APP OF THE DAY: New Group review (WP7)

When faced with a problem it's often the case that a direct solution - one that deals with the issue in its entirety - is not possible. And this is when a workaround is used.

It perhaps won't produce the best result, but it works to an extent and will hopefully fill in the gap until a better system is found. And it is this idea of a workaround that probably best describes our App of the Day; not the neatest or feature rich solution, but it does a job and is super-simple.

New GroupFORMATWindows Phone 7

New Group takes the tile-based UI of your WP7 handset and uses it to create dividers on you phone so that you can file different tiles into groups.

Now we stress that this isn't a folder system where you can neatly place tiles into folders. but rather create sub-headings by which you can place the relevant tile underneath.

To produce a New Group tile just click on the app and you'll be faced with a box to write a name and a "Create Group" button; do this and you're away. Your new tile with its custom name will appear at the bottom of your homepage ready to be slotted into place.

We created groups like comms, nav and tools; and you will have to keep title short as there is an eight-letter word limit in place.

The nice thing about New Group is that the tiles will change colour depending on your background and so will disappear leaving the header as stand-alone writing on you homepage - the effect is quite good and you'll forget that what you're seeing is actually a tile. It's true nature will only become apparent when you attempt to move the New Group tile and the unpin icon gives away its true nature.

There are a couple of small grumbles: when changing you background theme, you'll need to relaunch the app in order for the tiles to change colour to your new background, and the app does require a fair bit of your info to be shared with the app provider. Why it would need access to your microphone is not clear.

However, saying that, the app does its job well, delivering a simple filing system for WP7 handsets.