Sendo and others.

The task manager tip someone posted is an excellent one. It's surprising how many people don't know that they can bring up a list of open applications by holiding down the menu key.

[chris @ Feb 7th 2006 3:21AM]

You've got to have Moorhen Camera X! It's a shooting gallery type game, but it uses the camera as a movement sensor to move the crosshair, makes you look like a complete idiot playing it, but really fun!

Others I use are WirelessIRC, Nokia Sensor, FExplorer and VRadio.

[Jeffrey @ Feb 7th 2006 3:51AM]

Nokia 6682: NetFront 3.2 browser is superior, yes, even to Opera ...$9 or so. Well worth it. Renders all web pages look like they were made for the device. Same browser that's used/included on most DoCoMo FOMA (i-mode/3G) phones. ProfiMail offers IMAP email --make sure data account is unlimited! Google local is trick - nice to see where you are on bike ride out in the countryside. Vradio is solid internet radio tuner. PuTTY for sh access. Nice in a pinch and puts one into the faces of those admins with Blackberrys... Flash runs standalone apps. Nokia has Python dev kit that allows access to phonebook, etc. Needs GPS in-unit. BT'ing a separate expensive unit is a little too "modular". BT keyboard is geekin for sure, but it allows you to do something close to like work on your pocket phone. 1 Gb DV-RSMMC card is also a must for apps and top songs from your iPod that you left attached in the car. ...all this and I actually work for Motorola. I lost my RAZR in a movie theater. It all happens for a reason... if only their design center wasn't in FINLAND.

[Nick Wade @ Feb 7th 2006 4:44AM]

I'm beginning to hate my Nokia 7610. It's definitely a Jack of all trades, master of none.

Of free applications that were actually worthwhile:
FExplorer
Opera
TaskSpy
Autolock

Kinda pathetic that you'd have to go looking for such basic functionality.

Of free games:
Frozen Bubble
MM Reversi
Yahtzee
S-Tris

Nothing too special.

[will @ Feb 7th 2006 4:49AM]

In addition to a lot of the programs already mentioned, I need to point out WirelessIRC, http://mobileways.de/M/1/4/0/ , which is one of the nicest Symbian apps I've used as well as being the one I use most often. I own the phone featured in this post, the 3230. I previously owned the 3650 (a brick, but one of the first phones with a camera and Series 60) which got me hooked to Symbian/Series 60. I'll consider the N80 and E70 once they're released.

[covox @ Feb 7th 2006 4:54AM]

http://koti.mbnet.fi/mertama/ - Doom for Series 60 phones. It would vary in usability, depending on the layout and speed of the phone model you have. I have a 6260, which helpfully distances the directional pad far enough so that it doesn't interfere with simultanious use of the keypad. Using the top directional pad to turn/shoot, and the lower numeric keypad to move+strafe and operate doors makes the game very playable. In my experience there's been no noticeable graphics lag. You also get full music/soundeffects along with deathmatch/coop over Bluetooth :D

[jr galela @ Feb 7th 2006 4:55AM]

but how about series 40 apps? there are a lot less apps for series 40 phone! i love my 6230 but can't get enough apps!

[CB @ Feb 7th 2006 4:57AM]

Americans don't need SatNav, all your roads go straight to the next place. come to Europe there's 300 ways to get to the same destination.

Vegas to Colorado....hit the freeway, drive for 600 miles..turn off when it says Colorado..job done.

Seriously though my N70 has TomTom, mp3 play, FM radio 3G , streaming cable TV, including HBO for 10 dollars mnth, video talk, video record at 350x240, very high quality 2mp camera, all it needs is wi-fi and I'l ditch my I-Mate Jam.

[nasos007 @ Feb 7th 2006 5:50AM]

Like some of the above. I have a N70. Great phone (I was waiting for the N91 - with 4GB hard disk but it keeps getting delayed).

Symbian S60 is one of the best operating systems for phones.

A task manager is required. I can recommend TaskSpy v.0.96
A file manager is useful. eFileman (v2.2) is good (but I find a bit slow - maybe 'cos I have a 1gb mmc).
Another file manager is ProfiExplorer v2.32.
A Keylock program is required just in case you forget to lock your phone. JJLKeylock v1.10 is free!

