Recommended Palm OS Software

Updated 2025-10-13: Added How Long, Natara DayNotez, SiEd, Energy Dimmer, MultiUserHack5, Captain's MiniGolf, Gridcannon, Stop Or Go

My main PDA is a Palm m500 which runs Palm OS 4. I think all of these applications will work on Palm OS 3.5 and up but I have only tested them on 4.

Hackin and Crackin

This is all roughly 20 year old software, some of it freeware or open source but much of it was shareware that required registering with a serial number to unlock. Some of these included an already cracked file that can be installed as normal. The rest can be registered with the codez below and the MultiUserHack(available below in the Hacks section) to change the hotysnc id.

General Applications

Agenda

A replacent for the default DateBk calendar app that is just a bit more featureful but a LOT simpler and smaller than DateBk6. If you have pretty basic needs from a calendar (like me) this is a good choice that will save you a lot of space when compared to DateBk6.

CardTXT

Kind of my killer app for my Palm PDA. It is a text editor that has all the basics covered nicely and can edit and save directly on an external SD card. This combined with one of the Palm folding keyboards makes for a nice distraction free writing device and I write most of my gemlog posts for my capsule with it.

Converter

Handy and easy to use unit converter for tons of different things. Volume measurements, units of power, temperature and pretty much anything else you might need.

DateBk6

Datebook (what is usually just called a calendar these days) software that has a ton of features that I have barely scratched the surface of. Word on the street is that this is indespensible for heavy users with lots of appointments. Probably overkill for basic needs but I keep it around because of the nice extra calendar views alone. Pretty large so may not be worth it if you are low on space. NOTE: Leaving this on the list because it is a really great and powerful app but I have since switched over to Agenda for my personal use.

Dice Roller

Exacly what is sounds like and no more. It has buttons to simulate rolling different types of die. Useful for various types of games. I plan to use the 4 sided dice for playing the Royal Game of Ur.

DiddleBug

Sketch pad, notepad and reminder app. It has fairly sophisticated drawing tools considering the platform. The alarm function means you can jot down a quick note or reminder and the note will reappear at the specified time which can be pretty handy.

FileZ

File manager that can show you some useful information and lets you browse and perform basic file management on the internal memory and SD card.

GentleMan

Another file manager. Not as nice as FileZ but smaller in size if you're running out of space.

HandyShopper

Really well done shopping list manager. Saves list items so all you have to do is re-add them to the "need" list for things you need often like groceries. It can even track and keep history of prices of items on your lists. You can create lists for specific stores, put lists into categories and it even has a one hand mode for checking off items with the hardware buttons to make it easy to do while grocery shopping. Excellent stuff!

How Long

A very simple application. You enter dates of things you want to track and it shows how many days until that date.

LCD Invert

Has one very simple task, invert the display. On monochrome displays with the backlight on sometimes inverting the display can make things much easier to look at. Recently I have started using LightHack instead of this but it's still a good tool.

List

Simple database and I mean very simple but in a good way. There are two customizable fields and a third field for additional notes. Good for saving and organizing information like music collections etc.

Mañana

Pretty much a carbon copy of the stock Palm OS todo app. The purpose is that since it is a separate app from the defualt todo you can put your less urgent tasks here and then when they become more urgent you can move them to the main todo list.

Matrix

Shows the time and date with a matrix style cryptic text scroll animation background. Can be useful as a desk clock when your PDA is in the cradle but mostly its just cool and fun.

Memo PLUS

Souped up version of the stock memo pad app. Kind of similar to DiddleBug it lets you draw with the stylus and set alarms. You can also enter text memos with graffiti just like the basic memo pad.

Natara Bonsai

Outliner, task manager, organizational tool that is very powerful. I often use this (or ShadowPlan) to plan issues of smolZINE.

Natara DayNotez

An excellent journaling application with all the necessary features. Quick and easy to start a new entry, just start typing. It timestamps every entry by default and has categories and tags. Can also export the whole journal as a txt file.

OmniRemote

Universal remote that can learn the commands from any remote you have. How cool is that?!

Plucker

Plucker is a viewer for webpages that have been saved for offline viewing on a Palm device. There are two components to this. First, you run a program to download and convert the webpages. Next, you sync those to the PDA and view them offline with the Plucker viewer. A nice functional plucker downloader is available now written in python that is installable with pip.

ShadowPlan

Another advanced outliner/task/note app very similar to Bonsai. Someone that uses these apps more heavily might have a reason to prefer one over the other but they both seem very good to me. The main reason to use ShadowPlan over Bonsai is that the app is significantly smaller and thus a good choice if you're low on space.

SiEd

When I discovered that CardTXT for some reason crashes my TG50 I started trying out some other text editors. I have settled on SiEd as a nice one that has all the basics covered plus high res font options and a pleasant minimal interface.

