1. blackjack93117's Avatar
    I am not sure where you would put this but it's a newbie tip I saw somewhere in this forum and tried myself... if you want to group all your downloads/app icons on the PB, on the Home screen press the app icon for a few seconds and drag it to a tab (e.g. Favourites, Games, Media etc). A copy of the icon will then move to the tab you select. You will still have all the icons in "All" on the main screen but it means you don't necessarily have to scroll down the screen to find them (if you've downloaded a lot of apps the screen, though beautiful will need much more scrolling . Moving the icons to tabs is a neat way to organize them.
    It isn't obvious you can do this (I had no clue until I just happened to come across it in the forum and hadn't seen it anywhere) and I think it should go in these great newbie tips!
    Thanks jivegirl! You can delete this now.
    11-26-11 02:44 PM
  2. maddie1128's Avatar
    Do you have a tip for how you can email pics from Playbook? I don't know if I am overlooking something or not.
    11-26-11 06:42 PM
  3. blackjack93117's Avatar
    Do you have a tip for how you can email pics from Playbook? I don't know if I am overlooking something or not.
    Are you bridging to your phone? Or using a web client? Depends what email you are using.
    djmm2 likes this.
    11-26-11 06:44 PM
  4. maddie1128's Avatar
    Bridging from my phone. At leasr right now I am.
    11-27-11 06:42 AM
  5. W Hoa's Avatar
    Tapping twice on an embedded video will bring it to full screen. Swipe down from top and video returns to normal size.

    Some sites (Youtube) allow you to full screen a video using other methods so this doesn't work in such cases.
    lang007 likes this.
    11-27-11 11:12 AM
  6. gtiffany's Avatar
    One tip I've found to be very handy is if you have a link on a page that you would like to open in a new tab, simply tap and hold on the link. This will bring up a menu giving you the option to open the link in the same tab or in a new tab. This works especially well when reading the Crackberry forums!
    11-27-11 07:09 PM
  7. yunvi's Avatar
    I've got the latest official OS release, and the screen capture (vol + & vol -) doesnt work for me. i think thats a pretty cool thing to be able to do..
    11-28-11 09:32 PM
  8. blackjack93117's Avatar
    I've got the latest official OS release, and the screen capture (vol + & vol -) doesnt work for me. i think thats a pretty cool thing to be able to do..
    Turn up the volume and see if you hear a camera click- if you do it is working - it works for me with the latest OS it saves it to your camera pictures directory- pictures>Camera Pictures
    MoonLeopard likes this.
    11-28-11 09:43 PM
  9. greatwiseone's Avatar
    I've got the latest official OS release, and the screen capture (vol + & vol -) doesnt work for me. i think thats a pretty cool thing to be able to do..
    If you are bridged, you can't take screen shots this way. It's a security feature.
    11-28-11 11:32 PM
  10. greatwiseone's Avatar
    For those who use the PB for work, here's how to get copy and paste text in Words to Go into bridge email (someone from my company actually refunded the PB because he didn't know how to do it):

    1) If you open native Word to Go, type something and try to copy and paste it into bridge email, it doesn't work because it's a PB security feature.

    2) What you can do is to save the document on the PB, then use Bridge Files to open the document that is saved on the PB.

    3) You will then realize that you can copy and paste text from this instance of Word to Go into a bridged email.
    11-28-11 11:38 PM
  11. BlueRocks's Avatar
    A vote for TETRIS as a must have game app. It defaults to portrait mode and is super easy to play. Addictive is a given.

    What I have found is most important is that it does a very good job in showing you how to control it with taps and swipes AND it explains what all the extra are (bubble pops, clamping, etc.) that other versions just assume you already know.

    Plus it is FREE.
    11-29-11 01:58 PM
  12. geokilla's Avatar
    RFD thread?
    Kinda hard to find since the thread exploded..... It was proceeding too fast for me to keep track of things. Basically the power button is flushed while some aren't'.
    11-30-11 12:30 AM
  13. rotorwrench's Avatar
    There are three -

    OFF /ON and STANDBY

    The power button is rarely used once you are up and running. - It's just in and out of standby, as standby uses little battery power.

    First!! See below to check your operating system version and upgrade it to the latest! See next topic for details
    Early Operating Systems were buggy and featureless.


    There is a timeout to automatically put it into standby after a preset time - the screen will go black - just swipe all the way across the face to wake it up and you are right back where you were instantly.

    When always in ON or STANDBY, the beautiful thing is it is instant on and instant off.

    Battery icon - contributions from ealvnv (aka Elmer Fudd?)

