* Note from Kevin - Hey All, Adam/Bla1ze and I are swamped right now at DevCon, so obi blogged this baby up. I haven't personally run it on the device. Judging by the comments it seems like it may not be quite ready for primetime to everyone's satisfication just yet. And in case you don't know, as with all empower apps you need to have their empower central installed so keep that in mind. Give it a go if you want to try it or leave it for now... it's all good. Keep Crack'n *
Task Manager by Empower is a great free app that brings that familiar task manager feel from your PC to your BlackBerry smartphone. Its free version gives you 3 tabs; Applications, System Info, and Performance. The Applications tab allows you to view your applications file size and install date. The Systems Info tab gives you a very useful detailed description of your devices total and free flash memory as well as RAM. It also lists your devices OS, PIN, IMEI, signal strength and your battery's level, temperature, and voltage. The Performance tab gives you a graphical breakdown of your batteries performance over time. If your graph should suddenly have a steep downwards trend, then you know you haven't closed down a program and have just left it running in the background draining your battery. With the premium version, for $1.99 you will have access to the Processes tabs which shows you all of your running background processes including their ProcessID. This is a very useful app and a must have for any BlackBerry user.
Reader comments
Task Manager for BlackBerry Shows Your Running Applications, System Info and More
2 days after the original post & problems and still no resolution. Just uninstalled as well. I'm very surprised @ Empower. Never had a problem with their email or sms viewer apps. Oh well... One less app running on my BB. I'm always happy about that!
Didn't really do much. Decided to delete it. What a pain in my a$$! Tried several times to get rid of it. Finally figured that you need to delete the Task Manager first THEN you delete the Empower App. Now for my 2 cents..Quote...In the age of internet information (and misinformation) has a way of spreading fast..... It's not misinformation, most folks don't like the app and it's not very clear how to get rid of it when you don't like it.
When I got the 404 error, I submitted a TS request through the Crackberry store.
They sent me this:
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Apologies for the inconvenience caused. We will recommend you to delete that installer file and instead install the app directly from our website. Visit http://www.getempower.com/ota using your BlackBerry browser and click on the Task Manager link to install the app on your device. This will prompt you to install Empower Central first and then install Task Manager.
Once installed, go to Empower Central > Licensing > click on Update Licenses to register the app on your device.
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Sidebar: Upon trying the link, it would appear to be case sensitive. Use "ota" in all lower-case, not "OTA".
I informed them that I would not install Empower Central and requested a refund.
AGAIN: If you paid the $1.99, you CAN get your money back. Just submit a request for Tech Support on the Product page through the Crackberry store.
I will, however, give them props for their prompt response/service.
Below is a copy of the response they sent me when I addressed my concerns about installing the Empower Central Product.
Note: I did also send them a link to this thread/posting.
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Thank you for writing back. We have filed a refund request for you. Upon successful processing by the banks you should see the funds in your accounts.
In the age of internet information (and misinformation) has a way of spreading fast. What exactly is Empower Central? All applications that we make has certain common code - like code for licensing, code for support, code for options etc. Most developers also include a link called 'About' where they write a couple of lines about the app and include a link to their mobile website.
What we have done is this - instead of putting that same code over and over again in all apps, we have taken it out and made it into an independent library. This benefits the user by decreasing the code size of each individual app. If you have 2 apps - you are not overloading your device with the same code twice.
But as I said, misinformation spreads fast, especially in a public audience. A download link not working correctly, is mistakenly linked with something else, and it spreads like fire. We are sure when the smoke clears, everyone will slowly and surely see the truth. We hope to have you in future with us again, perhaps with some of our other apps.
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Just thought everyone in the same boat as me would like to know.
Never got this to work. Don't waste your time.
Didn't realize you needed a second app installed just to use this. It doesn't explain that anywhere in the overview in the CB store. I wasn't familiar with Empower prior to this, but I'll be avoiding them from now on.
Anybody else having a problem with this app? I have it installed on a Bold, tells me webpage not found.
This app bricked my bold running 5.0.0.314. I'm wondering if it's legit.
I uninstalled the "Install Task Manager" app from applications and did a battery pull and it is still on my home screen and there is no entry in applications to remove. Any ideas?
A delete followed by a Battery-pull will delete the Installer. If you still see it there, then it means you probably had an erroneous install. Please download the Installer again, so that it creates an entry in the Applications. Then goto Options > Advanced > Applications and click Delete. Reboot (battery-pull) the device. In case of any issues, please feel free to write to us at support@getempower.com
Thanks,
Ani.
Dear All,
This comment will probably address the issues everyone is reporting. To start with, let me admit what went wrong -
1. The OTA download page was not working when this post went live. It still is not working but we are working on the servers. For those unable to install, can install it for the time being using direct address www.getempower.com/ota/
2. Why it downloads an INSTALLER if you try the OTA from MobiHand / CrackBerry?
Reason is this - There are different versions for different OSes. So if you are on OS 4.5 you need different version of TaskManager than when you are on OS 4.7 or on OS 4.2. The current system on MobiHand does NOT allow developers to submit different releases for different OS Versions. That is why we simply put up an installer that leads you to the correct download page for your particular device.
If you do the ZIP download, you will see the above. In a ZIP we have separate folders where we keep different versions for each OS. In OTA downloads, the MobiHand system allows you to upload only ONE version.
That is why we put up an installer that leads you to the correct download page for your particular device OS.
