Must-Have Apps for the BlackBerry Tour

We may earn a commission for purchases using our links. Learn more.

Things are always a little frantic around CrackBerry.com and with the recent release of the BlackBerry Tour the site is busier than ever. When an overdue, highly-anticipated device like the Tour finally hits the market it means a big group of experienced BlackBerry users quickly make the upgrade and it also means a whole new contigent of smartphones owners are discovering the world of BlackBerry and visiting CrackBerry.com for the first time. That said, we've been taking the launch of the Tour as an opportunity to revisit some BlackBerry basics.

Shortly after the Tour launched, a great thread popped up in the forums called Name the First Five Apps You Will Put On Your Tour. It's definitely one you'll want to check out for a lot of great ideas for which software applications to install on your device. After covering on the blogs How to Get Apps On Your BlackBerry, I thought it would be fun to poll some of our CrackBerry contributors and moderators to find out their first five must-have apps. Keep in mind that while we've geared this article towards the Tour, these software suggestions are valid for pretty much all models, including the Curve, Bold, Pearl and Storm (though you may need to find Storm-specific versions).  Read on for Lots of apps!

The First Five Apps I installed on my BlackBerry Tour

So I asked each person to return their first-five installed apps. Of course, we have a few addicts on the team who don't follow directions well, so in a few cases we have the first ten. We've hyperlinked the titles to download locations for each app, listed a brief description and listed the app's price or that it is free. Keep in mind that sometimes apps are free to download, but then you may be enticed to pay for an upgrade to unlock more features or get premium services (sometimes these change - the developer launches with a free app then down the road introduces the pay side of the equation, so always check the details before downloading). For each person we've shown one screen capture - that the title that belongs to that screen cap is listed in bold. Be sure to list your first five apps in the comments to this post!

CrackBerry.com Editorial Contributors

Kevin Michaluk, Founder and Fearless Leader of CrackBerry Nation

Bolt Browser

1. CrackBerry Launcher - CrackBerry Mobile Site Launcher - Free
2. CrackBerry App Store Client - CrackBerry App Store Mobile Client - Free
3. CrackBerry Viigo - RSS News Reader - Free
4. Bolt Browser - 3rd Party Web Browser - Free
5. BlackBerry App World -BlackBerry App World - Free

Adam Zeis, Editor & Forums Manager

Socialscope

1. SocialScope (or any Twitter client) - Free
2. Berry Buzz - Custom LED alerts - $5.95
3. Berry Weather - Weather App - $9.95
4. SmrtGuard - OTA Data Backup - $3.99/month
5. Bolt Browser - 3rd Party Web Browser - Free

Bla1ze, Editor & Forums Manager

I Love Blackberry
that's 16 days worth of Bla1ze's use on this screencap

1. I Love BlackBerry - Track your BlackBerry use - Free
2. Evernote -Free
3. SocialScope - Twitter client - Free
4. BBFileScout - File manager - Free
5. QuickPull Pro - Simulate battery pull -$2.95
6. QuickLaunch - Application launcher - $4.99
7. FlyCast - Internet radio - Free
8. CrackBerry Viigo - RSS news reader - Free
9. Poynt - Local search - Free
10. Berry Buzz - Custom LED alerts - $5.95

Craig Johnston, Podcast Co-Host and Enterprise Expert

SmrtGuard

1. Nobex Radio Companion - Internet radio - Free or $3.99/month
2. WorldMate - Travel app - Free or $99.95/year
3. BlackBerry Wallet - Store shopping information - Free
4. QIK - Mobile video sharing - Free
5. Podtrapper - Podcast manager - $9.99
6. SlingPlayer - Control home TV & DVR - requires SlingBox
7. SmrtGuard - OTA data backup - $3.99/month
8. Vlingo - Speech recognition - Free or $17.99
9. Audible - Audible.com App - Free

Ryan Blundell, Apps Reviewer

BerryBuzz

1. Berry Buzz - Custom LED alerts - $5.95
2. BerryPopup - Preview Email/SMS - $6.95
3. Wifi file transfer - File Transfer - $9.99
4. Bartender Pro - Drink Catalog - $2.99
5. Bubble Defense - Tower Defense Game - $4.99


James Falconer, App Round-Ups

Texas Hold'Em

1. Trapster - Speed Trap Database - Free
2. Texas Hold'em King 3 - Poker Game - $6.99
3. Facebook - Social Networking - Free
4. CrackBerry Viigo - RSS news reader - Free
5. Scoremobile - Sports Scores - Free
6. WeatherBug - Weather App - Free
7. Shazam - Identify Music Tracks - Free (paid upgrade for more features)

Gary Mazo, BlackBerrius Maximus

Pandora

1. Slacker - Internet Radio - Free (paid upgrade for more features)
2. Pandora - Internet Radio - Free
3. Poynt - Local search - Free
4. Google Lattitude - Mapping - Free
5. CrackBerry Viigo - RSS news reader - Free
6. AP Mobile News - News App - Free
7. Redsox.com Shortcut - MLB Shortcut - Free
8. BlackBerry App World -BlackBerry App World - Free
9. You Mail Visual Voicemail Plus - Visual Voicemail - Free
10. Nintaii -Game - $6.99

Al Sacco, Contributor

Facebook

1. CrackBerry Viigo - RSS news reader - Free
2. Pandora - Internet Radio - Free
3. TeleNav Navigator - GPS - $9.99/month
4. Facebook - Social Networking - Free
5. Poynt - Local search - Free
6. Flixster - Social Network (Movies) - Free
7. Redsox.com Shortcut - MLB Shortcut - Free
8. Google Voice for BlackBerry - Google Voice Mobile App - Free
9. Movela Netflix Queue Manage - Netflix Movie Manager - $2.99
10. Capture It (OTA) -On Device Screen Capture - Free

CrackBerry Forums Moderators

Chrisy

MaraTick

1. Amazon App - Amazon.com Mobile App - Free
2. Spider Solitaire - Solitaire Game - $3.99

3. Bank of America - Mobile Banking - Free
4. Mara Tick - Shopping List App - Free
5. VZ Navigator - Installed on VZW Devices - $9.99/month

Duvi

Ubertwitter

1. BeeJive IM - IM App - $19.95
2. Gmail App - Gmail Mobile App - Free
3. UberTwitter - Twitter Client - Free
4. BB Tetris - Tetris - Free
5. VibAndRing - Ring and Vibrate - $2.95

Naviwilliams

Miutunes

1. SocialScope - Twitter Client - Free
2. MIU Tunes - MP3 Player - $19.95
3. QSMS - Quickly Compose SMS - Free
4. GoogleTalk - IM Client - Free
5. Shrink It (OTA) - Shrink Images - Free

Yester18

BerryWeather

1. Berry Scanner - Police Scanner - Free
2. Berry Weather - Weather App - $9.95
3. Capture It (OTA) -On Device Screen Capture - Free
4. Google Maps - Maps - Free
5. Google Sync - Sync Google Calendar - Free

Let the Downloading Begin!!

There you have it. If your new BlackBerry is lacking in apps, you have plenty of suggestions to help get you started. Keep in mind you can always find more free and paid apps in our CrackBerry App Store and in our BlackBerry Apps forum.

Read more