Orbit vs Overboard - iPhone Expose Wannabe Showdown

[nickhesson]

Many of us got really excited when Orbit was first released. It allowed us to quickly get an Springboard Exposé-like look at our apps on each page. This was a first for the iPhone in Jailbreak Land and nothing new for many Mac OS X users. Being the only of it's kind, it was released to the Cydia Store at a price of $1.99.

Don't get me wrong, I love the work that Steven has put into his projects. I absolutely love Stacks and give kudos to his efforts. However, we have a contender now that looks to out perform Orbit.

On Friday, we saw the release of Overboard by Ryan Petrich (creator of Action Menu, Inspell, HapticPro, LiveClock, Rotation Inhibitor). Overboard is another Expose wannabe, but outperforms Orbit rather quickly. We also get support for Winterboard themes, full customization, and multiple ways to access it. For example this has become a rather handy replacement for my home button. In fact, I'm so impressed I don't know if I'll ever remove it. You can even create an icon on the springboard, or use the pinch gesture to activate it. The choice is yours.

Now here is the biggest kicker. For those of you on a 3GS you might not have noticed, but on the 3G, Orbit loads ridiculously slow the first time. Each page slowly appears one by one. Sometimes it would even get glitched out and not let me get back to my pages.

Overboard on the other hand has completely blown by Orbit in terms of speed. The incredibly fast load time is almost instantaneous on my 3G and when activated from the home button performs outstandingly (is that word?). Of course in terms of speed, this is on first load after a respring, as Orbit caches after it loads.

Some of you may not use Winterboard, which defeats a few of the perks that Overboard has. Orbit uses the Icon-Small.png as the mini icons, so those are easy to change without Winterboard, allowing for a better compatibility with those who prefer BossPaper over Winterboard.

However, that being said, Orbit seems to have lost support as Steven has a lot on his plate right now, so Overboard might be your best bet now.

Update: Orbit also releases an update that adds home button support, search page, theme support, dynamic sizing and performance improvement.

Overboard Screenshots

[seven77]

overboard

[battlecrushr]

Overboard because of homeand pinch and u can make it 2 colloums so it'll be easier to see

[metaserph]

I originally purchased Orbit. Tonight I just purchased Overboard. Moving right along.

[awesomeSlayer]

I might go with OverBoard

[rhekt]

does this work w/ five column and five icon dock? if so im sold.

[Windmeel]

I own both Orbit and OverBoard. On a 3GS, Orbit does lag quite a bit as far as loading the pages as the article described. With OverBoard, it's very quick. I love the pinching to bring up the pages. More money to Mr. Petrich from me.

does this work w/ five column and five icon dock? if so im sold.

No problems here with Five Icon Dock. Can't speak on Five Columns.

[rpetrich]

does this work w/ five column and five icon dock? if so im sold.

Both Five-Column and Five-Row Springboard are compatible with OverBoard.

[rhekt]

awesome! good news. ill be purchasing shortly

[iRockish]

Yeah overboard is def better than orbit

[shwnwlkns]

You guys, are pretty slow. orbit 1.1 has been submitted as has 5 more features than Overboard, which isn't even new, but a complete rip of Orbit with added features that were already shown by Steven.



Twitter / Steve Troughton-Sm?: Am really happy; have some ...

[deadfire55]

random question but: Anybody know what that background is of the image with the two icons?

[ajl917]

Guys, before you get Overboard, wait to see what Orbit 1.1 brings. It's been submitted to the Cydia Store already and should be out soon...

[cditty]

I own both Orbit and OverBoard. On a 3GS, Orbit does lag quite a bit as far as loading the pages as the article described. With OverBoard, it's very quick.

Ditto. Overboard is tons faster on my 3G.

[metaserph]

Good thing I paid for it. Hope so.

[shwnwlkns]

You guys paid for something that is a complete ripoff of someone elses work. Not even coded from scratch, but stolen and added features. Good job on being behind the curve, guys.

[scoop2mylue]

overboard blows orbit away....way to make the app how it should have been the first time

[calvinbui]

in my opinion, putting your apps in categories is more productive and organised.

[skiptowncat]

in my opinion, putting your apps in categories is more productive and organised.

+1

[ecd5000]

both look equally good but not sure if i really need either, but nice tho