OK CrackBerry Nation, listen up. This is one I'm pretty dang excited about. If you're a reader of CrackBerry.com you're likely familiar with SmrtGuard by now as we've talked about it a bunch of times since it was still in beta. SmrtGuard, a BES for BIS application so to speak, is known for its "Find my BlackBerry" functionality along with Remote Data Wipe and OTA Data Backup / Restore features. It's definitely one of those must-have apps for BlackBerry BIS customers, but it has always been a must-have app with a price. But there's good news... the folks at SmrtGuard have now rolled out the SmrtGuard-Free version so it's an app we all can now afford.
For the whopping price of $0.00, you get all of these features FREE for LIFE:
- Find my BlackBerry
- Remote Data Wipe
- Remote Listen (Remote Call Fwd) - Yes, you can remote call fwd your BlackBerry to another number in case you left it at home!
- Add a Loved-one as a tracker (have your loved one get SmrtGuard, and add yourself so you can track each other) -> aka the Valentine's Day gift of trust :)
- Personal Guardian and SIMCard Guardian
Did I mention you get all of that FOR FREE?! Oh yeah, you also get their secure data back-up and migration (in case you are switching from Android to BlackBerry or vice versa) features for 30 Days, which comes standard in their premium version of SmrtGuard Pro. To get SmrtGuard-Free, just follow the link below and enter your email address to be sent the link. This is one of those apps I really think every BlackBerry user should have installed and running, so be sure to spread the word.
Reader comments
Introducing SmrtGuard-Free: Provides Remote Tracking and Wiping of Device (and More) for Free!
why does their website show the free version as not having data wipe only pro version allows remote wipe?
I've also seen serious battery drain after installing this
Is anyone else experiencing a battery drain? I have had serious battery drain since installing SmrtGuard.
This app is good but appears to hi-jack the GPS feed so you cannot use SatNav programs and other map applications at the same time?
Can anyone confirm my findings?
There is no exit program option other than close so cannot disable it temporarily to use your handset for SatNav?
Finally, an app that does exactly what it says it will do. I did find setting up the Blackberry native e-mail a bit much to have to do, but it was easy enough to do. All the features seem to work well and it is one app everyone should have! Get it!
While this is great for a lot of you who have critical data on your phone, the one feature in this that I would actually use (backup) is still in the paid version. Nice for the rest of you, just not for me.
Hey All..I downloaded the free version and it appears im missing some features, the remote listen, along with the find my bb feature dont seem to be on the version loaded to my bb tour.
Any help is appreciated
Scott
Love it
Enter me in this ocntest.
The idea of "tracking" can have negative connotations to some people at first until we consider the full picture. With location data accessible to only account holders & those they choose to share it with I think most of these concerns are needless.
I'm not good at telling stories so please bear with me..
Our community had a recent tragedy that started with a young woman leaving her friends home after a party on a very cold & snowy night.
She called home (a few miles & a 10 minute drive away) and told them she was on her way. Around 48 hours later after mobilizing a search her car was found upside down in a ditch 15 miles from her starting point.
I haven't heard anything other than the wreck was the contributing cause of her death and I wonder if and how long she may have been alive.
My point is today with the technology we have available there is no reason for this to have played out in the manner that it did.
Technology like this can save more than the cost of a phone.
Am I the only one it's not working for?
Thank you, SmrtGuard developers!
Got it looks cool should be very helpful. How much is the sub after 30 days?
works great expect the fact it deactivated the direct connect fuction of the phone.
Works really well so far! Thanx for the tip!
i added this to my new curve 8520, and when i try to do audio ping and use the numerous features it sends me an email with the apparent function its supposed to do, but doesnt actually perform it. Just shows up as an email with an attachment that cant be viewed and doesnt do the proper thing. Anyone have any ideas as to why its not working? Thanks
I installed SmrtGuard on my 9700, set my phone down to eat dinner and when I looked at my phone 20 min later it was rebooting, the progress bar would get about 1/4 inch and then it would reboot again, I had to reinstall OS.
Does this app always run in the background? I might just delete my e-GPS app if this works well.
Awesome! I was going to buy RobLock, but this came along. If it's free, you can't say no to that!!
I tried it and really didnt like it. Does anyone know how to delete your account once its created? I cant find a delete account link anywhere on their website.
i never had my memory alert that is set with quick pull actually come on before this app was installed. It alerts me to low memory every time i reboot a few hours later it drops significantly. There is a big memory leak in the app.
registered on my phone but trying to log in to the website and it is not valid. wtf? both password and email are correct.
