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Home»BlackBerry Help»Help, How-To & Tips

CrackBerry Tip: Use Your BlackBerry as a Flashlight!

by Kevin Michaluk on 17 Jan 2008 10:02 AM
48
 

The BlackBerry Flashlight

This might not be an "advanced" BlackBerry tip, but it is a way of life for those of us with an "advanced" case of CrackBerry Addiction...

When I wake up in the middle of the night to go to the fridge, bathroom or computer I no longer am turning on the lights and going blind or leaving them off and walking into walls and furniture thanks to my BlackBerry - it makes a Great Flashlight!

While I sleep my BlackBerry is never more than an arm's length away. When I wake up and get out of bed, I instinctually reach for it, hit the keyboad to fire up the display, and hold it away from my body bright side out as I get out of bed and take care of business. The BlackBerry display and keyboard throw more than enough light to allow one to find their way in a dark room, but not so much as to cause the eyes to go into that painful lights-on pupil shrinking mode. It's brilliant!

While this isn't a highly published BlackBerry tip, I don't think I'm alone here! According to a recent CrackBerry.com poll, 43% of respondents use their BlackBerry everyday in the bedroom, with another 20% using it in the bedroom often. I'm sure most of these users have discovered the joys of the BlackBerry Flashlight. It also works great for finding the key hole when you come home late at night and your house lights are off! Give the BlackBerry Flashlight a try...you won't be disappointed!

Looking for some more tips today? Why not check out this Handy BlackBerry Keyboard Shortcut cheat sheet that was posted in the Tips, How-To & FAQ forum!

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48 Comments

Posted by tdgossett Thursday, Jan 17, 2008 1581 days ago

I've been doing that since Day 1. It also helps me find my dog in the dark bedroom. She has a tendency to stand right in my path and I end up tripping over her. Her eyes glow bright in the luminescence of my crackberry.

 
 
Posted by Anonymous Thursday, Jan 17, 2008 1581 days ago

This is good, but Blink Berry works wonders. The demo alone uses the LED as a white flashlight. Awesome!

 
 
Posted by Kevin Michaluk Thursday, Jan 17, 2008 1581 days ago

Will download and give it a go asap! Sounds Sweet!!

 
 
Posted by Rae Thursday, Jan 17, 2008 1581 days ago

I've also used it as a flashlight when outside in the dark, when I need to find my key for the car or house (and to put it into the lock if the lights aren't on), in the house... you name it :)

 
 
Posted by Mr. H Thursday, Jan 17, 2008 1581 days ago

Kevin,

Absolutely right -the best non-published blackberry spec! My Curve is my night light. I've used it to help light small spaces when I do home repair. And, wandering around the house at night has never been safer. Great blog post!

 
 
Posted by Anonymous Thursday, Jan 17, 2008 1581 days ago

is there any way to close a blackberry messenger conversation on both my bberry and on the other person's bberry?

 
 
Posted by BESAdmin Thursday, Jan 17, 2008 1580 days ago

There are two ways...grab their Blackberry and delete the conversation or be a Blackberry Admin and send the wipe command to their device (pending it is on your BES)

 
 
Posted by Tmiv4 Thursday, Jan 17, 2008 1581 days ago

If you have a Blackberry Pearl (8130 I know works) with the built in camera flash, you can set the flash to be always on when in video capture mode and the light is crazy bright. makes a flashlight enough for two or three people. not that you would be going to the bathroom with that many people in the middle of the night, but in case of a blackout or something.

Peace,
Tm

 
 
Posted by Kevin Michaluk Thursday, Jan 17, 2008 1581 days ago

That would be a great 3rd party app or should be an option for programming one of the convenience keys. Hit the left convenience key and your camera's flash fires up!

 
 
Posted by Anonymous Thursday, Aug 14, 2008 1371 days ago

can you send me the link to make my pearl into a flashlight.

THANK
YOU

 
 
Posted by Richard Rodriguez Thursday, Jan 17, 2008 1581 days ago

I use my Curve as a flashlight at home and aboard ship

 
 
Posted by dlgus Thursday, Jan 17, 2008 1580 days ago

LOL, I've been doing that almost from the beginning.....my Pearl has lit the way to my car door more times than I care to remember....

 
 
Posted by Faux Sure Friday, Jan 18, 2008 1580 days ago

I've fixed the setting on the the video camera so the flash is constantly on when you turn the video camera on. It's a real simple process to do just hit the menu key and change the timing on the flash to always on. Now change the soft key on the right hand side for quick video access. Now when you hit the soft key to turn on the video you have a BRIGHT light to guide you through night.