Other programs I use:
TomTom Mobile 5 (GPS Device is a generic GlobalSat BT338), Torch, JabptLite (expenses - finances), Alarm Manager (as S60 only give you one), TipTally, Voice Translator (can get annoying!), Phone2GoogleEarth (usedwith GPS device).
Games I play:
Chess, Triz (Tetris), Sudoku (I hate it but have it for the gf), FreeFlight, Prince of Persia (good but short!), Backgammon.

[xavtek @ Feb 7th 2006 5:50AM]

to admin a webserver by ssh, use the sis version of putty, the semacode.org is a really cool project based on visual tags.

And a great tip : when you have a list of messages (works with all kinds of list) hold down the pencil key and scroll down to select multiple items and the delete them. when you are used to how it works, you can deselect some items of a list an be very efficient.

[George @ Feb 7th 2006 6:45AM]

Here's a cool one - 30-day call log!

On a 6680/1/2 phone:

Just press "send". Now press the menu button, release it (you should go to the menu with the installed applications) and now PRESS AND HOLD it. The task manager should appear - choose the "Log" app again. You should notice that the second hardware button has changed from "Exit" to "Back". Press it. Press it again (You should now be at a screen with "Recent Calls / Call Duration " on it. Press RIGHT. From there you can scroll through every number dialed, received, missed and even GPRS calls from the last 30 days.

You can choose to keep just the last 10 days or just the last 24h - some people says it helps speed up earlier S60 (3650, 7650) phones and even the newer ones - I don't do it since the 6681 is snappy enough for me.

[Paul @ Feb 7th 2006 7:46AM]

picodrive - Free megadrive emulator, patch sound support but I managed to play through Flashback and Sonic sound-free fine.

Also echo what has been said above about FE Explorer, its great - also let me replace my operators tacky logo with a blank gif file :)

[John @ Feb 7th 2006 7:57AM]

#4: OMG, full text editing!!!! I was wondering where this feature was.

[Loewe @ Feb 7th 2006 9:14AM]

To #4 "A foreign concept to Windows Mobile users" This is in windows OS for smartphones.... dunno why you said it is not.

I would like to see skype for nokia before i go back ot one

[Zverg @ Feb 7th 2006 9:15AM]

This is the most informative engaget post I've seen in a long time. My Nokia 7610 thanks all of you..

if I find anything to contribute (doubtful) I'll leave it here.

[moo_oose @ Feb 7th 2006 10:00AM]

Many favourites have been mentioned already (TaskSpy, Clicker, FExplorer, TomTom, Torch) but I would add:

PhoneSecure - brilliant little app that allows you to trigger an alarm from SMS if you phone is lost.
Headline - RSS reader, handy if your GRPS is expensive...

[Havanahjoe @ Feb 7th 2006 10:11AM]

See your phone's life timer: *#92702689#

#28 The log trick works well and you can also access this by going to the menu, opening the log app from there and then going right once.

I've used opera and netfront and I think I like opera better, at least it can connect automatically where netfront always asks for a connection (I have 3.1 maybe the newer one doesn't do this). Opera also opens and closes faster than Netfront.

I haven't done much with my phone but I love being able to send e-mails. Forget MMS, I just take a picture and e-mail it and I use the internal e-mail client when I'm on the go to send and receive e-mail. Works great with Gmail.

Flash for Symbian is also very cool. Available free from Macromedia for now.

[dacmonJ @ Feb 7th 2006 12:02PM]

#25, what a retarded statement. Yes, we need NavSat because if you are in an American city you've never been to GPS is much easier to use than paper atlas or road maps for finding an address.

[Kevin @ Feb 7th 2006 12:14PM]

To reset your phone back to original factory set up dial: *#7370# but beware! You lose all your phone data and may lose some of the custom applications put on by the operator.

If you want to project your phone onto the PC (and enter text to it from the PC): Remote S60; Cool contact app: contastick; quite good themes from www.mangothemes.com.

BTW - N70 is the best smartphone out currently. May be eclipsed by the N80 which has built in wifi!

[Steph @ Feb 7th 2006 1:03PM]

I like to use MsgStorer to store my sms in a text file. I also use TomTom Navigator, with a bluetooth gps. Callrecorder is another nice app which enables you to record phonecalls in different file formats.

