Review of SocialScope for BlackBerry Smartphones
With a tagline like "a mobile inbox for your social networks", and stats reporting that users find it "more important than the Inbox, Brick Breaker, and the Browser", it's no wonder that from those who have been graciously allowed into the over-extended private beta, I've heard mostly love stories for SocialScope.
I'll admit that the multitude of not-yet-privy-to-the-beta users often look at me like I'm crazy, and maybe they're right. I mean, there is nearly zero support for this app. You can attempt to send SocialScope a suggestion email and debug file from the Settings menu, but that typically generates an auto-response saying, "Thanks for taking the time to send feedback, we really appreciate it ... but don't expect to hear back from us." Try to engage them via Twitter, and it's most likely to lead to nowhere. There is a Tumblr blog ... but you won't find consistent post, only a developer's response to all the backlash.
Despite the negativity, I still tell anyone who asks that this is simply one of the best BlackBerry apps I've ever used, mainly because of the social media integration. It is a large part of what fuels why the device rarely leaves my hand. (I don't plan to turn this into "My top apps for accessing Twitter from your BlackBerry", I will say that my consistent second and third choices are UberTwitter and the official RIM Twitter App.)
Two Reasons I Love SocialScope
Certainly there are a boatload of snappy features within SocialScope, like the ability to edit your Twitter bio, post to your Facebook pages, comment on Flickr photos, and even save Searches or Lists. But for all intents and purposes, I will focus this review on sharing the built-in keyboard shortcuts and an extraordinary, often overlooked, Foursquare feature. Let's get started...
Keyboard Shortcuts FTW
Here is a quick rundown and explanation of the built-in SocialScope keyboard shortcuts.
U - update (compose a new entry)
C - compose (same as pressing U)
R - reply (only works with tweets)
D - direct message (only works with tweets)
F - forward (allows you to retweet, quote, or email a tweet; you can also quote or email a Facbook update)
V - mark a tweet as "favorite"
T - go to top
B - go to bottom
N - move up one tweet
P - move down one tweet
Space - page down
A - add to (create a SocialScope group or add to a particular Twitter list)
S - search Twitter for keyword(s). You can also save searches as a new tab.
G - profile search (when found it open directly to their Twitter profile)
Delete - delete tweet
Don't forget to turn on the "Left/Right Scroll to Change Tabs" option within Settings. Makes it much easier to scroll left to right across the tabs without having to be at the top.
Unique, Buried Component of Foursquare Integration
If a user has shared their contact information, you automatically have the ability to either Text, Call, Tweet, Email, and even see their Facebook profile information (if they've shared it). The real added value here is the instant ability to flesh out your Address Book with a multitude of methods to contact someone. You may consider this and use it as your "rolodex in a pinch". Check the short video clip below to see how easy it is to use.Future Features Request & Expectations
Surely by now you have the impression that I truly enjoy using SocialScope, but alas there are a few features I consider missing.
Flickr Favorites: Sure we can comment on photos, but it would be nice to be able to mark a few as Favorites. And how about uploading and posting photos from our device? Scheduled Posts: Save all the drafts you want, but for an app often tooted as the mobile Tweetdeck or Hootsuite, there is no ability to schedule a post... yet. Filters: to block out tweets containing particular words and/or from certain users. LinkedIn Access: Come on developers, bring us the business social web, we deserve it. RSS feeds and the ability to forward them a blog post directly from within the app.
In Closing
If you still doubt how cool this app is and will eventually be, check out the "More important than the Inbox, Brick Breaker, and the Browser" video from the developers here: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/2594857.
And I realize that personal preference typically decides which app, device, and BlackBerry site you prefer, but for me, for now, I'll gladly stick with SocialScope and Crackberry.com.
** This review was written as part of the CrackBerry Idol 2010 competition. Click for details. **
Reader comments
SocialScope for BlackBerry Review
Can anyone please send me a socialscope invite please?
I so want that app ! You can hit me up at : vietngan1890401@gmail.com . Thanks so much!
Can anyone please send me a socialscope invite please? I so want that app :( You can hit me up at xaviermarshal@yahoo.com
I am trying to get Tweets to post on a Facebook Admin page (a page connected to my personal login/personal page where I am Admin).
So far I have only been able to get it to work with the desktop TweetDeck client (not available for Blackberry).
