One of the bad things about being a procrastinator and putting off doing this post: some of my most used apps have already been covered. I'm going to need you guys to all pretend you didn't already read Adam, Bla1ze, Ryan, or Joseph's lists and it will all seem new. Lots of people complain that BlackBerry just doesn't have any apps, and while we are missing some that would be nice to have, I think there are plenty out there to make use of.
In no particular order, my most used BlackBerry apps are:
QuickLaunch by Nikkisoft was just updated bringing the app up to version 4.0 bringing with it various upgrades and some fixes including Universal Search integration, mobile hotspot and NFC toggle, shake launch, larger fonts, and a ton more.
Other changes in this update include:
Display Battery Status on QL Titlebar
Alarm and Stopwatch Shortcuts Added
BB File Picker Integration
Visual Voice Mail Shortcut
Lock Device Shortcut
Menu Animation Options
Alarm Toggle
Center Menu Location Option Added
Change Sounds and Alerts Shortcut
Mobile Connections All On / Off Toggle
Current Shortcuts button added to options screen
Bridge App Shortcut and Bridge Toggle
Time, Notifications, Battery and Signal strength
Redesigned Options screen
Homescreen Wallpaper Cycler
More Apps appear in Add Items
QuickLaunch is normally $4.99, and most everyone that has it swears it's worth every penny. For a limited time, you can buy QuickLaunch for just $1.99 in BlackBerry App World. If you previously purchased it from Mobihand, you will not be able to update the app and will need to purchase it for the $1.99. You can read more about the reasoning behind Nikkisoft's decision to do this at the forums link below, as well as find out more in depth details about the changes in v4.0.
Screen capture applications are one of the most popular for BlackBerry smartphones, and one of the favorites among users is Screen Muncher by Motek Mobile. With Screen Muncher you can capture a screenshot of your phone and share it directly to Twitter, BBM, email, or save it to share later. With a free and paid version, you can choose from 11 colors and 8 sounds for your munches, 2 image formats (png or jpg), the option to remove the watermark, and the ability to turn the sound off for discreet munching. Assign Screen Muncher to a convenience key for ultimate ease of use.
Since it's the holiday season, Motek Mobile has released free and paid ($2.99) holiday editions of Screen Muncher, and we have 50 copies of the paid version to give away! To enter, leave a comment below, and we'll pick the lucky winners Sunday night at midnight PST. One entry per person, please! If you don't want to wait, you can check out both versions at the links below.
Speedometer for BlackBerry by Value Apps was recently updated to be compatible with BlackBerry 7 smartphones! This app will tell you how fast you are traveling whether by automobile, train, boat or bike - any way that you get from point A to point B. Depending on what you prefer, you can view your speed in miles per hour (MPH) or kilometers per hour (Kmph), and you can set the app to keep your backlight on for continuous monitoring.
Other new features include:
App records Top-speed and saves it for later use.
You can reset the stored top speed.
New speed units including knots, meters per second and feet per second
A new full-screen digital view for easy viewing
You can pick up Speedometer in BlackBerry App World for $3.99 for any BlackBerry smartphone with GPS. On top of this, we wanted to remind you that Value Apps has an awesome contest underway right now for those of you that purchase the Speedometer app. All you have to do to enter is buy the app, leave a comment in App World about Speedometer for BlackBerry, and email Value Apps to let them know you left your comment. The contest runs until the end of November, but I wouldn't wait to enter… especially since the prize is a brand new, unlocked, BlackBerry Bold 9900! You can find out more details at the link below, or at their website.
*Please note, CrackBerry is not affiliated with the contest, we are just helping spread the word. Leaving a comment below is great, but will not enter you in the contest.*
MMMOOO wants to thank everyone for another great year, and what better time to do that then at Thanksgiving? They have come up with a free version of their popular utility Battery Saver, designed especially for the holiday. This app functions as a screensaver when your BlackBerry is plugged in or when you activate it manually, showing the custom Thanksgiving battery image as well as the current time and date, battery percentage and other information. This is actually a slimmed down version of Battery Saver Pro, which also includes options for automatically locking and dimming your screen, turning off wifi, radio, applications, and the device itself. This is a great way to help get your battery through the day. Another fun feature, the battery icon in the pro version is customizable with tons of options including colors, flags, and designs.
The Battery Saver UI looks slick and is easy to navigate ensuring that you will only activate the tweaks that you want. Compatible with most BlackBerry smartphones including the new BlackBerry 7 devices, you can pick up Battery Saver Thanksgiving FREE or Battery Saver Pro for $2.99 at the links below. If you try out either the Thanksgiving or Pro version of Battery Saver, please leave MMMOOO a quick review of the app in the store. Constructive reviews help developers improve their apps!
