BlackBerry Apps

PCMag's Top 20 Free BlackBerry Apps

by Kevin Michaluk

on 1 Dec 2009 04:16 PM

1. AP Mobile News

10. Opera Mini 5

17. Viigo for BlacBerry

As the end of the year approaches, you're bound to see lots of Best of 2009 type posts pop up aroud the web for all sorts of things. I know we'll be running our Cracky awards in the weeks ahead. Over at PC Mag today, Sascha Segan put up his holiday list of smartphone app freebies, covering 100 free apps on different platforms. For BlackBerry smartphones, Sascha went through 20 awesome and free BlackBerry apps:

There you have it! Be sure to click over to PC Mag's full listing so you can get the blurb on each one. Are your favorite free BlackBerry apps on the list above? Did they miss any? If so, be sure to drop them in the comments to this post!

Filed Under: BlackBerry Apps;

50 Comments

Posted by devGOD Tuesday, Dec 01, 2009 799 days ago

Opera Mini 5.0 beta? that app is so buggy and confusing to uses who did opera pay to get in the top 20.

Posted by Stang68 Tuesday, Dec 01, 2009 799 days ago

I would much rather use Opera Mini 5 than the BB browser...

Posted by Efstathio Tuesday, Dec 01, 2009 799 days ago

I prefer Opera Mini over both Bolt and the standard BB browser. It is not perfect, but it is fast.

Posted by montecarloss919 Tuesday, Dec 01, 2009 799 days ago

Do you read your own post? Beta..it will get better. plus its better then the bb browser

Posted by JohnMidnight Wednesday, Dec 02, 2009 799 days ago

Even a Beta, shouldn't force you to uninstall it because no matter what you did, you couldn't unsquish text... even on the CrackBerry site...

Posted by rayzaname Tuesday, Dec 01, 2009 799 days ago

Pandora anyone?

Posted by mkurz12 Tuesday, Dec 01, 2009 799 days ago

That's what i was going to say. Everyone I know that has a BB uses Pandora.

Posted by starberry Tuesday, Dec 01, 2009 799 days ago

thats what i'm saying! slacker blows compared to pandora

Posted by donald.aleshire Tuesday, Dec 01, 2009 799 days ago

Why is the notepad rated so high? Am I missing something...dont we basically have that exact same thing already on the berry?

Posted by torxim Wednesday, Dec 02, 2009 798 days ago

I wondered that at first too but noticed it is simply alphabetical order, not a 1-20 rating.

Posted by dwaynewilliams Tuesday, Dec 01, 2009 799 days ago

No BlackBerry messenger; no Pandora.

Posted by mmilmoe Tuesday, Dec 01, 2009 799 days ago

Storm slider is missing. Best and most frequently used app.

Posted by Yandar Wednesday, Dec 02, 2009 798 days ago

A device specific app is too restrictive for that list.

Posted by nyr2k2 Tuesday, Dec 01, 2009 799 days ago

Glad to see Slacker made the cut. Awesome app. I'm a convert.

Posted by Efstathio Tuesday, Dec 01, 2009 799 days ago

I wonder how many of those apps could be installed before running out of space.

Posted by yelowsnomann911 Tuesday, Dec 01, 2009 799 days ago

what about pandora and bbm? and whats the point of having 2 browsers on the list when the normal bb browser is great? Glad to see ubertwitter and scoremobile made the list though, they're great apps.

Posted by afnagel Tuesday, Dec 01, 2009 799 days ago

Well, generally a good list. But they missed my favorite, QuickLaunch, which is a truly invaluable app.

Posted by KentuckyHouse Tuesday, Dec 01, 2009 799 days ago

AP Mobile News caught my eye, so I went and downloaded it. Unfortunately, I can't get it to connect and do anything but give me a white screen. I've got all the permissions set to allow, so I'm not sure what's going on. Doesn't exactly make a good point for their list when the #1 app won't work...lol.

I'm with everyone else that's mentioned Pandora not being on there. And QuickLaunch...definitely.

Posted by wsp2008 Tuesday, Dec 01, 2009 799 days ago

Best radio app on the market!

Posted by sg4real76 Tuesday, Dec 01, 2009 799 days ago

pandora

Posted by Guatiao Tuesday, Dec 01, 2009 799 days ago

What gives???? Pandora is a GREAT app!! Oh well...

Posted by jorGeorge Tuesday, Dec 01, 2009 799 days ago

Yeah this is a horrible list...

Posted by laliux Tuesday, Dec 01, 2009 799 days ago

It is a very recent application, but I hope soon appear on several top lists. :)

http://bbfour.com/

Greetings

Posted by maizein Tuesday, Dec 01, 2009 799 days ago

BB apps suck man... sad but true...

Posted by trblmkr71 Tuesday, Dec 01, 2009 799 days ago

I like captureit for screenshots

Posted by rednax Tuesday, Dec 01, 2009 799 days ago

I suppose. To each his own. Google mobile app should be there (it includes gmail and maps as well as voice search, news, docs, calendar, reader, picasa and all that other google stuff). They coulda killed 6 or 7 birds with 1 stone instead of the 2 they through at google. Drive Safely is a great companion to vlingo. Evernote should be there. Visible Vote. Whatever.

