1. mssca's Avatar
    Is there any article out there that compare SOTI Pocket controller Pro for BB vs TinyController? I search Google and can't seems to find it.

    Anyone here use both? Which one provide a better user experience? I have SOTI and I am happy with it, but I am wondering should I buy the other one. The only reason I know about this TinyController is the crackberry post on the front page today.
    12-01-11 08:16 AM
  2. PC_v1's Avatar
    I came here to start this EXACT same thread. Anyone have experience with both?
    12-01-11 11:58 AM
  3. hytran's Avatar
    And the article states that there's a 14 day free trial so why not try it yourselves? I'm a busy sysadmin and I managed to squeeze that in...

    All I can say is for 9.99 it's not as full featured but then y'all might not need all the SOTI stuff. At least it doesn't do all the SOTI skin BS, which STILL doesn't work correctly for portrait/landscape on the 9810. That support ticket has been open for weeks...
    12-01-11 12:26 PM
  4. tinyhack's Avatar
    Hi,

    I am the developer of TinyController, and I will give you some comparison with SOTI. Actually I built this app because I think SOTI is too expensive and it doesn't work in Mac.

    Here are the things that both can do:
    • Both can connect using USB, Bluetooth and WIFI
    • Both can control apps through Windows PC (both can't do BBM group, but even the playbook bridge can't do BBM groups)
    • Both can Notify of incoming mail/sms/call
    • Both can capture screen image
    • Both allows you to type in a character, and it will appear immediately in the blackberry screen


    Here is something that only TinyController can do:
    • It Runs in Mac OS X
    • Tinycontroller also has a text box (like Fixmo Web Messenger), where you can copy paste or type text quickly to be sent to the blackberry in case of very slow connection like bluetooth. You can also paste any text in to that box, even foreign charactes (such as thai/chinese).


    And here are some of the things that only SOTI can do. Please note that I only tried the trial version for a few days, and I don't use all the features.

    • You can use "skins" to make the window looks like a real blackberry. I am hesitant adding this feature to TinyController because of two things: (1) I don't know how useful is this, and (2) I am affraid about the copyright implication of using blackberry image in my app.
    • You can send email from SOTI
    • You can record video of your screen activity using SOTI. If you need it in tinycontroller, you can always use some free screen recording app to record tinycontoller's screen.
    • You can draw stuff on top of the screen (i think this is for presentation purpose)
    • And perhaps many other things


    If you already have a SOTI license for Windows and are happy about it, then there is no compelling reason to switch to TinyController.

    If you don't have SOTI yet, just try TinyController. If the features are enouch for you, then just buy it, it is much cheaper.

    If you have a Mac, then TinyController will be good for you, since other similar products can't do USB connection.
    mssca and remmy00 like this.
    12-01-11 09:47 PM
  5. mssca's Avatar
    I already have SOTI pocket controller. For now I will keep this and buy your app when I run out of the SOTI one year support.
    12-01-11 09:55 PM
  6. PC_v1's Avatar
    Thank you very much for the comparison, tinyhack.

    Both work fairly well, and after using both, you said it best:

    If you already have a SOTI license for Windows and are happy about it, then there is no compelling reason to switch to TinyController.

    If you don't have SOTI yet, just try TinyController. If the features are enouch for you, then just buy it, it is much cheaper.
    12-02-11 11:34 AM
  7. brodcaster's Avatar
    SOTI is quite worth it for me. Just what I need
    12-02-11 05:10 PM
  8. ramocan's Avatar
    Well. I can only speak about this tinycontroller, and Yohanes has answered all my emails and provided a lot of feedback and support.

    Here's hoping that some suggestions make it to some later update!
    12-02-11 07:50 PM
  9. ramocan's Avatar
    (Removed double post, sorry!)
    Last edited by ramocan; 12-02-11 at 08:07 PM.
    12-02-11 08:02 PM
  10. tomyt's Avatar
    I've used soti for a while and I have some more features that I find indispensable.

    • Clipboard sync. (was there in previous versions).
    • Ctrl+c and Ctrl+v support in the blackberry window. (this is new and was a pleasant surprise when I pressed it by accident
    • Being able to use shortcut keys from the homescreen. eg. pressing 'n' gets you bbm. 'k' Locks the screen. 'm' gets you messages. This is new. Before pressing a key in homescreen always brought up the phone app even if you had dial from homescreen off. I filed a request and was told it couldn't be supported. But then in the latest release, bam! it's there. There is still an issue with the space key (i have that bound to quicklaunch). This opens the phone app and the quicklaunch menu. Since QL gets keyboard input, I don't really find it that annoying.
    • Being able to connect with wifi without accepting connections in the phone. This is helpful if I put my phone somewhere else and needed to do a quick check without actually hunting it down.


    I'm sure there are many other functions I use to make my life easier, but these are the major ones I can think of right now.