[Ulrich Moyer @ Feb 7th 2006 1:30PM]

SplashBlog.

Used to use it in my Treo, now they have it in Series 60 also:

http://www.splashblog.com/

[Mr Stevens @ Feb 7th 2006 2:22PM]

Opera has been Symbian for ages, a little clunky for me. And of course you can play much better games.

http://www.mobilegamefaqs.com/multi_search.php?word=symbian

I forgot to mention, more likely to get viruses as well

[DAve @ Feb 7th 2006 2:59PM]

Some apps I have (some freeware, others not) on my 7610:

FileMan (I think its better than FExplorer)
OggPlay (plays mp3 as well)
Lookup (search for parts of phone numbers)
Forward (save attachments to a directory onthe phone)
ControlFreak (Winamp control and full desktop control!)
Opera Mini (Great for stuffonmycat.com)
Nokia mobile search (good for maps in the UK)
Symella (Gnutella client)
S60Bible (the whole bible, very useful and easy to read, but no search)
Cocktail (Tells you how to make hundreds)
EggClock (handy countdown timer
smart dialer (essential - just start typing someones name/number 2 call them
SMSFace (displays a bit of SMS without you having to open it)
SMS-timer (send texts in the future)
FSCaller (full screen caller. dont know why s60 doesnt have this as standard)
CellTrack (random cell tower info)
PVPlayer (play videos full screen. ive watched a whole smallville app on my phone)
Disco (take a photo of someone + it makes them dance!)
SplashPhoto (gallery better than the nokia one)
AppMan (application manager)
ZipMan (unzip + unrar files)
SysMan (great task manager which replaces nokias one when you hold down menu key. displays ltos of info and is BRILLIANT. can also do system-wide shortcuts e.g. pen-7 writes a new text to my girlfriend)
Python (for coding stuff)
QuickOffice (open doc, exel and ppt files)

That's about it!

[murse @ Feb 7th 2006 2:59PM]

I've had a 6600 and now a 6620. After a Palm and several Windows PDA's, S60 and Symbian is the best of all worlds.

Many of the most useful apps have been mentioned. The one mandatory one would FExplorer. Appman is another very good utility. Here are some others:

Netfront 3.3 was just recently released...a good upgrade to 3.1 or 3.2

Full Featured PIMs: You basically have two choices, Aquacalendar and Papyrus. Aquacalendar was the first one for S60 and it is pretty good, but I have some stability issues sometimes. The settings are a little ambiguous as well. Papyrus is newer, but is more polished, I think. They recently released an update that added some much needed functionality, like cut and paste. With that, I think Papyrus has edged ahead of Aquacalendar. You can find them at Handango.

Opera Mini is a free java based browser that is pretty good. Free is always good, but it does not have full browser functionality

Yahoo to go. This one is seems to be a little controversial on the Symbian forums. If you are a heavy Yahoo user than it is a must have. It integrates very tightly with the phone and offers complete synchronization with Yahoo, including contacts, calendar, mail, etc. I have Yahoo DSL so I like it. Some people have reported stability issues.

Good forums. Howardforums, My-Symbian and All About Symbian.

[Steve @ Feb 7th 2006 4:25PM]

Hey, nice to see some positive stuff about Symbian and Nokia's S60 on Engadget 8-)

Can I humbly contribute my own 20 or so Tips to the brew? Too many to paste in here, but see (for example) my http://3lib.ukonline.co.uk/n6680.htm

Hope they help someone. I'd echo the comment above about not upgrading to S60 3rd edition just yet if you run lots of these apps and ideas - the developers will need a good few months yet before everything's fully ported to Symbian OS 9.... Best stick with the 6630, 6680 and the like.

Steve

[Jay @ Feb 7th 2006 5:41PM]

I own a Nokia 6600 and have loved it, but it's time to move on. The new Nokia E70 is by far the most promising phone to hit the market. It's got everything i have ever wanted in a phone. Don't think so ? Please tell me why. And yes, i don't think it's pretty either. But hey, i'm no girl and for me....feature over fashion ;-)

To my fav. apps...

PuTTY for Symbian OS - SSH client for my phone. I can SSH into our server at work and access my corp. mail via PINE.