Posted by DustBow Wednesday, Dec 02, 2009 798 days ago

removed - didn't see the word "free" at first...

Posted by desipride27 Tuesday, Dec 01, 2009 799 days ago

Pandora, Google Mobile, and Shazam should be there

Posted by docmphd Tuesday, Dec 01, 2009 799 days ago

I'm with everyone else, why no Pandora?

My favorites are ScoreMobile and Pandora. I also like the Amazon app...works great.

Posted by Rxkiller Tuesday, Dec 01, 2009 799 days ago

this "article" just shows that the people that write these things dont know a single thing. this list has come out in 20 different forms within other articles about blackberry apps. these are the apps that everyone already knows about. what about "buzz me" or "later dude and later flag" and a ton of other great free apps that make my life much better and easier than haveing bolt and opera on my phone....

Posted by dcorx Tuesday, Dec 01, 2009 799 days ago

pandora

Posted by jamez141 Tuesday, Dec 01, 2009 799 days ago

Some of you are mentioning apps that are not free. The title of the Blog is top 20 free apps.

Posted by resu_ruot Tuesday, Dec 01, 2009 799 days ago

Viigo got a great review on this article. So I went ahead and attempted to install it. Bricked my phone. Yep. Maybe they should have mentioned that. Apparently I'm not alone either.

Posted by BerryGuy25 Tuesday, Dec 01, 2009 799 days ago

Unfortunately my BB Bold 9000 can only hold maybe 5 - 7 of these apps. Memory leaks are a *****.

Posted by berrybot Wednesday, Dec 02, 2009 799 days ago

PANDORA NO:1..........................

Posted by thehawkins Wednesday, Dec 02, 2009 798 days ago

Overhyped as a travel app.

Posted by torxim Wednesday, Dec 02, 2009 798 days ago

is there a better solution out there? I have my gmail set up to auto-forward travel confirmation emails to the worldmate email address so itineraries are auto-generated as I book them. hardly worthless if you travel a lot

Posted by rlmesq Wednesday, Dec 02, 2009 798 days ago

What, no Google Voice app? It's better than VZW Visual Voicemail and it's free.

Posted by jsho1 Wednesday, Dec 02, 2009 798 days ago

Viigo is great but it doesn't allow video podcasts like AP News does, Viigo needs to sort this quick and it will become the ultimate app

Posted by Pufan Wednesday, Dec 02, 2009 798 days ago

What about Nimbuzz, I heard they received the Connect On BlackBerry award.

Posted by rcdeck Wednesday, Dec 02, 2009 798 days ago

What a pathetic list of applications. Is it just me or is everything lately crap? When will we see some real applications instead of this same old garbage... I'm about ready to jump to android or something...

Posted by dkonigs Wednesday, Dec 02, 2009 798 days ago

I took one look at BBNotePad, and it seems like someone's weekend intro-to-BlackBerry project. How the heck did it get rated up there with apps that obviously required a serious software engineering effort?

Posted by 3G.BoldBerry Wednesday, Dec 02, 2009 798 days ago

Surely this is all paid for, and I know a lot of and most people here use capture it why isn't it on the list? If you go to wallpapers all shots are taken using that application, it never made it to this list come on if people don't see the sham on things like these then we are really in for it. One of the most usefull applications that people actually use is not here also worldmate live free edition is good far bettert than that bloomberg crap and why so much news apps viigo fills the gap you can add ur custom news to it. And opera mini beta? come on any real user knows that bolt stands out over this betas should be banned they are not complete apps another flaw in the round up,facebook? Come on get a life and gmail blackberry email is also free far better than all these junck apps that bugs you to dl this and that, build your own list people and spread your usage on your version of free apps so others can see real apps that work in the real world in life and death situations ooh by the way that weather and flights app that's for free can remember the name of it, it comes on ppc as well and on some berries is also a great all rounder substitute great free app for travlers. App store both bb and cb's is not here so how do you dl the apps, with ur toung, no good so much great free apps that deserve the attention never made it, this is to sad, good luck.

Posted by BBslim Wednesday, Dec 02, 2009 798 days ago

Hey 3G, ever heard of a period? Try it sometime and then maybe we can all read your comment without going insane.

Posted by ccole84 Wednesday, Dec 02, 2009 798 days ago

Quickpull is a must have app and should be on the list.

Posted by Tony Bag O Donuts Wednesday, Dec 02, 2009 798 days ago

worst app:
Viigo

Best app:
Quicklauncher

poor list.....

Posted by mousky Saturday, Dec 05, 2009 795 days ago

I'll second your worst app vote for Viigo. Lots of hype but poor execution. It barely qualifies as an RSS reader. I downloaded it just after I purchased my Tour and I deleted it the next day. Minimal shortcuts. Minimal ability to organize information.

Posted by mhock86 Thursday, Dec 03, 2009 797 days ago

Pandora should be up there, among others. What a poor list.

Posted by rjennings23 Sunday, Dec 13, 2009 787 days ago

The new opera mini beta 5 is HOT!!!!

Posted by itookthisonmyphone1 Monday, Dec 21, 2009 779 days ago

It's easy and convenient.

Take a picture from your mobile phone and every photo and every video you shoot will be automatically uploaded to your personal photo gallery.

Make sure to check it out!