WordSmith

This is a word processor that is good for writing and has styling, word count and even spell check capabilities. Very nice if you do a lot of long form writing.

TiBR (Tiny Book Reader)

Ebook reader software that comes in 3 flavors, lite, regular and pro. Lite is very small and has the fewest features but can be good if you're low on free space. The standard and pro versions each add more features as well as increase the program size.

Hacks

X-Master/Hackmaster

You will need this in order to install the hacks listed below (with the exception of those for Palm OS 5 which are standalong hacks not requiring X-Master). Facilitates "hacks" which are small programs that modify some lower level aspects of the OS to change the way certain things work. The gist is you install X-Master, then install a hack, after that you open X-Master where you can enable/disable the hack and configure whatever options the hack provides you with.

App/DA Launcher

This hack is pretty neat. It lets you install some mini versions of apps that are called "Desk Accessories". What this does is enables some limited multi-tasking not normally possible in Palm OS. These DAs can be launched in a window over top of the currently running application. Another thing it does is add a little shortcut to your home button that can quickly launch apps from a popup list, a condensed list of your recently used apps and a gesture to immediately launch the last used app.

Energy Dimmer

This is a helpful little app that replaces your built-in backlight control. It has more brightness levels than stock on many devices and a profile feature to quickly change between brightness levels and behavior on inactivity for different situations.

FastCapHack

Modifies the graffiti entry so that you can write letters straddling the line between the letter and number area in order to write capital letters. This can speed up text entry by skipping the step of enabling shift or capslock.

LightHack

For some Palm models inverting the LCD when the backlight is on helps with visibility. This hack automatically inverts the LCD when the backlight is on and reverts it when it goes off.

MultiUserHack

A very handy hack that lets you set a different HotSync ID for individual applications. This is vital for using cracked serial numbers to register shareware applications. Palm OS 5 version is a standalone app rather than a hack.

Games

Captain's MiniGolf

Fun little minigolf game that even has a level editor so you can make your own courses. Released in 2024!

Galax

Good space invaders/galaga/galaxian clone.

Golf Solitaire

A fun variation on solitaire where you're trying to get the lowest score.

Gridcannon

A Palm OS adaption of a very unique solitaire card game where you battle the royals on a 3x3 grid.

HMaki

Simple puzzle game.

iRogue/CalcRogue

Rogue for Palm OS! I'm honestly not sure if one is better than the other. They are different visually and with the control scheme but both seem to work just fine.

Mulg

Cool puzzle game where you roll a ball around levels with the stylus to reach the goal with hazards and keys to collect along the way.

Palmdle

Very nicely done Wordle clone that has a mechanism for entering a code to play the actual current word of the day in sync with the original Wordle. Get the day's code at the pamdle website below.

pBobble

It's Puzzle Bobble or Bust-A-Move on Palm OS!

Phoinix

Game Boy emulator. The Game Boy roms need to be converted with an included tool and at least on my m500 most games don't run at full speed. Still, it's pretty neat! Probably best for turn based, puzzle and other non-action games unless you're playing on a model powerful than the Motorola Dragonball CPUs.

Prison

Fancy breakout style game that plays pretty nicely.

Rally 1000

A racing card game that I was and now am again so so addicted to X-).

Sokoban

There are number of different sokoban games on the Palm. Here are a couple that I've tried.

SolPok

Kind of a mashup of solitaire and poker where you have to make a four poker hands from a deck of random cards.

Stop Or Go

A Palm OS adaption of a press your luck dice game I really like. A nicely done game that can played against the CPU or up to 3 other people IRL on the same PDA.

TenPin Solitaire

A combo of bowling and solitiare. It is not obvious at first but the goal is to "bowl" a ball by trying to combine the numbers of up to 3 pins to match one of the cards on the right. The part that isn't obvious at first is that only the second digit matters. Example: A 2 pin would match a 2 card and an 8 and 4 pin (8+4=12) selected together would also match a 2 card. It's a pretty fun mashup on solitaire!

TetAttack

Tetris Attack on Palm OS! It's so good and playing with the stylus is a perfect fit for this game.

Vexed

Really good and open source puzzle game. If you're familiar with the Tatio game Puzznic that was released for arcades, NES, Game Boy and other systems Vexed is pretty much that except you move the blocks around with the stylus.

Void

Remake of the classic space exploration and combat sim Elite.

Wordlet

A cool little word game where you try to make words from adjacent letters in a 4x4 grid with a time limit.

WordToss

A word game that is a variation on the Boggle style of gameplay where you select adjacent letters to form as many words as you can.

Yahdice

Classic Yahtzee dice game that plays very well with the stylus.