 
 
Posted by Kevin Michaluk Monday, Jan 21, 2008 1577 days ago

Yup, that's the easiest thing to do right now if you're running a 8120/8130.

Once the OS 4.3.1 update hits for Curves and 8100s I think more people will be following in your footsteps. I know I will!

 
 
Posted by barry pevner Sunday, Jan 20, 2008 1578 days ago

cool, but how do i use my 813 as a flashlight?

 
 
Posted by Anonymous Sunday, Jan 20, 2008 1578 days ago

I've been using my cell phone - any cell phone - as a flashlight ever since I dropped my keys between the driver's seat and console of my car back in the 90s.

Next to my Verizon 6700 (Audiovox), the 8703e is the brightest flashlight I've used.

Oh. The 8703 is also my favorite device I've used since then as well. :)

 
 
Posted by BK1 Sunday, Jan 20, 2008 1578 days ago

that is crackin me up, i use it as a flashlight all the time??

 
 
Posted by Anonymous Friday, Jan 25, 2008 1573 days ago

What an obvious, no brainer tip! Not a very busy day, huh?

For a real tip, turn the FLASH on instead... duh

 
 
Posted by osama0fGUADELUPE Saturday, Feb 23, 2008 1544 days ago

=))
good stuff.

 
 
Posted by Craig bennett Tuesday, Mar 18, 2008 1520 days ago

I have been using my cell phone as a quickie flashlight when traversing from the light switch to the bed for years. Just got my BB yesterday and was very happy indeed to find it served the same purpose.

 
 
Posted by jestan01 Wednesday, Mar 19, 2008 1519 days ago

My first "Mobile/Flashlight" was the samsung E715...

 
 
Posted by ldyj93 Sunday, Mar 30, 2008 1508 days ago

If this can be done, Does anyone know how to apply a signature to the BB to be seen by recipients whether I send email or sms text? Thanks in advance.

 
 
Posted by carmie2 Wednesday, Apr 30, 2008 1477 days ago

Ha ha I thought I was the only one using it as a flashlight. I was on a jobsite and had to walk through a darken hallway and was amazed at the amount of light my BB emitted. I now use it regularly as a flashlight. :)

 
 
Posted by Anonymous Monday, May 19, 2008 1458 days ago

Get a solid white (320x240) picture onto your blackberry. Open the picture when you want a flashlight!!!
Tip: If you want colored light, use a colored image!!!!

 
 
Posted by Anonymous Wednesday, May 21, 2008 1456 days ago

Hey all!

There is a free flashlight application for download on my webpage davidramsey03.com.
It's simple, but it works! And it's free!
go to davidramsey03.com on your mobile browser to download!

 
 
Posted by Summerdog Friday, May 23, 2008 1454 days ago

Does the flashlight work with the blackberry curve 8310?

Can you tell me how..

 
 
Posted by jabber_jaws Monday, Jun 30, 2008 1416 days ago

Okay, in case some of you do not know this trick already... On your Pearl 8130. Select Video Camera, Then options and select automatic flash then save settings. So if and when you need a super bright light you have one!

Note: This will drain battery life faster then normal use, use with extreme caution if using this feature.

 
 
Posted by jabber_jaws Monday, Jun 30, 2008 1416 days ago

Okay, so I did not read the whole forum before posting *BLAH* everyone knows that trick I think.. DOH!

 
 
Posted by Anonymous Monday, Jul 07, 2008 1409 days ago

all the posting about the flashlight trick are mentioned for the 8130 but i just bought a 8110...which i have to buy a media card to capture video. does anyone know if the "always on" option is on the 8110 so i dont waste money on getting a card?

 
 
Posted by Anonymous Monday, Jul 07, 2008 1409 days ago

all the posting about the flashlight trick are mentioned for the 8130 but i just bought a 8110...which i have to buy a media card to capture video. does anyone know if the "always on" option is on the 8110 so i dont waste money on getting a card?

 
 
Posted by Shyflutterby Friday, Jul 25, 2008 1391 days ago

Power went out one nite and my 88 year old grandfather was stranded in the living room. My curve and I came to the rescue!! I used it to find a flash light only to find that the glow was strong from my BB then the actual flash light! Man I love my BB!!