Will SocialScope beta do the trick here?????
Again...... I can get Tweets my personal FB page. It's the "Admin" page where I need to post Tweets that is the issue/problem.
If anyone has an answer I would love a message with some info. Thanks!!
Best thing I have found is Twitter Feed. This allows you to post to Fan Pages or Developers Apps that you Admin of Facebook. I love RSS Graffiti for sending/fetching feeds to/from Twitter, Facebook, Websites/Blogs but for the time being it will not let you set up your feed to post to anything but your personal FB wall. TwitterFeed is your best bet and it works great!
Shouldn't the phone numbers be blocked out?
I'd go for it....... if I could ever get a SocialScope invite! I've been waiting OVER /SEVEN/MONTHS already and still no damn invite. It's getting a bit absurd. What the heck do I have to do for an invite already?!
pcmike: I understand your frustration, I waited for a few months before being given beta access. Some tips that may or may not help is to tweet @socialscope daily asking for an invite. Send them email. Find and engage the developers on Twitter or Facebook or even their front stoop. (kidding)
Bottom line, as I wrote in this very post, is that the lengthy private beta is one of the apps biggest downfalls. If you check around the web there are a few negative reviews of the app, but not many. Most people remain jaded for not being included.
I say don't give up, keep pestering, err, requesting access... It is well worth it!
@pcmike I waited several months as well. One night, I decided to email them, and I got an instant response from one of the developers. After a back and forth conversation, I was sent an invite, and I have been enjoying the program ever since. Maybe the same would work for you.
i hope Cosmin Ghiurau is ok with his phone number being on here (in the screenshot). lol ;)
it was a great review. Though, some think that the vid was too short, I disagree. The vid (including the length and content) was a great follow up for what was/is important...The Written Review.
Hey Joe, thanks for the positive comment on this review post. I look forward to seeing yours...!
Thank you= Mahalo
whilst the review is good, i signed up for the beta over 6months ago and still not been sent an invite, so i find it very poor that NOT EVERYONE CAN TEST IT!
My biggest question is, is Socialscope location aware like ubertwitter? Also does the facebook integration support the "leaving the message on the server" feature that the official(ly horrible) app has? And on foursquare, is one able to check in from within socialscope?
On the review itself, I thought the written component was short and sweet but there could have been either a longer video or one or two more videos to highlight the rest of the app's features. All in all though, good job!
Hi Diggs31, here are some answers I hope help...
1) Yes, I didn't cover this in my review, but SocialScope is very location aware considering Foursquare is built into the app. It uses GPS to allow you to check in at Foursquare venues as well as the cool features I did cover in this review.
2) Similar to UberTwitter, it is tightly tied to the Twitter Location API and you must first approve Twitter to change/post your location before adding your location information to tweets.
3) You can't (yet) receive Facebook messages through this app, but you do get notified when a post is "Liked" or commented on. At which point you can reply or see what exactly was "Liked". I assume the message is also still forwarded to your email (server) if you have that enabled on the Facebook site. That particular feature of the native RIM Facebook app is often confusing for users.
Thanks for your comments. Did the answers help?
Don't forget to vote next Wednesday!
cant even get it on my phone, which seems poor (not your fault at all btw)
written review is a good length, but was totally lost from the vid :(
supprised nobody reviewed (so far) snaptu
Although the video was too short, the write-up was awesome! I love SocialScope! The only thing that made me sad is that since I'm on a Storm I don't get to try out any of those shortcuts lol! Awesome job buddy!! Hope to see you in the next round. You are a strong contender for sure!!
Thanks for your comments. Sorry to hear you're a Storm1 user. I hope you like it... but I wouldn't wish that nightmare on anyone.
Here's to hoping we at least make it to the final round and get a FREE device! :)
I love my Storm!!!! It's awesome!!!
Been using it on my Storm 9530 for 6 months now (ever since Fred Wilson blogged about it).
Great app, I have gotten direct support for a few -since corrected - issues. Battery life not affected by this app on my phone.
They need to open it up now, I have encouraged many to sign up for the beta.
@railbandit: I completely agree that SocialScope needs to get cracking on opening the beta. I, too, encourage others to sign up, but ultimately feel bad that they can't get on the approved list.
