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Cool Freeware (Mostly...)

These are the freeware (apart from DateBk5 & CardSync I know!) apps that I consider absolutely essential for your Palm (in my case, the Handera 330 the Palm Tungsten W , Palm Tungsten T2 and now the Tungsten T3 ) . All in their own way are magnificent. And if your like me and hate spending money unless its absolutely essential, I think you will like these apps as well. The two best sites (I believe) to find freeware palm apps are:
  1. FreewarePalm
  2. PalmOpenSource
  3. freeware-palm.com
  4. Handcase Freeware

PalmHeads recommend these free tools!

App/DA Launcher Switches between apps like a McPhling or SwitchHack, but also allows you to launch DA's (which are quite cool). Requires X-Master (or Hackmaster etc).
Big Two A very addictive Chinese Poker card game. When I start playing I can't put it down! Why must you torment me??!!!! Argh!
BigClock A clock, an alarm, a stop watch...what more could you ask for?
BusSched A very useful tool! Great having your local bus timetables on hand whenever you need them. Have a look at my Christchurch Bus Timetables for the Palm for ideas on how to make a compatible database.
CCrypt Encrypts blocks of text. Very useful where making a PalmOS entry "private" is overkill.
Crash Helps manage an unfortunate (& rare) crash of a PalmOS device. Resets the device in a clean way.
Cribbage A classic card game. The card game of choice of the legendary Australian cricketer, smoker & beer drinker Doug Walters! Haven't figured it out yet, but I think its great! Author also made the great Rally 1000 which looks like development has been stopped due to legal complaints. Booo!
DateBk6 Not freeware I know. But a must buy! Super powers your Palm OS device! Simply the best shareware application ever developed for the Palm. A must buy! A purchase also helps them poor Gorillas!
Dates! Hard to find on the web these days, and no longer supported. But still a really useful app for finding differences between days etc. One of the first apps I install!
DiddleBug DiddleBug simply rocks! Best doodling pad for the Palm. The good work originally done by Mitch Blevins is being carried on by Peter Putzer. To see some of my sketches click here.
EasyCalc If you find the built-in calculator in PalmOS a bit limiting, but baulk at paying shareware for a calculator with features you mightn't use all the time, then EasyCalc is for you!
EasyLaunch When combined with App/DA Launcher, makes using a 3rd party launcher pointless. Launch any app with a key stroke.
Fast Cap Hack Makes it easier to enter capitals while using grafitti. A must have. MiddleCapsHack was the first app with this functionality, but Fast Cap Hack supports the newer hires devices. Requires X-Master (or Hackmaster etc).
Find Ignore Hack An oldy but a goodie! Especially useful if you have DateBk5. Allows you to not have the built-in DateBook, ToDo list etc searchable when you do a global find.
HappyDays Always forgetting birthdays & anniversaries? No longer with this app. Integrates well with DateBk5.
HMaki A similar game to SameGame - one could say they are the "same game". Ha hee ha haa! Very addictive & very free!
Keyring A great secure app for storing passwords, logins etc etc. Secure triple-DES encryption using a 112-bit key.
LispMe I wanted something where I could hack out some code without wanting to write full blown apps. Just a scratchpad if you like. It would also help if it was in an interesting language that wireheads seemingly rave about. Well I think LispMe fits that bill! It allows you to write code using Scheme, which is a subset of Lisp. Lisp is one of the older languages, but still gets rave reviews.
Ma'ana I think this explains Ma?ana best (taken from the actual hosting site) ... 'Think of Ma?ana as a ToDo list that you have no intention of doing. It is simply a place to put ideas and tasks that you might someday want to do, but don't want to forget about them. And when you are ready to do them, you will simply move the item to you ToDo List'.
NoAlarms Great & easy way for turning off alarms quickly. For example going into the movies, you can say all alarms for the next 2 hours are blocked. Saves embarressment!
OneTapSync This is especially useful if you only have a hotsync cable. With one button press you can initiate a hotsync
Plucker A simply brilliant open source off-line web browser for the Palm. Its also a great e-book reader (in fact its my e-book reader of choice now instead of CSpotRun/Weasel Reader), and I even use it as a photo album viewer!!! Next to DateBk5, it is the BEST PalmOS app I've seen. Recently has been updated with all sorts of hi-res niceities. I love it!
Progect A neat wee Project Manager/Outliner tool. Links with the built-in ToDo list of the Palm.
Rally 1000 (4.2) A Miles Bournes like road race card game. Famous in Palm circles as a most entertaining game! Lots of fun
SafeHack A cool hack that hides all your "hidden" records when your Palm powers down. Stop tricky tricksters reading your private thoughts!
Screen Button A really fabulous replacement launcher for the default palm launcher. Totally flexible & configurable, yet beautifully simple. Has changed the way I think about application management on my Palm!
snapCalc A great wee pop-up calculator! Really perfect as most of the time when you wanna do a simple calculation, you don't want to leave the app you are in todo it!
SolPok A really addictive game! Good way to learn different poker hands. Try & get the best poker hands you can! I love this game!
Speedy Measure the speed of your Palm compared to others. Quite useful.
Tide Tool Wanna know how deep that water is near your closet mass of blue wattery stuff? This is the app for you.
X-Master The best free alternative to the original Hackmaster utility. Way better than the original
Yahdice A wonderful version of Yahtzee™ for the Palm. Really addictive and a joy to play!