    You will notice a lighting bolt or a "plug" superimposed over the battery icon if it is being charged properly.
    The lightning bolt indicates a higher current source such as the special charger that came with the unit - or the charging dock.

    If the charging source has less capacity, such as a standard phone charger , or the USB from your laptop desktop, it will charge slower - this is indicated by a "plug" icon instead of a lightning bolt icon.

    Press the Battery Icon in the upper right corner, and there will be three options if your OS is upgraded to a later version. Just press Standby - then when you want to wake it up again, swipe from bezel to bezel any direction or press the power button.

    tap on the battery icon to:

    *adjust Brightness
    *turn off
    *restart
    *stand by

    IMPORTANT (well ok lets just say COOL! You will want to do this!) - special thanks to my friend kbz1960 a super nice and reasonable minded.. ...black labrador?

    You can run in default, showcase or paused mode. Tap the "gear" and then "general" on the left.

    Default: An application stays active in the background process until another application goes full screen.
    Showcase: All open application are active and never pause in the background process.
    Paused: All applications are paused in the background process and activated when tapped.

    Edit: This might be old and changed now?
    Also in this screen is �Demo Mode� on or off. This allows your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet to start playing back the �PlayBook HiDef Demo� video that�s included on the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet whenever you are charging your tablet and it�s idle.


    Personally (BJ here ) - I say put it in showcase mode forever!!!!
    My PB and 9930 battery icon apparently indicates differently than above. On both, when charging, my icon displays the lightning bolt, but when it reaches full charge it changes to the plug. I've tested this on the stock charger, the rapid charger and the pod, same results. If either are below 100percent, the bolt is displayed. I've actually watched it change to the plug immediately upon reaching 100 percent. Anyone else's do this?
    sean000 likes this.
    11-30-11 07:47 AM
  14. jivegirl14's Avatar
    A vote for TETRIS as a must have game app. It defaults to portrait mode and is super easy to play. Addictive is a given.

    What I have found is most important is that it does a very good job in showing you how to control it with taps and swipes AND it explains what all the extra are (bubble pops, clamping, etc.) that other versions just assume you already know.

    Plus it is FREE.
    Tetris on the Playbook = Awesome!
    AUgirl_inTX and anon(8719892) like this.
    11-30-11 09:43 AM
  15. BlueRocks's Avatar
    Three noobie quetions...

    1. Can I keep the playbook always on? The 'screen' setting only allows 5 min. max before going into standby. I have a rapid charging dock and would like to use a clock/alarm app to replace my bedside iHome/ipod unit. Can't until I figure out how to keep it 'always on'.

    2. The Podcasts native app is great for finding content but seems to suck for playing it back and organizing it (unless there is tonnes of hidden functionality I am missing). Would like an auto delete after viewing/listening. Grouping/playlists would be nice too. Should I be looking for a seperate app?

    3. Twitter/Facebook notifications in the upper left 'notification' area. Is it possible. I get my 'bridged' message notification there but not any FB/Twit. Again, am I missing something with the app or should I be using a third party app? Facebook for Playbook 2.00 and Twitter opens mobile.twitter.com in a browser window.

    Thanks in advance.
    11-30-11 01:09 PM
  16. anon(728548)'s Avatar
    Three noobie quetions...

    1. Can I keep the playbook always on? The 'screen' setting only allows 5 min. max before going into standby. I have a rapid charging dock and would like to use a clock/alarm app to replace my bedside iHome/ipod unit. Can't until I figure out how to keep it 'always on'.

    2. The Podcasts native app is great for finding content but seems to suck for playing it back and organizing it (unless there is tonnes of hidden functionality I am missing). Would like an auto delete after viewing/listening. Grouping/playlists would be nice too. Should I be looking for a seperate app?

    3. Twitter/Facebook notifications in the upper left 'notification' area. Is it possible. I get my 'bridged' message notification there but not any FB/Twit. Again, am I missing something with the app or should I be using a third party app? Facebook for Playbook 2.00 and Twitter opens mobile.twitter.com in a browser window.

    Thanks in advance.
    1 and 3= no



    *on #1, I have the app BedBuzz paid, look into that.
    11-30-11 06:17 PM
  17. BuzzStarField's Avatar
    RIM has not gotten around to enabling printing from the PlayBook yet. Maybe it will be included in OS2 but until then the "official" way to print a document stored on the PlayBook is to connect via WiFi from your PC, navigate to the file on the PB and then print it.

    If you're lucky enough to have a network printer that has an email address, you can simply email your documents this address and they will be queued and printed for you.