 
 
Posted by RockAndRollAcdc Monday, Jul 28, 2008 1388 days ago

The other day when I was working on my furnace in my camper I needed a flashlight.well as normal, no good batterys to be found. I ended up turning on my video camera light to see in the furnace little hole.

 
 
Posted by RockAndRollAcdc Monday, Jul 28, 2008 1388 days ago

The other day when I was working on my furnace in my camper I needed a flashlight.well as normal, no good batterys to be found. I ended up turning on my video camera light to see in the furnace little hole.

 
 
Posted by Anonymous Saturday, Aug 23, 2008 1362 days ago

I actually used to have a nokia with a flashlight. Everyone laughed at me but I used that thing ALL THE TIME, I daresay more than the phone itself! It was great to lay on my shoulder to read a book in bed. My last phone was a flip phone, and while it wasn't my nokia flashlight I still would flip it open to use it like this article says. Yesterday I got the blackberry pearl. While it's got me pulling my hair out to get setup I'm glad to know I can still use it to make a midnight run...

 
 
Posted by Anonymous Saturday, Oct 11, 2008 1313 days ago

No Damn it, I figured out a better flashlight and I am pissed that people are praising this bs!

First: Set your video camera to one of your side buttons.

Second: In your video camera options set your Video Light as Always On.

Last: Save it and use it.

Yes I know the Video camera will use more battery, however there has been times when I needed a bright flashlight over battery life.

 
 
Posted by keisur Saturday, Oct 11, 2008 1312 days ago

{rolls eyes} geez and I clicked on this link thinking it was actually going to tell me how to make the screen brighter for this. I can't believe Crackberry is actually calling this a tip since if you have a BB and don't use it like this and end up stumbling you are extremely slow and shouldn't have a BB.

 
 
Posted by metroII Wednesday, Oct 29, 2008 1295 days ago

It rocks as a quick resolve for a flashlight!! I got convinced to get a blackberry Thanks to my MOM!! Although i am still not as technologically advanced as her on it, that was the first thing i noticed that blackberrys are good at

 
 
Posted by robc2007 Sunday, Mar 01, 2009 1172 days ago

Why use the screen for a flashlight... If you have the video camera feature which is inclusive to the newer software load, you can use the much brighter flash which doubles as the video light for the phone... Much brighter and yet better than just using the lame and dim backlighting of the screen alone. Cheers

 
 
Posted by Vijik Tuesday, Mar 17, 2009 1156 days ago

ShortcutBerry allows you to turn your BB to flash light without even requiring that you to go to home screen first.

YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rhpi2wKGTzs

 
 
Posted by Pari Thursday, Apr 16, 2009 1126 days ago

I have a BB 8330 is there a free app or trick out there for turning my phone into a flashlight?

 
 
Posted by Anonymous11111 Friday, Apr 24, 2009 1118 days ago

i think every single person who owns a cell phone/pda/whatever does this on a regular basis...

 
 
Posted by abutterflyloves Tuesday, Apr 28, 2009 1113 days ago

and so true.. A flashlight, my alarm clock radio. the list is never ending...

 
 
Posted by JaredCO Sunday, Jul 05, 2009 1046 days ago

This is a good tip, but if you need a very bright light then you can get a dedicated app that takes advantage of the video camera light and will make sure that it stays on. The only problem with launching the video camera manually is that the light will go off when your back light turns off. I keep my back light timeout short to conserve battery life. You can get the following app that will also launch the video camera but will make sure the light stays on forever. Here is the link :

"One Touch Flashlight " -
http://www.mobihand.com/product.asp?id=31073&n=One-Touch-Flashlight-%28U...

 
 
Posted by JaredCO Sunday, Jul 05, 2009 1046 days ago

http://software.crackberry.com/product.asp?id=31073

 
 
Posted by dccastil Monday, Aug 10, 2009 1010 days ago

i have the 9630 and just realized this: i set up the camera for a convenience key and in the dark with the automatic flash, it turns on the LED flash on as long as you hold the convenience key down :) a simple and elegant solution!

-D

 
 
Posted by Gina-Jamie Sunday, Aug 23, 2009 997 days ago

Please help I am interested in using this feature, but the tips do not go back that far to 17 January 2008.

I know how to use the flashlight off of the video, but this looks a lot better.

Thank you in advance for your help.

 
 
Posted by dinesh8228 Sunday, Aug 30, 2009 990 days ago

Sounds good where can I get it?

 
 
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