Being a greedy guts, I currently have THREE (yes thats right...) PalmOS devices. My first PalmOS device is a Handera 330 (now sadly no longer manufactured). Amongst other things it has support of a 240x320 screen with virtual graffiti thats collapsable when minimised (way cool!). Some of the apps listed above have support for these features. Below you will see the essential apps that take advantage of the features of the Handera 330 . This device is currently on permanent own to the son of a good friend of mine, who would have to be the most highly organised 9 year old in the world now! :-)

AutoSilkHack An extremely useful hack. Remembers for the last 10 apps you've used whether of not you had grafitti collapsed. Requires X-Master (or Hackmaster etc).
CryptoPad-HE This version of CryptoPad inherits all the features of the mainstream version, but takes advantages of the Handera's special features.
Rotate DA A neat wee DA that can Rotate the screen on a Handera compatible application.
SilkMan An awesome wee utility that allows you to add useful information to virtual graffiti on the Handera (like date, time, battery etc etc). Options for when grafitti is maximised or minimised.

Seeing Handera rudely decided to stop making the Handera 330, I decided I needed to upgrade! My next device is a Palm Tungsten W . Good for its time, if a little slow due to the Dragonball processor. Its a GSM phone/Palm combo. Colour device with a 320x320 res screen (Dragonball struggles with this in particular).Great for doing web content a la my HTML & the Palm page. Sending SMS text messages is a breeze on it. Even comes with its own perfectly acceptable web browser! Alot of the software above still works on the Palm Tungsten W , so below I will list out all the freeware apps I use because now I have an internet ready Palm. These apps could also be used on a Palm connected to a cellphone via cable or bluetooth.

BackupMan Another shareware app that "sneaks" into my list of freeware! This awesome utility allows you to schedule when to backup your Palm to the memory card (SD/CF etc). I do mine after every sync and at 5pm every night, just to make sure I never lose anything. If things do turn to custard, its simply a matter of restoring your saved information back to your Palm. Well worth the money.
BeamMobile Allows you to send Address Book details to mobile phones with IrDA. Works well!
Bible+ Christianity is not everybodies cup of tea I know (& there are some raving loonies out there), but still worth a read. Way I figure it, I'm hedging my bets!!! :-) This is a very impressive application!
BtSerialPro If your Palm is bluetooth enabled (either inbuilt or with Palm bluetooth card) then this allows your Palm to communicate with other bluetooth devices. Acts as a serial device for bluetooth.
BtServer If your Palm is bluetooth enabled (either inbuilt or with Palm bluetooth card) then this allows your Palm to communicate with other bluetooth devices. Acts as a server for bluetooth.
CF2DOC A cool wee utility that allows you to convert .txt files installed on a CF/SD/Memory Stick card to Palm DOC format. Also allows you to convert back the other way (Palm DOC -> .txt). Has an annoying wee bug that freezes the app on the Tungsten, but it still does its job.
DA Launcher My preferred DA Launcher for my Tungsten W. Unobstrusive & works where App/DA Launcher doesn't.
EriTones Allows you to use standard Ericsson ringtones on your Palm! Works great with my Tungsten W.
FileZ The best freeware card management software I have found.
GNUGotMail A SMTP & POP3 add-on for the built-in (old) Palm Mail app. The Tungsten W doesn't include the old Palm Mail app, but also on this page is a hacked version of that app. I like the old Palm Mail app as I use Linux and need it for synching using pilot-mailsync.
LFtp A great FTP tool! Makes it possible to update websites straight from your handheld.
LGet The best HTTP downloader for the Palm. Converts pages to standard Palm DOC format on the fly
McPhling My preferred app switcher above (App/DA Launcher) doesn't work on the Tungsten W. The next best is McPhling! This app is opensource, but shareware.
OpenChess A great chess game. Only wish I wasn't so crap at chess...then I might actually win!
Patience Revisted Being a lonely sole, grew up playing card games that involved noone other than myself *sniff sniff*. This game brings back painful *sniff sniff* memories...hahahaha
Pixer MMS Another bit of shareware sneaking on my list. But I guess if no alternative exits in the opensource world sometimes you just have to bite the bullet! This app allows you to send piccies taken with your digital camera as PXT messages using the MMS standard.
Plogit A very useful tool for updating your blog from the Palm! I use it too update my PalmHeads Blog which uses Blogger2 templates. Obviously you need an internet enabled Palm.
ReadingPlanner Use this in conjunction with Bible+ to plan your bible reading schedule. Hey at least its tries to nag you to read the thing, kinda like your parent's might have if they where at all religious!
TuSSH A great SSH terminal for the Palm. Has support for high res screens. Really cool!
Vexed The classic puzzle game for the Palm! Fiendishly difficult for the terminally stupid such as myself. To the author...f*ck you for making me feel even more inadequate! Only kidding, its great fun!
VFSi The best freeware image viewer I have found with the abilty to display .JPG's natively from a Tungstens SD card. PiNGer & ZCardZ seem to have a few bugs related to viewing .PNG's from a card at the moment. I fully recommend this app - it is great!
ZGrab Best freeware screenshot utility for the Palm! Copies screenshots to your SD card in the .PCX file format which can be read in image editors like "The GIMP" on your desktop.

