Developers and users alike have all noticed this “Default Apps” option in the webOS launcher. Right now the only out-of-the-box option users are presented with is a choice of Google Maps or their carrier’s navigation solution (if applicable) for the default mapping software. But below the defaults for web, email, and phone, there’s a long list of file types and the default app used to open them (PDFs opened by PDF View, .WAV opened by Music, and so forth).

When the Default Apps scene appeared back in November with webOS 1.3.1, and was enabled with 1.3.5 a month later, we were all aflutter as to what that could mean for webOS. Pick your own third party dialer app (Google Voice), web browser, and more? That’d be grand. Sadly, Palm has yet to release an API for developers to set their app as an option for default apps, but that hasn’t stopped Jason Robitaille and Rod Whitby from hacking their way onto the Default Apps screen.

The addition of service calls registers an app with the Default Apps service, selecting the app as the default when no other apps present open that file type, and setting it as an option when there are already apps that open said file. For example, Robitaille’s Internalz app is registered as the default app for more than twenty different file types, and appears as an option for .TXT, with Doc View as the other and default choice. Tap on the file type, select the new apps, back swipe, and you’re good to go.

Jason does note that it’s not entirely stable (thus Palm not publishing the API), and that some not-all-that clean "mimetype" registering to get Internalz to be an option for file types already defaulted by another app (e.g. a PDF viewer app would have to masquerade as PDF View to trick Default Apps into giving it the option).

Of course, it’s worth noting that because Palm has not released the APIs to performing these service calls, any app submitted (be it to the App Catalog, beta, or web distribution feeds) will be automatically and summarily rejected. But that’s not to stop developers from wishing, hoping, dreaming, and preparing. And releasing via homebrew… nudge nudge, wink wink.

Source: MetaViewSoft

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There is this test call the Acid3 Test, and it is designed to test a web browser’s compliance with web standards, with an emphasis placed on Document Object Model and JavaScript. For an operating system based on web standards, you might think that webOS would have been scoring fairly highly with the test from day one. Not so, it would seem. In the early days of webOS, the browser scored a pitiful 1/100. With the update to webOS 1.3.1, the browser scored a 73/100 – better, but still not great.

Now, with webOS 1.4 out and about, the browser’s standards compliance has taken another step forward, scoring a 92/100. Obviously, that’s a great step forward as far as the browser is concerned, and we have been receiving reports of better performance and rendering on all manner of sites as a result. The score also vaults the webOS browser (seriously, it needs a name) to the upper tier of mobile browser compliance, topped only by Mobile Safari (100/100), Opera Mini (98/100), Firefox on Maemo (94/100), and Android’s browser (93/100). Of note, Safari and Android are both powered by the same WebKit core that hums underneath the webOS browser (and webOS as an OS), so full standards compliance is a possibility. At the very least, the score is worlds better than before and far ahead of Internet Explorer (Mobile: 5/100, Desktop: 32/100). For 99.999999% of users a score of 92/100 is going to be more than good enough for their browsing experience.

jack87 in our forums also notes that several sites (like costco.com) that previously failed out on webOS are now working. How about you, seeing better rendering now that you’re all 1.4′d up?

EDIT: Anchors (links that lead to a specific point on a page, e.g. comments) work now too! This blogger = happy camper.

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It’s something we’ve mentioned before on PreCentral, and it’s something that Palm has promised to address. That something is webOS’s inability to download OS updates over anything other than what it thought to be a “high-speed” connection, i.e. Wi-Fi or 3G. For those who live in areas with poor or nonexistent 3G coverage, Wi-Fi is usually still an option. If you happen to have a Pixi, you’re up a creek without an updated paddle.

While webOS 1.3.5 brought the ability to download future webOS updates over slower 2G cellular wireless, users stuck on older versions of webOS were, well, stuck. Palm is changing that now, and offering the solution in a surprising package: an app. Available now in the Palm App Catalog is a new app: Palm 2G Update.

Built to work with webOS 1.3.1 or webOS 1.3.2, Palm 2G Update is a unique solution to a problem that has frustrated many Pixi owners cursed by poor network coverage (and the handful of Pre owners in similar situations with no Wi-Fi access). The app is itself an update to webOS and installs as such. After downloading, all the user has to do is open the app, tap Start, wait for the phone to launch, and then the Install Now button for the update. Once the update is finished they’ll be able to download future webOS updates (like webOS 1.4) with ease of the slow variety so long as they have a connection to their carrier’s data network.

