Everything Motorola Q

Depending on the model of Moto Q you own or more specifically the wireless provider, the standard home screen will differ. Of course, you have an opportunity to customize your home screen. In fact, one of the more active sections of our Motorola Q forums is the home screen section where there are literally hundreds of custom home screens available for download. However, there are limitations the amount of information that can be displayed on your Moto Q. Facade by SBSH Software also allows for the use of custom home screens, but specifically it helps bring critical information to your home screen through a variety of customizable options.

Keeping You Organized

If you have a busy calendar, the Moto Q can no doubt keep track of all of your appointments. However, it can be tiresome to have to exit your home screen to view your upcoming appointments. Using the AT&T Home screen that comes standard on the Moto Q 9h, I can only view one appointment at a time. A quick trip the Home Screen Settings in Personalize My Q doesn't offer the opportunity to display more appointments. Luckily, there are third party applications to help out and this where Facade steps in. Facade is called a home screen plug-in. It doesn't replace your Home Screen settings, but rather tweaks it to bring critical information to the forefront. When you activate Facade, it activates one of the Facade-friendly Home Screen backgrounds that come with the application and then it goes to work. Immediately, I was able to see up to 3 of my appointments on the Home Screen. More importantly, I could scroll right on the 5-way navigator to select to view my other appointments. By pressing the center button, Facade also allowed a number of options directly related to specific appointment such as View Details, Open Tasks, Open Calendar, Mark Complete, Delete. In comparison, selecting an appointment without Facade just directs you to the calendar application.

Task management is identical in the way appointments work using Facade. You cannot show both tasks and appointments on your home screen. However, you can navigate to your list of Tasks quite easily, all from the home screen. The same contextual menu options are available.

Power Tools

Facade also brings a shortcut to the Home Screen for Power Management (Settings > More > Power Management). This allows you to set a variety of options that affect battery life including Backlight Timer, Display Timeout and provides you with quick information on how much battery life is left on your Moto Q. There is also an icon to shut down your Q. While these could prove useful, it would be nice to have the ability to customize what applications appear.

Coexisting With Default Settings

If there is any potential downside to Facade it's the fact that it uses valuable memory resources. Using the Moto Q 9h, I did not see this an issue. I did find switching back to my standard home screen to be quite a chore. Initially, it appeared that by switching back to the AT&T Default would suffice. However, over time it seems to produce an odd mixture of the AT&T background with Facade. If you are going to use Facade, you'll want to select one of the Facade friendly layouts. Luckily, you are not limited to the few supplied themes, as many home screen designers are producing Facade compatible themes.

Conclusion

For those who use their Moto Q to manage their day to day appointments and tasks, Facade is a great addition. The home screen plug-in provides for easier access to your daily appointments and tasks. Visually, the included home screen backgrounds are very well done and a vast improvement over the stock options provided by your wireless carrier.

Facade retails for $14.95 and is available as a free trial.