I finally got sick of the slow speed of the Palm Tungsten W and decided to "upgrade" to a 2nd hand Palm off Trademe (New Zealand's version of eBay). None of the newer Palm's have really caught my fancy...and being a tightarse I didn't want to spend lots of $$$ upgrading! After some investigation I decided to go for a Palm Tungsten T2 This device had the faster ARM processor (144Mhz) to go with PalmOS 5.x, the same 320x320 screen, perhaps more importantly bluetooth built-in, and also very appealling was the small form factor. At the same time on Trademe I also brought the cheapest bluetooth capable phone I could find, the excellent Sony Ericsson T610 as I had become addicted to the GPRS access I had. Linking the 2 devices together was a breeze! Very pleased with the (cheap) purchase! All the software above mostly works on the Palm Tungsten T2 , apart from obviously the Hacks (with PalmOS 5.x doesn't support). Below is an expandng list of the things I've got working on the T2 that I couldn't get working on the devices above.

ASCave Stop that ribbon from hitting the cavern walls. A simple but extremely addictive game. The way games should be!
Blue Fang One annoyance of a bluetooth enabled Palm is whether or not to leave the bluetooth radio on permenantly to allow connections to happen to bluetooth devices (cellphones, GPS etc). This has a detrimental effect on battery life however. This app allows you to turn on bluetooth for certain apps once entered, then turn off bluetooth was exited. A fantasic idea!
BlueBlocks A fantastic multiplayer tetris clone. Haven't played the multi-player stuff yet, but standalone its also great. Till Harbaum is a true genius!
BlueJacker Fun wee app which will send a message to any unlocked bluetooth device around you. Creepy!!!
CellarDoor A further development of CliFrotz - a updated version with bugfixes etc. Very good!
Currency The best currency converter for the Palm! You can download daily updates to your Palm if it is internet enabled. Very useful!
DA's DA's are cool wee apps that don't require hackmaster, perfect for PalmOS 5! They basically open up in whatever app you are in. I find the following DA's most useful (Note: freewarepalm is a good source. For the others use google search - they can be hard to find! ):
acNumeric Kbd - brings up a keyboard
acRoman Kbd - brings up a numpad
Ak Utils - brings up a sytem box showing time, battery, space on external cards etc
AOCtrl DA - auto off in x minutes
AsciiPopDA - pops up all the ASCII chars on a palm
daMemoPad - brings up a memopad
ExpSum DA - great little DA that summarises totals in the Expense App
HRCaptDA - fantastic screen capture app, saves as bmp's on your external card
LClipDA - multiclipboard
Memory Info - gives details on info like dynamic memory etc
NetSelDA - open a network connection without leaving the app you are in
RakuDA - allows you to enter info into the Datebook, Todo list and MemoPad from any app
SoundDA - control the volume of the different sound options, alarms, games etc
tabboardDA & thumbboardDA - great wee onscreen keyboards that are bundled with tejpWriter.
Disable Buttons I find this handy wee app sooooo useful! So many times I'd put my Tungsten T2 in my PDAir case, but have a button accidently pressed & left on, draining my battery. With this app you can limit what buttons actually turn on your Palm. Fantastic!
Earth & Sun A great wee app for calculating sunset, sunrise etc anywhere on the globe!
FreeJongg A great version of Mahjongg Solitaire for the Palm. Totally addictive!
Frodo A wonderful Commodore 64 emulator!!!! Play some of those great games of the past. Especially my favorite...Thrust!. You can download games for free from sites like C64.com. Emulates at blinding speed on the T2!!!
GrafAuto With Grafitti 2 it allows you to write Graffiti on the screen. Some apps like DiddleBug though its preferable to not allow that. GrafAuto allows you to turn off Graffiti 2 in some apps. Also puts a wee icon in the taskbar.