Palm 2G Update is available now in the App Catalog as a free download. There are two separate versions, one for the Pre and one for the Pixi.

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We’ve been hearing reports that since webOS 1.3.1, some Exchange users have been experiencing an issue that prevents the successful sync of calendar data between their phones and Exchange servers. The issue, which appears to be linked to an incorrect timezone setting, does have an unofficial workaround: Going to the Date & Time menu, setting Network time to "off", and manually selecting the correct time zone should restore proper sync functionality.

Palm has recognized that this is an issue for some, but it seems that they’re having a difficult time reproducing this issue.  A Palm Technical Support employee responded directly to users with this issue in their support forums:

We have been trying to reproduce this for awhile and can’t get the same things you guys are seeing to appear on devices that we are using, so we would like to possibly look at some log files on the devices and see what is causing the error.

Specifically we would like to see a log from someone that turned off network time and the issue resolved, and someone that doing the same thing did not resolve this issue.

The good news is that given Palm’s track record, I think that we can safely assume that if this issue does turn out to be a widespread one, they will likely release a fix in short order. We’ve seen rapid fire bug fixes in the past: if you recall, webOS 1.2.1 was released a short five days after 1.2.0, fixing the Exchange issues brought by that release.

So, help us gauge just how widespread this is: have you been affected by this bug?

Thanks to Trajadoja for the tip!

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Pre owners who have imported their device from Germany (the only country in Europe with a carrier selling the GSM version of the phone SIM-lock free) for use on a non-O2 network had a rather unpleasant surprise after updating to 1.3.1: no access to the App Catalog. 

As it turns out, Palm Profiles are associated with the country and wireless service provider of the SIM card in the phone when you create your profile.  It also happens that apps are only certified for Germany, Ireland, Spain and the UK.  The result?  If you’ve activated your phone and set your Palm Profile up while having a non-O2 SIM card installed, you’re going to get the "App Catalog unavailable" message appears any time you go to shop for apps.

There is good news for those of you who have been brave enough to import that Pre with the QWERTZ keyboard, as a Palm employee detailed a workaround in its support forums.  It’s a bit convoluted, and it requires that you have access to a SIM card from an O2 network that sells the Pre and that you create a totally new Palm Profile:

To fix the problem, create a new Palm profile using a SIM card from a wireless service provider in Germany, Ireland, Spain, or the UK.  Turn off your phone, insert the new SIM card, turn the phone back on, and perform a partial erase.  After the phone restarts, create a new Palm profile.  Once the profile is created, shut down the phone, insert your original SIM card, and restart the phone.  Log in the the newly created profile.  Open the App Catalog to see available apps.

That’s a lot of hassle to be able to download apps again (still no purchasing for Europe), but that’s sometimes the life of folks who like to import exotic technology. We wouldn’t expect any kind of a "fix" on the issue beyond the workaround already put forward by Palm, since it has more to do with the fundamental way they’ve chosen to deploy the phone in Europe and the App Catalog than it does with being any kind of oversight.

Thanks to Patrick for the heads up!

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As we know that some of you have noticed, webOS 1.3.1 changed the way that email is handled with respect to POP access. If you’re not familiar with POP (Post Office Protocol) email, essentially the way the service is ‘supposed’ to work is that computers download the email from the server but do not communicate their status back to the server (e.g. the server will not know if you’ve read the email). This stands in contrast to IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol), in which read, flagged, and deleted statuses are synced back to the server and other clients accessing the same account. To deal with the amount of email that can amass on a server, many POP users choose to have the server delete messages after they’re downloaded by the computer.

Prior to the most recent webOS update, POP email status didn’t work quite the way it was ‘supposed’ to work. Email used to actually be checked back against the server, and if the email had been deleted there it was then deleted on the phone, even if you hadn’t read it on phone. From a design standpoint, that’s not ideal POP behavior, as POP is supposed to download messages and ignore what happens on the server after that. In essence, POP on webOS used to work sort of like IMAP ‘lite’ email. This worked well for users that relied on POP for their email access (many ISPs only offer POP), as handling emails in bulk on their computer subsequently handled them in bulk on their webOS phones.

