The Windows 10 Store has several quality apps for customizing your Microsoft Band. The Band Utility app is one such offering that has the ability to customize your Band's wallpaper, theme colors and add cards to your Band.
There is room for improvement with Band Utility, but overall the app is a nice foundation with potential. It's not at the level of, say, Pimp Your Band or Fanband but it could come close with a few more features.
The interface with Band Utility is simple and straight forward. Both the Windows 10 Mobile and PC versions have a menu button in the upper left corner that reveals navigation options for the app's customization features. The two core customization features include personalizing your Band and adding cards to your Band.
Personalizing your Band includes options to change your wallpaper and color scheme. The Band Utility currently only has three wallpaper images to choose from and ten solid colors to use as wallpapers. The image collection includes the Windows 10 logo, the Microsoft Health logo and a Sample image that is a collage of colorful shapes.
The Color Scheme options include eighteen pre-set color schemes ranging from Electric Blue to Pizza to Kool-Aid. There is also the option to put your Band in Black and White Mode (belief is that this option helps extend your Band's battery life).
Adding a card to your Microsoft Band is a handy feature where you can add PDF417 or Code 39 barcodes to your Band. For example, you can add the barcode to your grocery store rewards card on your Band instead of cluttering up your key chain with the flimsy paper fobs. Just title your new card, enter the number and choose your barcode type. When you are ready for the barcode to be read, tap the tile and have the Band's display scanned.
Overall, I like the potential of the Band Utility. The layout is simple to move around and while the core features are very basic, they do a nice job of things. The barcode tile is a nifty idea and I can see it coming in handy for many.
While I like the foundation the Band Utility has, it needs more bite to be competitive with the more feature rich options in the Windows 10 Store. In the least, it needs the ability to use local photos as the Band wallpaper. Unless you are a fan of solid colors as your wallpaper, the Band Utility could come across as very lacking in this regards.
The color themes include some very eye-catching colors, but as is the case with the wallpapers, this feature also needs the option for more customization through user defined color themes.
The Windows 10 Store description for Band Utility notes that more features are in the works. If these new features include the ability to use local photos and user defined themes, I can see the Band Utility be a solid option for personalizing your Microsoft Band. As is, it does nicely but may be too limited for many Band owners.
The Band Utility is a free app, available for both Windows 10 PC and Mobile.
Download Band Utility for Windows 10 PC and Mobile