30 day trial?
Ok I logged in but it doesn't say much. Do I have to log on to a computer to get the other functions or can I look at them from my phone
Dang, I just bought another program a few days ago but Smrtguard does more and its free. Just my luck.
Can someone please post the link to do remote wipe or remote tracking please :)
just download the app, activate/create your account, and you get the email with the link for the login page.
I did everything it told me to do, downloaded also on the computer along with my blackberry Curve 8330. When I go onto the dashboard, it tells me I don't have a native acct. I do have one. what can I do.
Did you register with or verify your blackberry email account? If not you will have to. You can do the email verification from the account tab from the website.
Is it possible to get smrtgrd to work with google maps or is it only blackberry maps
I'm with you marvynw, my only complaint is it doesn't work with google maps on the device but the web based application uses google maps.
I've downloaded, done a battery pull, app will not open, am I missing a step?
I'm having the same problem on my tour.
Using Sprint with 4.7.157 & it works fine.
Downloaded, installed, followed the simple instructions and runs great on my T-Mobile Storm. Good stuff guys, thanks!
That's great, thanks much SmrtGuard! Just DL'ed it, works perfectly on my VZW Storm2 (.320). I wonder how they can offer this for free, it seems like a big money maker... Wonder how long it will last (for free, that is). Thanks again!
just whished i had this app a week ago when i got my 9700 stolen
I downloaded & installed smrtguard from the link but the app doesn't have the features it says it does or at least I can't find them. For example I can't find remote data wipe or remote listen or tracking. Can someone help me & tell me where I can find those features plz. On my application list it just says smrtguard & not smrtguard free so not sure about that & the version says 2.11 is that correct?
ONce you create the account from the app, the app is for configuration, the orders are sent from the web.
I downloaded & installed smrtguard from the link but the app doesn't have the features it says it does or at least I can't find them. For example I can't find remote data wipe or remote listen or tracking. Can someone help me & tell me where I can find those features plz. On my application list it just says smrtguard & not smrtguard free so not sure about that & the version says 2.11 is that correct?
Nope you've got it right, it should say SmrtGuard in the app list. You have to go to the smrtguard website in order to do a REMOTE device wipe. If it had the ability to do it from your phone, it wouldn't be remote lol. You also have to go to their website in order to track and all that good stuff too. Why would you track your phone from your phone? Hope this helps.
Would u be able to post the link that takes me right to the remote page for the remote wipe & remote tracking cuz I can't seem to find it. Alsocould u tell me why I have to keep setting my clock cuz it keeps changing on me for some reason. Thanks in advance for everything :)
No problem dude, just go to https://smrtguard.com/Main?module=Root&action=login (or you can go to smrtguard.com and click on "Login") and type in the email address and password you used when you activated the smrtguard app. After you login it should bring you right to a dashboard page with links to do all that cool stuff like remote listen, find device, etc.
About your clock... you say it keeps changing? Do you mean like, its changing by hours at a time or like timezone or something? If you are traveling across timezones the blackberry automatically updates based on your timezone. If you wanna change clock settings go to Options>Date/Time. Try changing Auto Update Time Zone to off, or make sure your timezone is correct. More info would help tho.
Hope this helps!
I downloaded & installed smrtguard from the link but the app doesn't have the features it says it does or at least I can't find them. For example I can't find remote data wipe or remote listen or tracking. Can someone help me & tell me where I can find those features plz. On my application list it just says smrtguard & not smrtguard free so not sure about that & the version says 2.11 is that correct?
These features are found within the website when you log in. Forgive my saying so, but would it not be rather silly to have to find your device to remotely wipe it clean of data? Or to remotely listen to your device when you are right next to it? This isn't to pair with another blackberry device, this is for controlling your device and for the security of your device.
Wow, this is great app! love it! Put it on my new Bold 9700 and my wifes bold 9000! Works great! Had to manually register after download by clicking and berry button to see activate menu, and don't forget to, do / register 'Sim Guardian' and configure, 'Personal Guardian', this is a great product!!!
Mike
but its GUI needs NOT to run all the time, and to have pasword protection...
without it, anyone can modify it, restore old info, or... delete stuff from your berry and then "backup" nothing to your account...
pd: rebooting fixes the emails (only if using @blackberry) not getting hidden, and the wrong location from the first time.