    Maybe there could be a comparison between the two using these?
    12-04-11 04:48 PM
  11. SOTI_Inc's Avatar
    Quoting:
    hytran
    CrackBerry Abuser
    Device(s): 9810
    Carrier: AT&T
    Pin: DEADBEEF

    "All I can say is for 9.99 it's not as full featured but then y'all might not need all the SOTI stuff. At least it doesn't do all the SOTI skin BS, which STILL doesn't work correctly for portrait/landscape on the 9810. That support ticket has been open for weeks... "

    From SOTI Support:
    Please note that the skin issue is related to 9810 device's firmware and upgrading it should resolve it.

    Thanks.
    12-06-11 05:30 PM
  12. SOTI_Inc's Avatar
    Quoting:
    hytran
    CrackBerry Abuser
    Device(s): 9810
    Carrier: AT&T
    Pin: DEADBEEF

    "All I can say is for 9.99 it's not as full featured but then y'all might not need all the SOTI stuff. At least it doesn't do all the SOTI skin BS, which STILL doesn't work correctly for portrait/landscape on the 9810. That support ticket has been open for weeks... "

    From SOTI Support:
    Please note that the skin issue is related to 9810 device's firmware and upgrading it should resolve it.

    Thanks.
    12-06-11 05:31 PM
  13. abramadhi's Avatar
    After trying both SOTI and tinycontroller, based on my experience, i prefer tinycontroller because it's cheaper and all the features that i need are available. Also, with tinycontroller the bb screen can be turned off so it doesn't drain battery especially with the touch screen one. If i use SOTI, the screen always on, even if i locked it, it will eventually turn on by itself so.

    The downside with tinycontroller is if i connect it using bluetooth, Tinycontroller lags badly. SOTI has a better response if using bluetooth connection. Both are equal if using USB cable.

    But with using bluetooth connection, SOTI is more responsive. With USB cable both are equal.
    12-06-11 11:33 PM
  14. tinyhack's Avatar
    I've used soti for a while and I have some more features that I find indispensable.

    • Clipboard sync. (was there in previous versions).
    • Ctrl+c and Ctrl+v support in the blackberry window. (this is new and was a pleasant surprise when I pressed it by accident
    The automatic sync is not available in tinycontroller. But you can paste to the text box bellow in the tinycontroller. And the other way around: you can access blackberry clipboard using the clipboard menu.

    Update: this is implemented in TinyController since 1.2.0

    • Being able to use shortcut keys from the homescreen. eg. pressing 'n' gets you bbm. 'k' Locks the screen. 'm' gets you messages. This is new. Before pressing a key in homescreen always brought up the phone app even if you had dial from homescreen off. I filed a request and was told it couldn't be supported. But then in the latest release, bam! it's there. There is still an issue with the space key (i have that bound to quicklaunch). This opens the phone app and the quicklaunch menu. Since QL gets keyboard input, I don't really find it that annoying.
    Tinycontroller doesn't have yet this shortcuts, but this functionality (going to bbm quickly) can be accessed through toolbar.

    • Being able to connect with wifi without accepting connections in the phone. This is helpful if I put my phone somewhere else and needed to do a quick check without actually hunting it down.
    This is the default setting in TinyController. And you can confirm if you want to.
    Last edited by tinyhack; 01-21-12 at 10:13 PM.
    12-08-11 01:29 AM
  15. connex91's Avatar
    I've been using SOTI PC Controller for several months but I need a solution for Mac OS X and TinyController seems to be a very good alternative for much cheaper!

    I just have one request: Is it possible to implement a Zoom feature? The application's window is quite big and while it might be nice for some, I would like to be able to shrink it a bit. Take a look at this screenshot of the displays of Soti @ 75% zoom Vs Tiny.

    That would be greatly appreciated as it would reduce the amount of real estate used on my screen!

    Also, could you explain to us why the 2 controllers are unable to support BBM Group Chats?

    Thanks!
    Last edited by connex91; 12-09-11 at 08:59 AM. Reason: Requesting additional info from the developer
    12-09-11 08:56 AM
  16. tinyhack's Avatar
    I've been using SOTI PC Controller for several months but I need a solution for Mac OS X and TinyController seems to be a very good alternative for much cheaper!

    I just have one request: Is it possible to implement a Zoom feature? The application's window is quite big and while it might be nice for some, I would like to be able to shrink it a bit. Take a look at this screenshot of the displays of Soti @ 75% zoom Vs Tiny.
    Done, it has been implemented in version 1.1.8. Download it from:

    TinyController

    This is a new feature, and by default it is disabled, so after installing it, please go to Settings then go to Misc -> "Scale Screen to Window Size".

    Also, could you explain to us why the 2 controllers are unable to support BBM Group Chats?