I guess for those who don't have SocialScope, it could be a bit confusing. Luckily, I have it, and it's an incredible application! Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, and FourSquare rolled all into one tasty little application. It's one of the only applications I use on my BlackBerry now, deleting facebook, and ubertwitter applications after downloading SocialScope to my phone.
Wished the video was longer, though the review posted was very informative. I had no idea there were shortcuts on here, and I've had SocialScope for months! Guess I need to play with my phone a little more. :)
See you in the next review!
I feel like you wrote this review in the same way you speak. Since you're well spoken, and have a very good personality, it makes for a fun read. Also you and I were under the same impressions for the video, so I think we both suffered there. Great work! It will be no surprise to me when you're in the top 5.
-David S
Hey David S or @Dragondima:
I liked your review too and feel you have a real shot at this thing.
Thanks for your comments about my post. Top 5 means a free device, right? w00t!
Great information for those that are actually 'privileged' enough to be granted 'private beta testing' status. Guess us "have nots" will just have to live w/o this cool program..
Perhaps you can write an article on another program that 90% of us can't use.. that would be really helpful.
I didn't know about all the shortcut keys so thank you very much for those. I really do enjoy your writing style and your voice is very easy on the ears. Best of luck fellow contestant!
After reading the responses, I see that the video was meant to be later in the review. That being said, I understand it wasn't meant to show off the entire app, but still, it was very rushed. You spoke very quickly and made it a little difficult to keep up with you on what you were showing.
Since the video was only showing one part of the app, the write-up should have covered the rest of the app. It didn't. For people who don't know what SocialScope is, there should have been more basic information. Things like the fact that time lines can be seen in one list, or separately, the image viewer, and other basic features should have made it into the review. Also, things like the install file size and beta version number should have been included (there are some people still stuck on 0.9.5.44 that have not bee updated).
What I got from the review was that this was for people "in-the-know". Someone who has never seen or heard of SocialScope would not know what it really does - your review left them out. The only screen shots included were the FourSquare pages. How does that help someone decide if this is an app that interests them (when you leave everything else out)?
@Xopher: Thank you for your input. You're right on all accounts. I did not write this review for a SocialScope n00bie. And after re-watching the video I'll admit I did zoom through.
Lessons to be learned here: 1) Talk slower in a video. 2) Either choose a less intensive app to preview or rise to the challenge of fleshing out the many levels within SocialScope.
Ah, Dave, I was so looking forward to your review. You have an on-camera personality that just sounds like you fit the the blog perfectly, imo. But, your video was too quick. I found myself wanting you to slow down, walk us through what the app does, especially since it's not available to the public. Your verbiage on your review was entertaining to read, I loved your commentary and how you presented your suggestions for the developers. I liked the flow of the review, particularly how you told us what features you were going to focus on. I just wished you had spent more time on the video to show us what the app does and how it works.
@trjnberry: Thank you for the kind comments. I appreciate hearing your feedback.
I wrestled over the length of this review for a few days before submitting. Our guidelines said no more than so many words and a video that was only so long. I tried to stay within the suggested limits, even though I realized doing so may jeopardize the review.
In the end I chose to cut down my submission. Had I the chance to do another video, it would be more of an overall app summary.
The tab is very easy to use when on the person you like just hit the option and add to group and select the tab you want to put them in. Yea the battery thing I may not experience it but I do use my Tour all day 1 hour of music and videos and Scocial Scope with only maybe a 1/5 of the battery gone. I do not want everyone to get this app lol everyone that meets me sees it and freaks out wow what app is that ?
I guess we'll be those old beta users who sit on the back porch and say, "Yup I remember when SocialScope integration only included Twitter and Facebook. Shoot, nowadays it's all bells and whistles." (insert whistle sound here)
@ryanluckyderek: Awesome advice about creating a specific tab within SocialScope and then adding to it only those you truly care to read about. I like it. I will use it.
I also agree that the development team has recently taken on a positive approach when communicating with the beta users. More and more I have received reply tweets as well as reply emails from them. Engaging your users is a must for success.