Everyone is yelling FREE, FREE, but it's not free. It's over $50 per year! I'd be interested in this app and it's features, but not at that cost. The only thing free, it the app and the first month, after that it cost $3.99 per month (billed monthly), or $44.99 per year! That's too high. Lower the price and I'll sign up.
mmmmm
only has a monthly cost for the backup/restore features.
You're right, there are free pieces, very nice, sorry about that.
Great app!
Loaded it up tried it for 12 hours. I did what it said it would do. Backed up my contacts and all the communications. Required a Blackberry account for all the extra goodies - mmmmmm not interested. Consumed 40% battery in 12 hours sitting..... idle.
Not for me.
So, I turned on follow me. Then I checked where I'd been. It says I'm traveling through the Portuguese countryside. I find this curious as I'm sitting in an office in Tempe Arizona. ?:(
reboot, it will probably fix it.
I've always wanted this program and they are finally offering it for free. Thank you so much for this.
Thank you, Smartguard. I will download it immediately.
Installed, tried the Follow me. Told me I am in Portugal, when I'm really in Canada, tried it a few more time. I appear to be walking around Portugal. Uninstalled.
when i first installed i was somewhere VERY far away from argentina.
rebooting fixed it.
right now i use eGPS and it seems to do what i need pretty well. i'll install this app and check it out though
I have EGPS, and, definitly has more stuff, even on the free version (i have egps 1.0 tho, i won it in a giveaway, even if i have it in mobihand, i dont know it my price version got left out of the updates :P )
the only thing i don't like is that it always runs in the running apps list, has no pasword protection, and in so, its supper easy to alter it.
egps has no icon there, you can hide its icon, and it requires a pin for modifications.
then again, interacting with egps is a pain compared to this.
pd: after rebooting, if you use a blackberry.* mail, mails are correctly hidden.
This app sure looks good. Very nice features especially the overlay with Google Maps!
Rad-i-frikkin-coooool!!
Note to self: Do not ever buy or renew smrtguard again.... after spending so much money on it u give the best most used functions away for FREE ..........
Absolutely fantastic app! Thanks.
i have bin a long time user of roblock i had it on the ppc and added it to the bb since cuz of its funtion i got it and i find it very well, it pulls contacts and all the goodies as well as send messages and dont require you to have bbmaps installed. i just installed this and i dont find it all as the hype states.
Works great and is incredibly useful. Simple setup. Just hope that it doesn't drain battery life.
With its data wipe and SIM card protection features its pretty important that smrtguard offer a way to lock the app so another user can't simply open it and deselect everything you setup. Am I missing something?
at least, the app should NOT be always running, and that would make hiding the icon "efective"
then again, it SHOULD NOT RUN al the time either, someone sees it running, removes sim, GG...
can you have two phones on the same account?
I'm with the minority here. I paid for a year of service last December with the promise that SmrtAlerts and SmrtPhotos were included, but they weren't. The company didn't keep the promise they made when they were selling their product and didn't reply to my emails to their customer service address.
This sounds like a good product, but with this level of customer service, renewing my subscription would feel like throwing good money after bad.
Rather annoying in a way to see now a free version. After paying full price for a year's worth of service, I've seen countless half-price sales on this app and now I find there's a free version that does everything I need. I certainly won't be renewing my subscription when it's up.
I think this is great but I'm a little skeptical too. You should be when it comes to knowing your location all the time. How do they make money by giving this away?
After all, they used to charge MONTHLY. Curious.
I guess I'm one of those guy's who's never happy. It seemed overpriced to me before. (I wouldn't mind playing once, but don't like the idea of paying every year.) Now that it's free, I wonder what the gimmick is.
Are they just making money on the backup feature? That doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Are we consenting to getting sales calls or spam on the BB? Is the tracking feature being used for marketing research? Somebody's got to think they're making money somewhere.
What's the catch?
So far so good...we will see how it goes!! Thanks so much CB and thanks SmrtGuard for the free service!
LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Need I really Say More!!!!!!!!!!!!
Not for me as I also had a mem leak from it.
I will take my chances and NOT lose my BB Tour.
I have fallen in love with this program. My 9550 feels very safe now :)
Hi guys
I have eGPS? Is this better etc?