IR-Pong 2 This fun app could go in any category, but put it here because of its bluetooth capabilities. Its actually a great "Arkanoid" type game by itself without adding the multi-player stuff. Great fun!
kMeteo Get the latest weather updates for your internet enabled palm from weather.com. I really like this app 'cos Christchurch residents are obsessed with weather.
Microban A lovely wee sokoban clone. At last a nice colorful freeware version that works on PalmOS 5!
Mulg One of the best games written for the Palm. Gotta guide this ball with your stylus through some tricky mazes. All sorts of traps lie await!
PalmPDF The best PDF reader on the Palm! Best of all its free!!! Requires a ton of memory & a grunty Palm, but worth it.
PsMemo A great memo replacement with great additions like search & replace, editing tools close by, different fonts etc etc
SEBlue A cool wee utility that grabs information about your phone to be displayed on your Palm. Thanks to Aero Surfskis for pointing me towards this app! Great!
Switch5 A Switchhack/McPhling for PalmOS 5.x devices. Indespensible!
TCPMP A fantastic freeware MPEG, MP3 player etc. No longer supported as there is a shareware version. But still rocks!
tejpWriter With SiEd development seemingly stopped, am now using tejpWriter. Lots of cool wee features here, especially in terms of html coding. Well worth a look!
The Prison Always liked that old 8-bit game "Arkanoid" which was Breakout on steroids. This game surpases them all. Great fun!

The need for speed convinced me to buy a Tungsten T3 . I absolutely love the thing & is easily the best device I have owned. Got it second-hand again on Trademe (New Zealand's version of eBay). Also managed to get a Palm WiFi card quite cheap from the same place, so my wireless handheld requirements are fully met as my Sony Ericsson T610 still works great too! woo hoo!.

CutPaste5 Expanded clipboard & more! woo hoo!!!!
Duke 3D A port of the wonderful Duke Nukem 3D. Playing this brings back great memories of assing about at work in the 90's, playing this after work. Ahhh fabulous!
Google Maps Google Maps works great on my Tungsten T3 when connected to the web. Amazing tool!
LJP PalmOS A great multi-emulator for the Palm. Supports an amazing array of devices. I use it to emulate a Gameboy/Gameboy Color. VERY cool being able to play some of the great games made for the two older Gameboys! I have to use 2 great shareware apps to enable this to happen as my Tungsten T3 is OLDDDDD! Goto PalmPowerUps & purchase WarpSpeed & UDMH. WarpSpeed overclocks the processor, & UDMH releases more dynamic memory on your Palm.
Opera Mini The best freeware browser by FAR on the Palm. Utterly brilliant. Works great on my Tungsten T3! Needs the Palm/Java JVM installed.
Parallel Lap A handy stopwatch app. Needed 'cos BigClock doesn't work so great on my T3.
ScrollBar5 Slows down the scrollbar to more acceptable speeds on PalmOS 5 devices.
ScummVM Something I have recently got into. Playing old Lucasfilm Arts adventure point & click games. Loads of fun. A search on the internet will find these old tressures to install & play. Am sure you can still buy them somewhere online as well! ScummVM is an emulator that allows you to play all these old classics on your Palm.
VFS Exchange A neat way of handling files sending them to the appropriate database. i.e handling midi files etc
WatchMaker BigClock doesn't work so well for me on my Tungsten T3, so WatchMaker has proved a worthy replacement!
ZDoomZ Wanna play ID's original classic Doom on your Palm - even one as ancient as a Tungsten T3? Well you can! First goto PalmPowerUps & purchase UDMH & WarpSpeed. Install ZDoomZ on your Palm. Then you need to get hold of the WAD files from the original game. I got mine 2nd hand on TradeMe. Mine runs like a bomb! Just like I remember it. Yay, a decent first person shooter on my Palm! :-)
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