Contest: MMMOOO sent us 25 copies of Battery Saver Pro to give away to you guys this week! Be sure to check out the Battery Saver Thanksgiving, and then come back to take your shot at winning a free copy of the Pro version. To enter to win, leave a comment below. Winners will be chosen at midnight PST on Sunday. One entry per person please.
I know a lot of us use applications like BeBuzz to notify us of specific app notifications with fancy colors and toasts. Others prefer to stick with the basic blinking red light. If none of these options suit your taste, the folks over at PingDev Ltd have a solution. Light Up will turn on your backlight of your home screen with each new notification.
The following applications are currently compatible with Light Up:
Text Messages
Email
BlackBerry Messenger
Facebook
Twitter (DM and New Tweets)
MySpace
WhatsApp
Light Up allows you to select an active/inactive option for those times when you may not want anyone just passing by to see what's on your screen when that new message comes in. You can also customize which notification types light up your screen, duration and level of brightness. Light Up is available via BlackBerry App World for $1.99 on most devices running OS 4.6.1 or higher.
Keeping track of dual time zones when traveling is a pain. It never fails that I'll call a friend or family in the wee hours of the morning or late at night because I can't keep which time zone they're in straight. Now with TimeZone by PingDev Ltd, you can have a second clock, set for a different time zone, on your home screen. This app would also be great for travelers who want to keep track of the time zone back home while traveling abroad.
Features include:
Dual clocks on home screen
Customizable font size & color, time format and postion
Wallpaper friendly (to change wallpaper you must do so within the Time Zone app)
Time Zone is available for $2.99 in BlackBerry App World for most devices running OS 6 or higher.
Sometimes simple apps that perform a single task can be just what you're looking for. Speedometer for BlackBerry by Value Apps will tell you how fast you are traveling whether by automobile, train, boat or bike - any way that you get from point A to point B. Depending on what you prefer, you can view your speed in miles per hour (MPH) or kilometers per hour (Kmph), and you can set the app to keep your backlight on for continuous monitoring.
You can pick up Speedometer in BlackBerry App World for $3.99 for any BlackBerry smartphone with GPS. On top of this, Value Apps has an awesome contest underway right now for those of you that purchase the Speedometer app. All you have to do to enter is buy the app, leave a comment in App World about Speedometer for BlackBerry, and email Value Apps to let them know you left your comment. The contest runs until the end of November, but I wouldn't wait to enter… especially since the prize is a brand new, unlocked, BlackBerry Bold 9900! You can find out more details at the link below, or at their website.
*Please note, CrackBerry is not affiliated with the contest, we are just helping spread the word. Leaving a comment below is great, but will not enter you in the contest.*
It's good to keep track of your vehicle's fuel efficiency as well as scheduled maintenance and oil changes. I remember as a kid my dad kept a little notebook in the glovebox, jotting down notes when we went to the gas station. Times have changed, and now instead of that notebook, smudged and wrinkled in the glovebox, we have apps that can take the hard work out of keeping track of this information.
Dekerta Software has a nice app for this, Fuel Economy Calculator. While it's been available for BlackBerry for quite awhile, they have also just released a version for the BlackBerry PlayBook. All you have to do is enter in your odometer reading and how much fuel you purchase, and the app will calculate the efficiency for you. You can track the data over time automatically by averages and a handy graph. This app supports multiple vehicles, metric and imperial units, and you can even keep track of oil changes and maintenance as well as set reminders. Available for most BlackBerry smartphones, you can grab Fuel Economy Calculator for $2.99 for your BlackBerry, or just $.99 for your Playbook.
Contest:Dekerta Software has given us 50 copies of Fuel Economy Calculator for BlackBerry. To enter, leave a comment below. The contest ends this Sunday at midnight PST. One entry per person please, and good luck! *Please note, the contest is not for the PlayBook app, due to App World limitations.*
If you are the type of BlackBerry owner that likes to monitor battery status, and analyze the ins and outs of your usage, then you will definitely want to check out Battery Watch by S4BB. With this app you can have the both of best worlds, with Basic Mode for users that want just to see a quick overview and have notifications for battery status, and Professional Mode with detailed information, line charts that display energy levels over day, week, or month and more. Battery Watch is FREE and compatible with all BlackBerry smartphones.
