Testers wanted for a new app that turns Win10 kit into a mobile

Hey all,

Thanks to z3r010 for permission to post here. I'll keep this brief.

I made this originally for myself, since Skype's number fees are quite expensive and it didn't do SMS, and also I wanted to turn an old 2nd hand Lumia that I got off ebay into a "poor man's" mobile phone over wifi.

In keeping with my other mildly successful Windows TV app (SichboPVR) I've called this one SichboPhone and I'm looking to see if anybody on tenforums would be interested in alpha testing it.

The app looks like this:



It fully integrates with your Windows 10 desktop including "pinned contacts" for quick calls/texts and it also tries to be as dependable as possible by using connected-standby and double-checking every once in a while to make sure it's able to receive calls correctly. The goal is to try and match a traditional mobile SIM in terms of reach-ability, as much as technically possible under Windows 10/UWP over transient wifi connections.

Like my TV app, this project is also essentially non-profit, meaning I'm passing number rental/voice/sms costs through to the telco provider without any markup, as opposed to skype numbers which tend to be either billed in monthly blocks where you pay way more than the dollar or so you actually cost Microsoft on their end during any given month, or you pay marked up /minute rates. The only ask is a one euro per month stipend from active users, to help offset the app's hosting infrastructure.

You can side-load the app here: SichboPhone - The virtual mobile app for Windows 10.

I would love to get any feedback from tenforums members, good or bad. If anyone has a new feature idea that they'd like to see in the app, please leave a comment.

Many thanks!

Version history

Code:

1.0.26.0
==============
2019-05-09

- You can now swipe items in the "Recent" screen to clear off callers.


1.0.19.0
==============
2019-02-07

- UI refinements.


1.0.18.0
==============
2019-01-26

- Reduced cold-start latency.


1.0.17.0
==============
2019-01-14

- Minor UI and stability refinements


1.0.16.0
==============
2019-01-05

- More navigation refinements.


1.0.15.0
==============
2019-01-02

- Improved menu system for desktop users.
- People can now fiddle around with the app without having to 
  sign in first.


1.0.14.0
==============
2018-12-28

- Improved user experience when 'run in background' is initially 
  denied, resulting an inability to connect.


1.0.13.0
==============
2018-12-27

- Optimised connected-standby battery use.
- Adds support for tel: and sms: links.
- Adds integration for the Windows 10 'Pinned Contacts' feature.


1.0.9.0
==============
2018-12-14

This is an alpha release of SichboPhone. Pretty much there will be 
a bunch of builds here early on with random teaks and bug fixes for 
things as I find them.

Check out Settings > View debug log near the bottom, maybe save it. . There might be a hint in there

Sichbo said:

Check out Settings > View debug log near the bottom, maybe save it. a There might be a hint in there

Now the app won't even let me log back in...