[bb4ty]

I rediscovered an app today, something I downloaded more than a year ago and then forgot about until today. I do not remember seeing it mentioned in the “Nominations please for the Greatest PlayBook Apps ever!!” thread in this forum. Therefore, either you guys already know of the app, have used it and think it is not worth anything or it has not been discovered and appreciated by many.

Anyway, it is Sound Message Motion Camera but just searching for “Sound Message” in BlackBerry World will bring it up. It is free. What it does is that you can record a message on your PlayBook and then when the rear camera detects motion, the message will play. Why I forgot about it and did not use it back then was that when the PlayBook went into sleep mode (after 5 minutes), the app would not work.

I had tried to overcome this sleep mode problem by buying for 99 cents the Black Screen app. This app supposedly prevents the PlayBook from going into sleep mode if it is displayed either wholly or partially on the screen. Well, using Black Screen back then with Sound Message did not prevent my PlayBooks from going into sleep mode thus rendering the Sound Message app rather useless.

Today, I was “spring cleaning” my PlayBooks. Was considering deleting Sound Message. I opened the app again, played around with it and used it in conjunction with Black Screen. This time, they both worked as they were supposed to. The tablet did not go to sleep and Sound Message would play the recorded message when the rear camera detected motion. I had both apps open and minimized. This way, the Black Screen was displayed together with the Sound Message app. Even though I had previously done it the same way, it did not work back then. I don’t know what changed since, but it works now.

Some bits of information about Sound Message- sometimes, when the message is played back the first time, it plays over itself, thus sounding echoey. However, this should not affect its usefulness since the camera is so sensitive in detecting motion that it invariably plays the message when you tap the “Start playing” button on the bottom left. This plays the message the first time and gets rid of the first defective play. Subsequent playbacks will sound fine.

Additionally, the instructions in the description of the app in BlackBerry World are not accurate. There is no “register button”, nor is there a “use this registration” button. Instead, there is a “Start recording” button on the bottom right and a “”Start playing” button on the bottom left. Tap the former and record your message. This button changes to “Stop recording” after you tap it to record your message, so just tap it again when you have finished your message to stop recording. Then, tap “Start playing” to activate the play mode. The message will play. You will notice the button has changed to “Stop playing”. Tap it to turn the app off, i.e., you no longer want the message played when the camera detects motion.

You will also see a button at the top left that says “Movement Detection” and one at the top right which says “Status”. This one changes to “Waiting for Motion” after you tap the “Start playing” button. These buttons are informational only and do not do anything if you tap them.

So to use it, open the Black Screen app (costs 99 cents) and swipe from the bottom upward to minimize it. Then, open Sound Message app, record a message, tap “Start playing” and swipe upward from the bottom to minimize it. You will now be able to see the Black Screen app displayed partially while the complete Sound Message app is also minimized but completely displayed. Then, place the PlayBook at the desired location with the rear camera pointing at the area you anticipate motion to come from. Depending on what kind of protective case your PlayBook is wearing, you may have to remove the case for it to work properly. If you plan to leave it running for an extended period of time, make sure your battery is sufficiently charged. I estimated the distance the camera will detect motion to be at least twelve feet.

I think the uses for this app are only limited by your imagination. Use it to leave messages for your lovey dovey, kids, etc. Leave reminders. Play practical jokes. Use it as a greeter. One simple scenario: you told your kid he is not to go out to play until he has cleaned his room. Record this reminder and leave it pointed towards the door. Watch his reaction as he tries to leave before cleaning his room. Father’s Day is next week. Have some fun with it!

[pacoman03]

You can save the $0.99 by using Stay On instead, which is free in app world.

[bambinoitaliano]

What did I just read? Lol!!

Posted via CB10

[bb4ty]

You can save the $0.99 by using Stay On instead, which is free in app world.

Thanks, pacoman03. I forgot about Stay On. That should work though I have not used it. On seeing your post, I took a look at it again and remembered why I did not use it- I did not like the pictures it uses as screen-savers so I paid 99 cents for the other one.

[dazzleaj]

I downloaded it but it does not start. Tried several times. Any ideas?

UPDATE :
Got it working. Don't know why though.

[VR6]

Cool gonna try it

[VR6]

Stay on doesn't work for me as it doesn't keep the screen on. Also the motion detection is not very sensitive so it only triggers the message some of the time.

[bb4ty]

Stay on doesn't work for me as it doesn't keep the screen on. Also the motion detection is not very sensitive so it only triggers the message some of the time.

You should give Stay On another try as I tried it and it works just as well as Black Screen. It is just a matter of aesthetics whether to use one or the other. Did you have the Stay On app either fully or partially showing on the screen? You can also try deleting and downloading it again.

As to the sensitivity of the motion detection, I find that it will not work in darkness and it will work poorly in low light. Just like a camera without flash. That's understandable because the app uses the camera to sense motion.

Finally, and this is to add to my original post, if you use Black Screen with this app, I recommend maximizing Black Screen. This way, the message app does not show on the screen at all to save battery and is less conspicuous since anyone seeing the PlayBook screen will only see a dark screen (though at certain angles, it is a dark greyish glow, akin to the dark glow that happens momentarily when shutting down the PlayBook and before the screen goes completely black).

[VR6]

You should give Stay On another try as I tried it and it works just as well as Black Screen. It is just a matter of aesthetics whether to use one or the other. Did you have the Stay On app either fully or partially showing on the screen? You can also try deleting and downloading it again.

As to the sensitivity of the motion detection, I find that it will not work in darkness and it will work poorly in low light. Just like a camera without flash. That's understandable because the app uses the camera to sense motion.

Finally, and this is to add to my original post, if you use Black Screen with this app, I recommend maximizing Black Screen. This way, the message app does not show on the screen at all to save battery and is less conspicuous since anyone seeing the PlayBook screen will only see a dark screen (though at certain angles, it is a dark greyish glow, akin to the dark glow that happens momentarily when shutting down the PlayBook and before the screen goes completely black).

I had StayOn running on a separate frame as the main screen was the Message app

[pacoman03]

Stay On, Black Screen, or any other keep awake app must be visible in order to work. If you know and use Snow Stipple's trick, it only needs to occupy about 2% of the screen, but it must be visible nonetheless.