And lastly, I do agree that battery life issues can come from many other factors, not just one app.
well I do know about the auto reply but I also have had many emails from them regarding support since the latest update they were very helpful with cleaning up any problems I have had. I have used social scope for over a year. I find there is no drain on my battery at all. I wonder all the time how the battery dies for any other people I have over 600 friends on facebook and follow 95 people on twitter and I use the app for a hour or two every morning. I have created a tab called my friends and it only lets me see the friends that I added to it status and tweets rather than looking thru everybody that I don't see often.
Crack on!
I too have been using this app on and off for a few months now, and I do love the total integration with all the big social networks. The problem is this apps sucks the life out of my Storm2. I tried many different settings for notifications, polling/updates etc - but none seem to affect the overall effect on my battery. It's a great app but needs some fine-tuning.
@mbanke: I just turned in a demo Storm2 and found the same problem with battery life. The best "Refresh Frequency" setting, as suggested by the developer, is AUTO. --- If your device is in standby SocialScope won't update, but once you light up the screen (with any app), SocialScope springs into action. Kinda neat.
Judges: Thank you for your thoughts and helpful advice. I agree the video does not explain much about the app and it wasn't meant to. The short video clip was meant to be lower in the post to display the somewhat hidden features of using Foursquare as a rolodex.
At any rate, good times ensued as I did a happy dance seeing another post from me on Crackberry.com.
Best wishes to all the contestants!
I was interested in reading what you had to say. Not that I don't love to read what the others have said, some I have. But this is a highly intelligent ever changing/challenging industry and had you stuffed a bb in your cleavage chances are I would've flash over to BerryReview to check their news instead. ;) But wow Dave I'm impressed enough to leave a comment so that's a plus. The only thing I don't care for is the listed features. Since most products featured can also be found on in full on the MobiHand Powered Store I don't see a point in rewriting it or seeing it twice...However that maybe a requirement for this challenge so don't take my opinion as that of a judge. I'm just a fan. Plus you slide since it is a beta product and maybe in the better interest of your readers that you do list these features.
Your writing after the photo is what kept my attention. Your highly skilled in the wordplay dept. Fantastic facts at the jump, leading into a well know bit on the reactions you'll get from writing SocialScope. I do agree it's a must have, it's a reason many BlackBerry owner turn a smug face to iPhone and keep that BlackBerry device wrapped in their sweaty paws.
I won't bore you with my text but I will look forward to your next entry. I hope your planning on outsmarting the competition. It would be nice to see you in the homepage each time I turn my dial to CB in the future. Good luck. Stay enthusiastic. It sounds like your already enjoying this bro.
@Rezn: Wow, thank you for the kind comments. It was nice to read what YOU had to say. I hope to make it through this round for sure, but time will tell. --- And watch out as SocialScope launches their Android and iPhone versions later.
you're one of my 3 top competitors i have to watch out for, good job!
Bring in on shankeith! Let's take this competition to the next level and beyond! :)
and shortcut L for refresh.
@sibayu: I haven't seen where "L" consistently refreshes the stream in all of the beta versions. So I left that out to avoid confusion.
Kevin (aka Ryan Seacrest): After watching your awesome audition video Dave I have personally been looking forward to app review. Good stuff! Let's see what the judges have to say about your review...
Dieter: So what exactly is SocialScope, Dawg? It's definitely not clear from the video, but you do a nicer job of setting the context in the review - just not quite there yet. I do like that you call out the keyboard shortcuts, those are super important for any quality BB app (but I would have done that a little later in the review). You did a great job showing your enthusiasm for the app and I can tell that this is a pretty cool and that despite its beta status it's a must-have for a CrackBerry addict, but it took me awhile to actually figure out what the app is and what it does - always make that clear first!
Georgia: Hi Dave, I liked that the video was not too long but it did not really inform me as to what this application does or how it is used. I would have liked to find out a bit more about how this application integrates various social networking applications, and what if any shortcomings it may have. The written review did cover some of the aspects of the application quite well but unfortunately this was at the expense of other more basic functions. For those who do not know if they want to get SocialScope, the review may not answered their questions. I did enjoy the manner in which you wrote and how you spoke about your own experiences with the application. All in all, Nice job.
Craig: Short video that only showed one or two features. In the video and blog post you never actually explained what SocialScope is. We can gather that it brings all of your social networking interaction into 1 app, but you made it also sound like it did other things? From the video and blog post I can tell you are very passionate about the app which is good, although some may think you may be too passionate to point out all of its blemishes.