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I know there are things I cannot do on the iPhone that I could on Windows Mobile or Palm, and I accepted that before making the decision to [finally] get an iPhone. Then there are those things that I consider essential, which can be done on the iPhone, but done so differently that it’s both good and bad at the same time.

 

I have made it through the first 3 weeks of iPhownership without a password/security app. It’s left me high and dry a few times, so I decided I really couldn’t wait any longer. Since I used eWallet on my Palms (both Palm Garnet and WM), and have the desktop version, I decided to just go ahead and purchase the iPhone version so that I wouldn’t have to start all over.

 

Needless to say, viewing the “cards” on the iPhone is a much nicer experience than it ever was on WM or Palm Garnet. No squinting to read the information – it’s large, it’s sharp, it’s clear. In other words…it’s the typical visual iPhone experience. Syncing to the desktop though…all I can say is “why do you have to make things so difficult, Apple?!”

 

Let’s take a look at the basic functionality of eWallet. Extremely secure 256-bit AES encryption allows you to save your passwords, pins, account numbers, or whatever you feel needs protecting. I typically save things like my frequent flyer numbers, administrative passwords for system access at school, bank account numbers, and credit card information. Other than my ff numbers, these are not things that I want in the hands of John Q. Public. I want them away from prying eyes, and eWallet does that exceptionally well.

 

 

eWallet allows you to have an unlimited number of “wallets” and a limitless number of “cards” within each wallet. No matter how much information you have, you can secure it all in eWallet.

Sync issues

 

If you’ve ever used Palm, then you know syncing with your desktop is pretty much as simple as pressing the sync button on your device. The data on your device and your desktop merge, and you walk away happy. If you are able to get ActiveStink working for your Windows Mobile device, it is (theoretically) just as easy to sync eWallet desktop with your WM device. Like the commercial on tv says “set it and forget it.” I never worried whether my data was in sync when I used Palm or WM.

 

You know that syncing your iPhone is really pretty simple and painless. You can set it up so that (like ActiveStink) it syncs as soon as your iPhone is connected, or when you press the sync button in iTunes. Unfortunately, iTunes is limited to your photos, videos, apps, and music. If you want to sync something else, you’ll need another method of synchronization. Google has made syncing contacts and calendar easy by using Exchange, but there really is no other way to achieve the three S’s: Seamless, Simple, Synchronization.

  

Iliumsoft has worked out an alternative for the iPhone that works well enough. That is to say, you can get the data in your iPhone and on your desktop in sync, but it is less than elegant. First of all, it requires you have a wireless network set up, and that both your computer and iPhone be connected to it. While wireless networks are becoming more and more popular, they are by no means ubiquitous. So if you don’t have a home WiFi network, or don’t use one regularly, this solution won’t work for you.

 

 

I’m spoiled. I know this. I spent too many years using Palm’s operating system to not expect things to work. So I was mildly surprised when I hit the sync button on my eWallet desktop and got the error message “no iPhone found.” Say what? I knew it was there and connected to the same network. So I did what every other know-it-all-geek would do: I repeated step one. Same consequence. That’s when I realized I might need to double check the settings, but it all looked fine. On to check settings on the iPhone. Long story short, you must initiate the sync from both the iPhone and the desktop. Not elegant, but it does work.

 

 

Conclusion

 

I must have a password “vault” on my mobile device. I know eWallet works, and works well. While I’m not crazy about the desktop sync solution, it is a solution. And in this age of cloud computing, these solutions will become more and more rare. I definitely recommend eWallet (all versions, all platforms), and for $9.99 from the iTunes store, it is still a bargain compared to $19.95 for the Palm or WM version.

Written by Alli Flowers - Email

May 24th, 2009 | Tags: eWallet, Illium, iPhone, password, security, sync | Category: Reviews | Subscribe to comments | Both comments and pings are currently closed