SplashID Review

Ratings:

Splash ID is a robust password manager available for both Palm OS and Pocket PC that provides an added level or organization to your Treo smartphone.

For many of us, you instantly become organized the moment you added a Treo smartphone to your life. With a Treo or Palm PDA, it’s easy to track your calendar, tasks and contacts. The PIM (Personal Information Manager) software that comes pre-installed on the Treo can help you manage your life, but it does not provide an easy way to track accounts and passwords. There are workarounds – for years, I would put critical information in my Memo pad. Let’s face it though, many of us add a Treo to become more organized and for me this method lacked any form of structure to managing passwords and accounts. I suspect it’s not the most secure method of storing this data either. Splash ID is a program that fills the gap missing for those looking to track account number, passwords and more.

Setup

Once installed, I was anxious to add a few of my accounts to Splash ID. At first, my thought was to add the following:

• Credit Card Accounts: I added contact information, so if I lost my cards it would be easy to locate bank phone numbers and cancel my accounts.
• Bank Account Numbers: I can never remember my savings account, but I do always remember to carry my Treo. Having access to these numbers will help when I make late night deposits and forget my account number.

As you can see from the screenshot below, adding numbers into SplashID is pretty straightforward. Depending on the type of information, there are pre-set templates that make the process easier.

Tracking Life’s Numbers

If the SplashID entries ended at bank accounts, then I would think Memo pad could easily manage the above account information. However, when you first sit down with SplashID, you become numbers obsessed (at least I did). I broke out my traditional paper organizer – you remember that dinosaur. I had a slew of membership cards ranging from Marriot Rewards, American Airlines AAdvantage, Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards and the list goes on. SplashID includes a number of mini icons allowing you to visually categorize your numbers. When I finally completed my initial setup with SplashID, I was surprised at the amount of numbers I entered and felt good knowing that when asked for my Rapid AAdvantage Premier Member Frequent Flyer Award Number, that it was just a stylus stroke away on my Treo.

I found uses for SplashID that I didn’t think of initially. If you’ve read my TomTom 5 Navigator Review, then you’d know the difficulty I had obtaining the codes needed to activate TomTom on my Treo. I created a TomTom activation code category on Splash should I ever have to hard reset my Treo and have to re-enter the information to activate my maps. I was also able to keep track of serial numbers for purchased software.

I found that SplashID tracks numbers extremely well. Although you can keep birthday dates in SplashID, I found this feature to be lacking. Dates will not show up in your calendar and Contacts does a much better job of allowing you to track birthdays. Tapping "Add Birthday" in Contacts brings up a Calendar. Once added, the birthday automatically gets added to your calendar and you can add an alarm as a reminder.

Desktop Counterpart

Entering a bulk load of numbers on your Treo can be time consuming and be tough on the thumbs. Unlike most Palm applications, SplashID comes with a desktop counterpart as part of the package. As a Mac user, I was pleased to see support for both Mac and PC platforms. The desktop application, like it’s Palm counterpart, provides the same functionality on your desktop. When I initially setup SplashID, I entered all of my information via the Treo. If you are considering SplashID, I recommend you make use of the desktop application. It will save you time and it’s easier on your wrists. Changes made in either the desktop or Treo will sync with the included conduit.

Security

Access to SplashID on either your Treo or your desktop requires a password that you set. I recently discovered an option at the top left of SplashID that allows you switch to a numeric dial pad. If you limit your password to numbers, this makes it easier to enter using the touch screen on the Treo. According to SplashData, your data is protected using 256-bit Blowfish encryption security. I felt comfortable that my data was protected should my Treo fall in the wrong hands. Should that happen, having the deskop application would allow me to easily access my account numbers to cancel accounts should they somehow crack this security encryption. Over 150 products use Blowfish technology and appears up to the task of protecting my data.

Overall

Splash ID does for organizing your numbers and passwords, what your Palm Treo does for organizing your life. If you simply need to remember your bank and or credit cards, then Memo pad might suffice. If you feel overun by frequent flyer, rapid reward and numbers in general and are looking for a secure method of storing this data, then I highly recommend SplashID. It’s priced a bit high for a Palm application, but the price is justified when considering it includes a desktop counterpart for both PC and Mac and the proper security for your data.

SplashID retails for $29.95 and a fully functional free trial is available. There is also a Palm Treo 700w compatible version.