3. The TaskManager is FREE. Even if it says TRIAL its a never ending TRIAL, and hence FREE! Only the ProcessViewer is paid.
Thanks,
Ani.
"The current system on MobiHand does NOT allow developers to submit different releases for different OS Versions."
Probably if you try to define Master product and after that Slaves for all OS versions, it will work... A lot of people are selling software through MobiHand and it works for them.
Thank you guys for posting your experience I was just about to download the app! Glad I didn't do it before reading your posts! I am a sucker for apps but want good ones!
I actually saw anapp like this on the new droid and said wow I would love to have this on my S2 and so I actually paid for it and it doesn't even work. error 404 WHY????
404 Error. WTF ! Sucks. I don't know about you but I could use a task manager on my BB.
Not worth the time in my impression. A lot of guesswork to download and errors and a second app needed to get it to work?? as well as "free" not free but a seven day trial A TRIAL IS JUST THAT A TRIAL NOT FREE.
Can't download it.
I don't touch Empower apps with a 10' pole ever since their html email app DESTROYED my Pearl a couple years ago. Nothing could bring it back (not even JL_Cmder wipe, etc).
As Kevin said you all must have empower central installed
i actually bought the stupid app thinking that it might be handy but i get that EULA page andd then it conks out on me..says something about a 907 error.
Think im going to email the cb store and get my money back on this pile of junk app...
Seriously pretty surprised that CB have allowed such a flawed app to be sold and then reviewed by someone on here.
When you run the installer and you accept the Eula it says the website could not be found ... did they pull it down ?
1. Download through the CB store.
2. Ensure you are selecting the CORRECT device model when downloading.
3. As for the free version only being good for 7 days, it's a trial version. What did you expect?
What I expect is if it's a trial version, it should be noted as such on the download page. Especially if it's necessary to jump through all of these hoops to get it to work.
I downloaded through the CB store, I selected the CORRECT device. And it still didn't work. Don't worry, I'm not blaming you, I'm just pointing out that you explanation / instructions are not the ultimate answer.
As for #3, I think you are wrong. It is trialware not freeware. Thus, the description should say "Free 7 day trial" rather than "Free." Explain to me how the following statement is correct: "Task Manager by Empower is a great free app that brings that familiar task manager feel from your PC to your BlackBerry smartphone."
Looking to find the problem guys, i just uninstalled and reinstalled on 2 devices and it worked fine
I get a 404 error when trying to download
I went this route on BBOS last week. Same ole story... Puts a install icon on your home - ends up at the EULA and then goes to la la land and more than likely with a 404 page can not be displayed. Those that were unfortunate enough to get it to attempt to install found it was only a trial version and good for only 7 days. Reports of attempt to remove being unsuccessful. One of the big "shoot yourself in the foot"....
After I download the Empower installer, if I click on the "I agree to the EULA " link, I get a 404 from my browser on my BB. Anybody else try the free trial?
yep, same here wtf???
This is the first time that a Crackberry front-page story has been blatantly wrong and misleading. I don't have a problem with this happening once in a while. Crackberry is generally very credible and I hope that it continues to be credible. Reviews like this are what destroy credibility.
i downloaded the free version and all it was launcher to a page with an agreement that was a dead end.
http://sadtrombone.com/
how much do these "app developers" pay CB to in essence advertise this junk on the CB frontpage?
"This is a very useful app and a must have for any BlackBerry user."
hahaha
Great idea for an app, HORRIBLE deployment. A total failure.
I don't want an app center, I want an app.
I don't want an installer that fails utterly and makes me have to dig around to even find the app just to find out what you are getting is not what's advertised.
Don't waste your time with this one, at least until they do it right.
Just uninstalled
same as everyone else. dead end at the EULA
Found the convoluted process to get the app. Goto: http://getempower.com/OTA and select the Task Manager. Then, you are told you need to install Empower Central. If you install that and run it, you will get a screen with some icons. Choose MORE APPS and that will take you back to the OTA apps page where you can download Task Manager. You can then download it.
Then to run Task Manager you have to run Empower Central first each time and choose Task Manager from there.
WHAT A CROCK!!
I just uninstalled everything and won't be getting anything from Empower if you have to go through this process every time you want one of their products.
thanks man! i was wondering what i was doing wrong.
works like a charm!
After giving it such prominent coverage, I hope that they are looking into this with Empower and planning on issuing a follow-up.
Or, at the most, planning on issuing a refund to anyone who has purchased it since the post went live.
Did "obi" or anyone from CB try this app as it's presented to regular users? It's giving an error that the page can't be found, and yet it found its way to the front page of CB. Hmmmm?
Same problems as everyone else. Once you accept the EULA you get a page not found error.
tried from Mobihand.
Downloaded an "INSTALL TASK MANAGER" install app but then after agreeing toe End User License Agreement, it cant find the web page it needs.
The download installs a link to a website, you go there, when you click on Accept EULA, you get a 404 page not found error. Don't waste your time.
It installed an application that had to download and install the actual application. I stopped before the end prize, though, and uninstalled the application loader. I don't want spyware on my BlackBerry!!
Really fishy process; first I didn't even get access to the downloader and got a 404 error. Now it seems to work, but why don't they let me download the actual application OTA? Why the need for a launcher that will download it? Also, the Empower Central application is the icing on the cake; without it you won't be able to run this application.
I say bloat and ware.