Torch - Hey, sometimes you need a light and only have your mobile. This turns your S60 into a flashlight. You can even choose the color ;-) This has come in very handy when under the desk and need to fiddle a serial cable into the socket but have no lamp.

ActivePilot - This is a German Navigation system for the S60. Bluetooth GPS mouse. All maps are stored on a server and the app gets the routes via GPRS. Turn by Turn instructions (audio and visual) Does the job well. Map data is always the most current one and you get TMC (routes you past traffic jams). European wide maps, so no need to purchase new maps when you go on vacation.

Romeo - Control my iMac via bluetooth.

I used to be a mobile freak. Changed phones often and heavily interested in the newest phone models. Now it's only.."if it ain't got Series 60, it ain't interesting for me" ;-)

It more hot for the E70, than i am for sex ;-)

Enjoy,

Jay
Heidelberg, Germany

[Adolfo Garcia Veytia @ Feb 7th 2006 6:04PM]

I would really really recommend Agile Messenger for Series60. It allows your phone to connect to several instant messaging services including ICQ, MSN, and Yahoo. Using Agile messenger you can take pictures and send them directly to your contacts, very practical. Best of all it is free! You can get from Agile Mobile Best app ever for S60.

[James @ Feb 7th 2006 7:00PM]

Just want to clear up some myths about Symbian OS 9.1 (which most new Symbian phones coming out this year have - all Nokia E-series, the newer N-series models and Sony Ericsson's P990 and M600):

The bad news:

Yes, it is true that not all pre-9.1 software will work on 9.1 and beyond.
It is also true that software must now be "Symbian Signed".


The good news:

For most software only minor modifications and a re-compile (and perhaps a bit of GUI work for the also new S60 v.3.0 and UIQ v.3.0) are necessary. So I think it won't be long before most software is updated.
Furthermore, cost-free signing schemes are in place for free and open-source software (previously you had to pay for getting signed) so this can be done at no cost to the developers. Again, it's probably only a matter of time until developers apply for this and get their apps working.

This whole signing stuff is part of a new feature called platform security. This is NOT a DRM mechanism, it is purely to ensure that apps can only perform actions that they have been granted when they were signed. Symbian OS then makes sure they cannot do anything they are not permitted to (so a game cannot for example just go ahead a dial a premium-rate phone number). More details are here: http://www.symbian.com/technology/symbos-v91-det.html#241
This should make stuff like viruses impossible (and hence AV software utterly pointless) because even if a malicious program slipped through the signing process it would only be granted limited capabilities so it couldn't destroy your phone, run up a monster phone bill or spread via MMS / Bluetooth without at least asking you.

Finally, as of version 9.1, Symbian has also committed itself to provide comprehensive backwards compatibility. So your 9.1 apps will work perfectly in later 9.x phones. Compatibility between current versions 6, 7 and 8 is actually not all that great in some cases, so long term this will be an improvement!


Bottom line:

When the first batch of 9.1 phones come out there will not be so much software available. Wait a few extra months and you'll have loads to choose from again but with the added security and future compatibility described above!

[Alessandro @ Feb 7th 2006 7:46PM]

Ciao,

Flash Lite is currently the hottest technology for Series 60 phones.

Alessandro

[d3 @ Feb 7th 2006 11:27PM]

Great thread, I have a bunch of new tips to check out. In addition to things already mentioned (does everyone need to mention fexplorer and opera?), I find these things useful:

Shozu - automatically uploads photos to your flickr or webshots gallery.
Alarm Manager - multiple alarm clocks
MMC reader - when I got a 512mb MMC, I picked up a MMC reader at the same time since transferrring megs and megs of MP3's over BT gets really boring. Ok, thats not the tip, this is: turn OFF the phone before removing the MMC card to put it in the reader or else your theme will change, and if you done any rearranging of your app folders in the menu, they will rearrange. With the phone off, it never knows the MMC was out.

Here's a cool tip I heard on one of the S60 "official" blogs:
If you have active standby, go to the gallery and start playing an MP3, press "end" to jump back to the standby screen while the music is still playing and the song title will be on the standby screen. Select the song title with up-down arrows and you can use the left-right arrows to control the volume, press the joystick/pad and the music player opens back up.