Symbian phones have been able to multitask right from the beginning of the platform…even the now-outdated Siemens SX1 was capable of running multiple programs concurrently with ease. Pushing the menu button for a second brings up a list of running apps…and Handy Taskman wants to improve this.
After installing Handy Taskman, the small task list gets replaced by it. As a default, it shows a list of currently open programs and an overview of memory usage. The list’s font is smaller…more programs fit on the screen:
Handy Taskman offers more than just switching and changing applications. The close all option(accessible from the menu) closes all currently open apps with one tap.
The program also offers a list of last-used apps in a tab next to the currently running applications. This tab is very very useful and can save a few clicks:
As an additional gimmick, the product supports a ‘lookup list’ of all applications. This allows you to find applications by typing parts of their name:
Handy Taskman can give detailed memory status information, too:
Last but not least, the program allows exceptions to be defined. Programs declared as exceptions don’t get closed by Close all:
This review looked at version 1.06 of Handy Taskman on a Nokia N71. The program needs about 300k of RAM and cannot be installed onto a memory card.
Overall, Handy Taskman isn’t a tool for everyone…the native Task list works well enough for the average user. However, if you run multiple programs at the same time often; the time saved by Handy Taskman could well justify the 10$ investment!