When I know I have a package coming, or if I've sent something important, I always have to stalk track it to see when it's arriving. Package Tracking for BlackBerry is a great app for staying on top of deliveries while on the go. Recently updated to v6.0, Package Tracking now can track packages shipped through 44 carriers (when it first launched only 5 carriers were available). The design has been upgraded and the app is now available on most BlackBerry smartphones. You can pick this handy app up on sale for $2.99 right now (reg. $3.99) for your BlackBerry or for $2.99 for your PlayBook.
It's been a while since we've seen a major update to the popular mobile security application. The folks over at SmrtGuard recently rolled out version 5.25 of their free and pro version for BlackBerry users. This new version comes with GUI enhancements, bug fixes, and some new features as well. If you're still deciding between SmrtGuard and BlackBerry Protect as a mobile backup and security solution then check out this post on the differences between the two.
Tired of having to copy and paste whenever you want to add new information to your existing contacts? It gets to be tiresome, selecting the information, copying, switching applications, finding the right contact, pasting into the right field… but it doesn't have to be that way. Add To Contact 2 by MobiChampion Software makes adding a new phone number, email address, or PIN easy and painless. Simply select the call log entry, SMS, email or PIN message that contains the information, press menu and select "Add to existing contact", then select the contact from the list.
Add phone numbers from call log entries and SMS messages
Add email addresses from emails
Add PINs from PIN messages
Ability to select a phone number type on adding or just use the first one
Replace already existing phone numbers
Phone number formatting
Add phone numbers or email addresses from any web page opened in browser
Add phone numbers or email addresses from body of any SMS, email or PIN message
Add email addresses from email's CC and BCC fields
Add phone numbers to existing or new contact just after incoming or outgoing call finished
This is a great utility to have on your BlackBerry, and will prove itself useful time and again. Available for all BlackBerry smartphones, Add To Contact 2 is normally $2.99, but it's todays Deal of the Day so you can get it for half off! That's right, $1.49, today only. There's even a free trial, so you can try it out, but if you like it don't wait too long to buy.
SystemDash is an all-in-one utility app by Mobato Ltd, designed for all of you out there that like to keep a close eye on device memory and other data about how your BlackBerry is running. It includes a number of sought after features such as a memory booster, battery level alerts, storage and device information, all wrapped into one application. SystemDash has been around for a few months, and was recently updated to v2.1.0 bringing more polish to the UI, fine tuning to the included features, and BlackBerry 6 compatability.
The Dashboard allows you to instantly see information about various aspects of the device at a glance: battery, RAM, flash memory, device storage, media card and device information. Each section of the dashboard includes a detailed breakdown of the information SystemDash compiles. Many of the features have full integration with device profiles for custom LED, tone and vibration settings.
The Memory Booster optimizes device performance by reclaiming unused RAM periodically, and both boost delay and boost threshold are customizable.
The Battery Monitor has customizable battery alerts for when the battery level is low, critical or fully charged, and the battery indicator includes 32 colors to choose from. It also displays a small icon on the device home screen with the battery level, so you always know exactly how much battery remains.
The New Alerts section stores list of alerts; each alert includes detailed information including a list of running applications at the time of the alert.
Overall, SystemDash is a useful utility if you want to keep track of what goes on behind-the-scenes in your device. It's available for most devices (touch screen and non-touch screen) running OS 4.6 and greater, including BB6. You can purchase SystemDash on sale right now for $2.99 in the CrackBerry store.
I have been testing Home to Phone for the past couple weeks, and have to say it is one of the most useful BlackBerry applications I have come across. Like Android's Chrome to Phone, Home to Phone lets you share web pages to and from your BlackBerry device and desktop browser (Firefox plugin, Chrome beta, or Windows application).
Setting up Home to Phone is simple and easy. It can be done in about 5 minutes. After installing the BlackBerry Home to Phone application, you will need to install the Firefox plugin on your PC. Once both are installed, you will have to set a passcode for authorization on both the device, and the plugin.
Once you are all setup, the fun begins. Remember, Home to Phone allows you to share web pages from both PC to BlackBerry, and BlackBerry to PC. When sending a web page from your PC, the page automatically opens on your BlackBerry, and is almost instant. Another great feature is the ability to send phone numbers, which arrive in your inbox and are clickable, quickly connecting the call.
Overall, Home to Phone is one of the best BlackBerry applications I have used. I use it dozens of times per day and it works without any bugs whatsoever. Personally, throughout my busy day, there are countless situations where this comes in handy. The application is available on all BlackBerry models running OS 5 and up, but really shines on the new BlackBerry 6 webkit browser. You can pick it up at the CrackBerry App Store for the introductary price of $2.99.
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