    Thanks!
    RIM has blocked any interprocess communication access to BBM Group (note that currently even the blackberry bridge can't access BBM group).
    12-13-11 06:23 PM
  17. remmy00's Avatar
    Done, it has been implemented in version 1.1.8. Download it from:

    TinyController

    This is a new feature, and by default it is disabled, so after installing it, please go to Settings then go to Misc -> "Scale Screen to Window Size".
    GREAT new feature. Just downloaded this update and this was one of the main items that I thought was lacking in the previous build(s).

    Thanks!!
    12-14-11 01:03 PM
  18. tinyhack's Avatar
    The automatic sync is not available in tinycontroller. But you can paste to the text box bellow in the tinycontroller. And the other way around: you can access blackberry clipboard using the clipboard menu.
    Just an update to anyone looking at this thread: automatic clipboard sync is available in TinyController since 1.2.0
    01-21-12 10:12 PM
  19. Devil's Avatar
    Started looking at this app. So far so good. I hope there's a promo coming up soon so I can get it for cheaper than SOTI
    01-25-12 12:59 AM
  20. tomyt's Avatar
    I'm sorry to dig up an old thread, but this seems to be the most appropriate place for it.
    I just tried TC. It's excellent! It's come such a long way. Well done! It seems to do everything soti does. And the ability to turn the backlight off is fantastic! Everything I said I needed in soti is now in TC.

    And the price is a fraction of what soti costs. I don't regret for a second buying pocketcontroller pro. It has and continues to work so well. But it never worked on my mac. After I have a go in my mac, I'm going to get this too.

    Thanks for developing it so actively.
    06-26-12 09:34 AM
  21. brodcaster's Avatar
    Please enlighten me on the one year support. I have SOTI. I love it. What happens after when the one year support is over? Does that mean I can't use it anymore?
    06-26-12 05:56 PM
  22. tinyhack's Avatar
    I'm sorry to dig up an old thread, but this seems to be the most appropriate place for it.
    I just tried TC. It's excellent! It's come such a long way. Well done! It seems to do everything soti does. And the ability to turn the backlight off is fantastic! Everything I said I needed in soti is now in TC.
    I am the developer, just to clarify about the ability to turn off the backlight:

    The feature to turnoff backlights depends on your BlackBerry OS and device version. On some devices you can turn off the screen, and everything still works fine. On some other devices the desktop view will be fine on some apps, but doesn't display things correctly on other apps (for example: email content is blank, but the header is visible). And on other devices, when the screen is off, everything is off (you can not control anything).

    If your device doesn't support operation in screen off mode: when screen is off (dimmed), you can disconnect and reconnect again, and it will wake up your screen. I am planning to make a special button to "wake up" the blackberry when the screen is off.

    And the price is a fraction of what soti costs. I don't regret for a second buying pocketcontroller pro. It has and continues to work so well. But it never worked on my mac. After I have a go in my mac, I'm going to get this too.

    Thanks for developing it so actively.
    06-26-12 11:45 PM
  23. tomyt's Avatar
    Please enlighten me on the one year support. I have SOTI. I love it. What happens after when the one year support is over? Does that mean I can't use it anymore?
    You still can. My year long support is long over. You just don't get any updates. I wish they would have a upgrade pricing. I don't want to drop another $40 on it. But thankfully it still works well on the phone.

    I am the developer, just to clarify about the ability to turn off the backlight:

    The feature to turnoff backlights depends on your BlackBerry OS and device version. On some devices you can turn off the screen, and everything still works fine. On some other devices the desktop view will be fine on some apps, but doesn't display things correctly on other apps (for example: email content is blank, but the header is visible). And on other devices, when the screen is off, everything is off (you can not control anything).

    If your device doesn't support operation in screen off mode: when screen is off (dimmed), you can disconnect and reconnect again, and it will wake up your screen. I am planning to make a special button to "wake up" the blackberry when the screen is off.
    I just noticed something when I had the turn backlight off feature turned on. After I was idle and the phone locked down (I have a password), I couldn't unlock from TC. Every time I typed a character it said wrong password. I didn't press enter. I had to use my phone to type in the password and unlock the phone. It didn't seem as if it was actually putting in the password (which would go towards my 10 tried before wiping) and finding out it was incorrect. I hope that made sense.
    brodcaster likes this.
    06-28-12 01:45 PM
  24. brodcaster's Avatar
    Thanks so much tomyt !
    06-28-12 08:16 PM
  25. tinyhack's Avatar
    I just noticed something when I had the turn backlight off feature turned on. After I was idle and the phone locked down (I have a password), I couldn't unlock from TC. Every time I typed a character it said wrong password. I didn't press enter. I had to use my phone to type in the password and unlock the phone. It didn't seem as if it was actually putting in the password (which would go towards my 10 tried before wiping) and finding out it was incorrect. I hope that made sense.
    Thank you for reporting this. I will re-check this part. I didn't use a password for my new phone, and this is the first time that I receive a report about this bug.
    06-28-12 08:23 PM
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