I have EGPS, and, definitly has more stuff, even on the free version (i have egps 1.0 tho, i won it in a giveaway, even if i have it in mobihand, i dont know it my price version got left out of the updates :P )
the only thing i don't like is that it always runs in the running apps list, has no pasword protection, and in so, its supper easy to alter it.
egps has no icon there, you can hide its icon, and it requires a pin for modifications.
then again, interacting with egps is a pain compared to this.
pd: after rebooting, if you use a blackberry.* mail, mails are correctly hidden.
I wish I had this a couple months ago :(
For those of us who paid for SmrtGuard this isn't too cool. Add to that, my Tour has yet to work properly with SmrtGuard and their tech support is non-existent. They admitted (the one time I got them to reply) the Tour is their biggest challenge so far...mostly in Calendar events saving to SmrtGuard.com.
I just installed it onto my BB9630 Tour. Now I get a "Reload Software 552" Error!
Download seemed painless enuf, see an icon, but clicking icon is an exercise in futility.
Have deleted, battery pulled, redownloaded (v5.0/4.7 version) several times.
I'm running v5.0.0.419 on my 9530.
Ideas?
It looks like it installed ok, but the app won't launch.
Works just fine for me.
Running the same OS (5.0.0.419 release from MTS) on the same device model (Blackberry Storm 9530 from Telus Mobility), it installed and works fine.... actually, even beyond fine. all the features work exactly as advertised! It was kinda funny watching my Storm lock itself after giving it the order to.
E-mail worked fine using my G-Mail, all commands work fine, I only see the garbage e-mails when I look at my G-Mail on the computer.
It's one of those that asks you to enter your email addy to have the download link emailed to you, but the text field doesn't accept enough characters for me to enter my entire email addy. Then it say's "just point your BB browser here", but that link leads you to a webpage that is unavailable. Worthless, for me anyhow.
Anyone have a good gauge yet on how this app affects battery life? Is it an app that's always running in the background?
Thanks! This is a great app to have!
is it worth the download?
thx that awesome
Thank you so much!
I will chime in with the others thanks!
I have read about it before, but now is the time to get it! I hope there are no hidden caveats for such a great FREE app/ service!
Finally got this right and download it. No contacts. That's what I really want. Guess I have to wait a few hours for it to back it up.
If anyone tried the self destruct test, let us know how you made out. Cause I'm NOT doing it...LOL
Direct OTA link for your BB Browser http://www.smrtguard.com/riskfree/bb.jsp
Thanks very much for this! Peace of mind, yeah! :)
s e r v e r t o o s m a l l
I just downloaded this app and it's great! I tested the "remote listen" function but don't see a way to "remote call fwd"??
Well i used this in Dec. and let the trial exp, then it worked jut fine. I just installed it again (battery pull and all) and now when I get the email (to my BB.net account) it goes unread, just sits there... nothign happens
:/
This is the same as me.
This is FANTASTIC news! I've been looking at SmrtGuard for a while now, but with a free version I'm sold!
This is an amazing application. I just finished setting up and testing out all the features and I am quite impressed!
from E-GPS? *curious* I want to try this out, but if it's the same then nevermind.
I have EGPS, and, definitly has more stuff, even on the free version (i have egps 1.0 tho, i won it in a giveaway, even if i have it in mobihand, i dont know it my price version got left out of the updates :P )
the only thing i don't like is that it always runs in the running apps list, has no pasword protection, and in so, its supper easy to alter it.
egps has no icon there, you can hide its icon, and it requires a pin for modifications.
then again, interacting with egps is a pain compared to this.
pd: after rebooting, if you use a blackberry.* mail, mails are correctly hidden.
can't get web commands to work. Email commands work fine. Any suggestions?
I registered on siteand didnt get any emails either? I tried like 4 times... And yes i checked my spam...lol
this is sweet
Why would anyone in their right mind want their spouse or significant other to have the ability to GPS track them at all times? Okay, well, it would be nice some of the time, like if one of you is driving home and the other wants to know where you are in traffic.
But I feel like 95% of its use would be more like "I see that you went to Starbucks...c'mon you KNOW we're trying to save money!"
This a super app to be offered for FREE. There is no reason every crackberry user shouldn't have this.
Up and running. No issues.
thanks for the tip kevin, i installed it on my 9700 !
all i am getting is jumbled up numbers and alphabets from smrtguard email ..i am using the blackberry .com email address>>whats going on ?????
