Palm OS Software

A local copy of several Palm programs, all of which are free to use.

When finding software for my handhelds (Palm IIIx, Palm m100, and a Visor Prism), I usually spend a good deal of time searching the net for exactly what I want. These programs and links have been found to be the most helpful for me. Beside each link is a description of the software or of the site that I am linking to.

For software, I primarily look for freeware. I don't like being burdened by shareware or demo versions.

I have a few bits for Palm programming as well, showing various tidbits and silly things that I have learned over the years.

Launchers

  • Launcher III (freeware)
    • A superior replacement for the built-in launcher (the applications screen). The only negative thing is that it is only black & white. Version 2.2 is the last freeware stable release of the software. Version 2.3 beta 3 is the last version before people had to start paying for it. Since then, Launcher III has been discontinued and replaced by Launcher X.
    • Version 2.2
    • Version 2.3b3

Games

  • Cribbage (freeware)
    • Great color game for your Palm. Also works for those that do not have color screens. The official site was taken down.
    • Version 3.0
  • Patience
    • Many different solitaire games in one small program.
    • Patience

Calculators

  • Calcul-8! (freeware)
    • A scientific calculator that I replaced the standard calculator with. It supports base and unit conversion, hexadecimal, trig functions, and more. Requires MathLib (see the Libraries section below).
    • Local Copy
  • Kalk (freeware, postcard ware)
    • RPN Calculator for all of you truly scientific people. Requires MathLib (see the Libraries section below).
    • Official Site
    • Local Copy
  • snapCalc (freeware)
    • Pop up a calculator anywhere. Very nice. This one is for use with OS 5 handhelds only. If you don't have Palm OS 5 or better, use the snapCalc listed under the Hacks category below.
    • Official Site
  • FreeForm (freeware)
    • A calculator with a clean, simple interface. It features all standard math functions, 10 memories and braces up to a depth of 25. Repetitive calculations can be executed as a script, even allowing loops and conditional branches. The official site is down, so a local copy is available.
    • Local Copy

Applications

  • Astro Info (freeware, open source)
    • Astronomy program for stargazers. Kinda rough right now, but it looks like it has more potential than similar shareware programs. Requires MathLib (see the Libraries section below).
    • Official Site
  • DB (freeware, open source)
    • Great program if you want to have a database on your Palm. It could hold contact information, important dates, any sort of list you can imagine, and more.
    • Official Site
  • DST Updater
    • Daylight Saving Time start and stop dates were updated after the last release of Palm OS, so it's likely your palm doesn't know when to properly apply DST. Run this application once after hard resets or whenever the memory gets cleared and it will update the tables on your device.
    • Local Copy
  • Deflater (freeware, open source)
  • Plucker (freeware, open source)
    • Free document reader that supports bold, italics, centering, images, and other select pieces of HTML. Lets you take entire books and web sites with you. Can use ZLib (see the Libraries section below) for excellent compression of documents.
    • Official Site
  • Weasel Reader (freeware, open source)
    • Lets you read DOC and zTXT documents on your Palm. These are specially compressed texts that are converted especially for your Palm.
    • Official Site

Hacks (System Extensions)