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One of the things that we liked about the App Catalog in webOS 1.3.1 was that it would be able to tell what device it was running on and subsequently adjust the apps listing to compatible apps. As it turns out, the App Catalog also gained the ability to figure out where you are and adjust the App Catalog accordingly. That’s nice and all if the App is something that is only available in a specific country for a reason (e.g. YPmobile for the US).

When it’s not cool is when the filtering cuts the European App Catalog down to a pathetic sixty apps, and even that number varies depending on the country. The problem lies with how App Catalog submissions work. Developers submitting an app will find that by default the country and language option selected is United States and English. While most apps have been and will continue to be created in English to reach the broadest possible market (nearly as many people in Europe speak English as in North America).

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Right on schedule, webOS 1.3.1 is now available to Palm Pre users on O2 in Europe, achieving parity with webOS devices on the Sprint and Bell networks.  Say hello to the world of text forwarding and Yahoo Synergy integration and everything else that’s new in 1.3.1!

Thanks to Dimpz and Scott for the tip!

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The other day we brought you word of how Palm Profiles were disappearing across the nation after users reset or replaced their phones. While Palm stated that they are aware of the issue and are working on correcting it, Sprint has started giving instructions to users replacing their phones on how to avoid the issue. Apparently it all stems from Palm’s servers getting confused by a new phone having a different version number than the new phone, usually an older version because the new one’s been sitting in a box for a while. Big ups to everybody who sent this in, and to bpdamas for putting it up in the forums

Instructions for users:

1. Confirm that your replacement webOS phone has been activated.
2. Power on the phone and when prompted to enter your old Palm Profile data, instead choose “Create New Profile.”
3. Create a fake/dummy Palm Profile using a different (doesn’t even have to be real) email address.
4. Once the phone finishes set-up, do not enter any of your cloud accounts (Yahoo, Gmail, etc) into contacts or calendar or email. Just go straight to Updates and check that you are running the latest version of webOS, currently webOS 1.3.1. If you’re not, immediately download the webOS update (if you have a Pre, remember that WiFi will be significantly faster than trying to go over EVDO). If you are running the latest version of webOS, skip to step six.
5. Install the update. Let the phone reset and do all it needs to do.
6. Open Device Info and confirm that you’re running the latest version of webOS. If not, go back to 4.
7. In Device Info, drop to Reset Options at the bottom and select Full Erase. This will wipe the device clean and reset it.
8. After the phone has powered back on, you will be prompted to reenter your Palm Profile. This time, enter your original login username and password. Since you’re on the same version as your last backup, this should restore all your data with no issue.

Instructions for Palm

1. Fix this.

…More specifically, one would like to see a way to keep Palm Profile information from newer webOS devices from busting up on older versions. When you think about, though, it makes sense that Palm may need to change some of the backup structures on the Profile.

Here’s a better idea: make it so that a Pre is able to do stuff like update itself before you enter your Palm Profile credentials. That’s the most user-friendly solution – there will eventually be plenty of Pre phones out there that aren’t hooked up to active service but would still be perfectly good WiFi/PDA type devices for some folks. Plus, you know, people won’t experience having their Palm Profiles janking up on new phones in the future.

Thanks to everybody that sent this in!

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Hot off the heels of webOS Doctor v1.3.1 being released, WebOS Repair Utility has been updated. Not only were there expected bugfixes, but there was a major shift in the way it handled webOS versioning, allowing the more devices, like the Pixi, and more device variations, like the GSM Pre and its webOS 1.1.3.

WebOS Repair Utility has been updated to v1.7 and introduced a number of needed features:

v1.7 – November 19, 09
- Fixed issue with repairing PreThemer theme and patch backups
- Works with Pixi and GSM Pre
- Works with 1.3.1 (Sprint/Bell/Emulator) and 1.1.3 (GSM)

webOS is amazing, in that it’s possible to patch and theme virtually any part to your liking.  Unlike with other OSes, users don’t have to install whole other programs to accomplish what patches can do.  Patches and themes have quickly become a highpoint of the webOS.

However as more new users take to making their own system modifications, more and more people make mistakes and need to restore files.  A quick look across the forums will show many people in such situations. Unfortunately only official solution is lengthy and wipes all data on your device (thankfully, the 1.3.1 Doctor doesn’t touch files on the media partition).

WebOS Repair Utility gives an alternative, correcting only the damaged files and leaving all other data like homebrew apps and PIM data intact.  So if you’re having such an issue, try WebOS Repair Utility before calling on the Doctor. Who knows, ya might save some time and frustration!

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