I'm getting the same thing and it's not performing the action. I'm using a @sprint.blackberry.net account.
Trying Smrtguard on my T-Mobile 9700, and with my tmobile.blackberry.net email address. I'm getting the junk emails, and the smrtguard app never seems to do anything with them.
I have it installed on my 8900. Did a battery pull. Still get the emails with HTML.
Battery pull worked for me.
"Where I've Been does not work as you need Blackberry Maps..
**Blackberry Maps is only available on devices running device software v4.1 or v4.2.x**
nice app but i would prefer it to actually allow me to DENY some of the access its asking for. i dont like having my Media or USER Data recorded by anything that does remote access.
otherwise a fine app.
Thank you! Since we get 30 days with backup and restore another option for people would be mIQ. Using mIQ combined with this app makes a great combo.
but lesson learned, use your blackberry email address instead of your gmail email. I have my gmail on my blackberry and on my desktop webclient. Everytime I sent something with safeguard, it would send me nonsense emails everytime I performed an action on my computer. Using the blackberry email address, it automatically hides all those emails once they're received
Had this back in the beta days, but haven't had the cash for the subscription. This is really awesome.
N its free neatooooo!! :)
awesome guys....except thanks for making half of us pay for it then give it out for free?
The link is not working for me
And I'm on the mobile site too.
I've entered 2 of my e-mail addys, but can't get the link sent to me. Can anyone help (like forwarding it to me...if so, please PM me, so I can give you my e-mail addy). Thanks.
redbadger, you can just type www.smrtguard.com on your BlackBerry, their website is mobile friendly. You will see download link for BlackBerry as the first thing you see.
thanks jark.park! Yes. redbadger, that or this is the direct link www.smrtguard.com/riskfree
eh, runs in the app list constantly? :( really? Im trying it but come on, i just got berryweather out of my "5" background apps.
the web login is tight though wow.
Im getting emails with a whole bunch of letters and numbers on my gmail using the computer. anyone else getting this?
Set your device email on the website to your @blackberry.net address, then battery pull your phone.
OMG!OMG!OMG!OMG!OMG!OMG!OMG!OMG!OMG!OMG!OMG!OMG!OMG!OMG!
OMG this is great, thanks for the free version.
This is AWESOME!!! Thanx SmartGuard for FREE version!
Should of been free last year!
Awesome! Thanks soooooo much!!!
...just downloaded it & registered...guess it doesn't work in Jamaica
thank you!!!
Am I the only one getting an error while trying to activate? The app works great but when I go to put my name, email, and password in I get an error. I have rebooted my phone but same problem. Any suggestions?
Using S2, and doing the same thing.. i bet its because so many peeps registering at once....
I guess I'll try later. I emailed the Smartguard customer service for some assistance. And so now I wait for the goodness....
I changed my email address i was trying to register and it worked... I beta tested this app with the one i was trying.. have you ever used this app?
I have never beta tested or downloaded this app before.
I got an email from Smartguard saying to try another email address from the gmail address I was using. I tried my verizon blackberry email address and everything worked fine.
Amazing that SmrtGuard is offering this program FREE!!!!
I gotta have it good looks!
THIS IS AWESOME!! Thanks to all that made this possible!!!!
Would be great if their premium version could include AES encryption of all the user's data with a personal key before sending it to the cloud, otherwise, it's just one more way to get your data stolen...
This is all I could find, which means only the connection is secure:
"Q9: How secure is SmrtGuard?
Security is very important to us and realize how critical it is to protect sensitive information. We designed SmrtGuard with this in mind to give you the peace of mind! We access your information over 256-bit encrypted SSL secure connection. During the backup process from the device, authentication is done with the same 256-bit encrypted SSL secure connection. Our data center is located in New York, NY and Atlanta, Georgia"
Just downloaded the app and love all the features. works great on my storm.
Yes Thanks!!
awesome..wanna have it
woo hoo!!!
i remember SmrtGuard used to have a web form fill out, now i just did was d/l and sign up all from my BB within SmrtGuard App. easy and sweet! Good job guys.
awesome :)
amazing! Will def be on my blackberry
SWEEEEEEEEEEEEETTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks for the FREE Version!
This is great. I was a Beta tester for the full version, but couldn't justify the cost. The remote backup was nice, but wasn't important enough for me to subscribe to.
THANKS SmrtGuard, you guys are da bomb!
battery drain, how's that?