  • X-Master (freeware)
    • Lets you improve your Palm by letting you alter how the operating system runs. Lets you add popup calculators, better random number generation, and other assorted goodies.
  • Crash (freeware)
    • Software isn't as stable as it should be. If you are a developer or a power user, you know that your palm can crash often, requiring you to perform a paper-clip reset. This software pops up a nicer message and automatically restarts your Palm so you don't need to dig around to find that reset pin.
    • Official Site
  • Entropy Hack (freeware, open source)
    • The Palm OS SysRandom() call is a weak pseudo-random number generator. This hack gathers randomness or "entropy" by recording system events and then uses this entropy to patch Palm OS's SysRandom() call to generate high-quality random numbers for any application that needs them. The local copy is the version I had on my Palm when I was told the official site was down.
    • Version 1.3
  • snapCalc (freeware)
    • Lets you pop up a calculator anywhere you please. Extremely handy. This version is only for handhelds before OS 5. If you have OS 5 or better, see the Calculators section above for the OS 5 version of this calculator.
    • Official Site
  • KeyClick Hack (freeware, open source)
    • Turns off the beeping sound that occurs with nearly every tap, making your Palm not quite as annoying. It is different than turning off the system sound because you will still get the beeps when alerts pop up and the sound when you hotsync. There is an OS5 version as well.
    • Official Site
    • Version 1.0.2
  • MenuHack (freeware)
    • Lets owners of older Palms access the menus easier, just like the newer models. You can just tap on the menu bar on the top of the screen instead of finding the silkscreened menu button near the graffiti area.
    • Official Site
  • Daylight Savings Hack (freeware)
    • Checks whether it should adjust the time whenever the palm is turned on. Small, great, and not available on benc.hr, which was the official site.
    • Version 2.1.3

Networking / Internet

  • EudoraWeb (freeware)
    • Part of the Eudora Internet Suite, this text-only web browser is fast and supports SSL (if you install the included SSL library). It does not support images and it can not install files from the web. It connects to the web server directly, which means you don't need a proxy server, and it displays text in color, where appropriate.
    • Official Site
  • PortScanner (freeware)
    • If you have a Palm that is connected to the Internet, you can run a port scan on a machine by its IP address. This can tell you what services are running on the target machine.
    • PalmGear
    • Local Copy
  • Vagabond (freeware, open-source)
    • Web browser for Palm.Net and web clipping devices. Has a color and B&W version.
    • Local Copy

Utilities

  • Backup All (freeware, open source)
    • Helps make sure that all of your programs and databases will be backed up with the next HotSync.
    • Official Site
  • BackupBuddy VFS Free (freeware, non-commercial)
    • Backup your Palm to a VFS card. If you have an organizer that uses VFS, you can use this free software to back it up to non-volatile flash memory. Versions on the official web site are shareware only – this is the only freeware version and it is only for non-commercial use.
    • Official Site
    • Local Copy of Free Version
  • BigClock (freeware)
    • A large clock, world clock, countdown timer, stopwatch, alarm clock, and everything else that is dealing with a clock.
    • Official Site
  • Filez (freeware)
    • The ultimate file manager. Copy files to/from expansion cards, beam anything, transfer files with bluetooth.
    • PalmGear

Libraries

  • MathLib (freeware, open source)
    • Shared library that makes IEEE-754 double-precision math functions available to developers. One shared copy of these large routines for accurate trig functions means that all of your advanced calculators will not be duplicating the code and leads to a more efficient and better layout of the software.
    • GitHub Project
  • ZLib (freeware, open source)
    • Based on one of the most common compression libraries available, this Palm library brings desktop-quality compression routines to the handheld and makes them available for developers. This library is used to decompress as well as compress data, and is used in Plucker and Deflater (two examples also listed on this web page). The updated version runs faster on OS5 Palms and still works great on pre-OS 5 devices. I would suggest you get the updated version.
    • Official Site
    • Updated
    • Local Copy
  • FreewarePalm - Great listing of freeware programs.
  • Freeware Palm - What? Two sites with nearly identical names? You bet!
  • PalmOpenSource.com - Software that is not only free, but also lets you download and modify the source code in order to make improvements. Unfortunately, this site is a bit on the small size and doesn't have loads of software.
  • PalmGear - Large listing of software for the Palm. It's so huge that it has a small problem sorting software into proper categories. However, the search engine can help find what you were looking for.
  • Handango - My last resort before using Google when I am trying to find some software. Once, it was better than PalmGear. Since then, it has been commercialized a bit too much and slowed down a lot.
  • Palm Programming - Tips and reference code that can be used to help you write Palm software.