RotateMe for Nokia Phones

RotateMe, a screen rotation application written by Samir, rotates your phone’s screen to portrait or landscape mode depending on the orientation of the handset. It is a fun application, particularly to show off to iPhone owners who think only the iPhone does this. A cool trick to have on your phone. The problem is that it isn’t so simple to get RotateMe installed. There are endless forum postings about installing RotateMe. In fact, I too had been struggling to figure it out, until now. Well, here’s my simple straightforward guide to help you get RotateMe installed in your Nokia phone (compatible with N95, N95 8Gb and N82).

The difficulty with installing RotateMe at this time stems from the issue that the application needs to be “signed”. The software as released by the author is “unsigned”. Symbian applications need to be signed before they can be installed into the phone. It is like an accreditation process to ensure that only approved applications can be installed. There is a cost in signing applications for mass distribution. However, getting an application signed for installation on a single phone (one unique IMEI) is free. It is also possible to get no-cost applications signed for free for mass distribution (more info), but this step tends to take time. Samir intends to get this done, but in the meanwhile, RotateMe needs to be signed by individual users to get it installed in their own phones.

So, how do you get it signed? Just head over to Symbian Signed and click on the Open Signed Online link. You need to enter your phone’s IMEI (press *#06#), your email address, and finally upload the unsigned application that you want to get signed for running on your phone.

Here’s the thing. The current 2.0 release version of the application you find on Samir’s website cannot be used. You need the 2.1 Beta version. Only contributors to the RotateMe project gets access to a forum where they can download the beta. (Here’s the tip: You can also Google search “RotateMe 2.1 beta 2 download”.)

Once you’ve uploaded the unsigned application, Symbian Signed will send you an email confirmation with a link you need to click on. After you click the confirmation link, Symbian Signed will signed the application and email you another time with a link to download the signed application. The process is pretty quick and fast.

I’m not sure what’s going on in the forums, because it sounds like those who know it are refusing to share the information with those who don’t know it. It seems people are passing on IMEI numbers so that others can get the application signed for them. I don’t think distributing IMEI numbers is a good idea though. Offhand I can’t think what harm can come from giving away IMEI numbers. Perhaps someone could call up their telco and claim their phone is stolen and give them your IMEI number for blocking (in reality most telcos don’t bother to block anyway).

Anyway, now you know it. It is a simple thing to do yourself.

Update (20 Apr 2008): The N95 8GB v20.0.016 software now supports Automatic Screen Rotation, so if you have upgraded, you don’t really need RotateMe anymore. 🙂