    There is a another method that I use often and madony has posted information about how to set it up. If you are already using Google Cloud Print to print documents on your smartphone, you're more thaen half-way there:

    YOU CAN PRINT E-MAIL, DOCS, PHOTOS, AND PDF FILES FROM YOUR PLAYBOOK
    The print file is sent to a printer attached to a PC, for paper print or pdf output, that has Google Chome installed.


    To install Google Chome see:
    Connect a printer to Google Cloud Print

    "Google Cloud Print makes printing more intuitive, accessible and useful, by letting you print to your printers from Google Cloud Print-enabled apps on any computer or smart phone."

    Current files to PRINT are E-mail, .jpg (for example, from the camera), .pdf, and .doc (for example, from Word2Go).

    Trick: to send a document not already on your Playbook simply use the 'camera' to make a photograph of it (producing a .jpg file)

    On the Playbook, presently you can only 'Google Cloud print' from the Google 'GMail' app not the 'Google Docs' (available from the Gmail app list of additional Google products).

    Again, 'Cloud printing', as described in the Google link(s) below, allows printing on any network printer that can be accessed from a computer that has Google Chome installed.

    At any time you are ready to PRINT, open the PC or device that has Google Chome installed. Open Google Chome.

    Getting ready:
    1) Open the native 'Bridge Messages' app (or from any other mail program that has ability to attach files; the current 'GMail app' can not do attachments)
    2) Attach any of the above file types to the E-Mail. Also, enter a 'message' if necessary.
    3) Send the E-mail to your GMail account.
    4) Using the 'GMail icon' on the Playbook, open the GMail app.
    5) Refresh the screen using the refresh arrow next to 'menu'.
    6) Open the E-mail file you just sent from 'Bridge Messages' (this E-mail should arrive immediately; it goes directly to Gmail not through BB mail).

    You are ready to PRINT.
    1) You can print the 'email only' using the 'PRINT' function
    2) You can also print the 'individual file(s)' that you attached.

    Where to find the 'PRINT' functions on the 'GMail' app:

    Tip: Some mail directories are located on the left 'scroll' bar.

    The 'PRINT' function is located by clicking the arrow button on the upper right corner.
    Not all screens have this arrow button: some places you can find it in the 'INBOX' and 'ALL MAIL'

    'PRINT' is also shown under the downloaded file name.


    Now, click and PRINT!
    When you click to 'PRINT' you will see all the 'printer' types associated with all the devices that have Google Chome installed:


    Make a printer selection from the drop down list:
    If available, list select a physical paper printer. The paper print will come out of that printer.
    Or, you can also 'PRINT' to a '.PDF PRINTER' if it is installed, then save as required.

    About Cloud printing:

    For intensive information on Google Cloud printing see:
    Google Cloud Print Help

    "Activate the Google Cloud Print connector in Google Chrome and your printer will automatically be available to you from Google Cloud Print enabled web and mobile apps."


    To setup Google Chrome Cloud printer see:
    Connect a printer to Google Cloud Print

    To make a gmail.mail account see:
    https://mail.google.com/mail/signup
    Last edited by BuzzStarField; 11-30-11 at 10:33 PM.
    00stryder, Amy Chandler and jajano like this.
    11-30-11 10:19 PM
  18. blackjack93117's Avatar
    Sorry I'm falling behind on maintaining this - thanks for adding posts. I will get to it.
    BuzzStarField likes this.
    12-01-11 04:33 AM
  19. BuzzStarField's Avatar
    Sorry I'm falling behind on maintaining this - thanks for adding posts. I will get to it.
    You're welcome BJ. My PlayBook gets a lot of bad press because it cam't do this task or that right out of the box. But I have found that if you don't give up too soon, you can usually find ways of bridging the functional gaps while we wait for the next OS update. The key to this ability is the powerful combination of BlackBerry Bridge, PB browser and the marvels of cloud computing.

    For example, we programmers can get sales reports from App World - they consist of a single csv file inside a zip file. Unfortunately, PB does not directly support either file format.

    Long ago, I had discovered that you can upload the csv file to Google docs using PB's browser, then convert it to a Google Docs format spreadsheet. If I wanted to I could also download the spreadsheet as an xls fle and open in Documents to Go on the PB . So, I began using Zipio (available in App World) to unzip the reports on the PB. Then I uploaded the contents to Google Docs for conversion.

    One day I forgot to unzip the report first and accidentally uploaded it to Google Docs directly. Well, I was surprised to discover that zip files open as folders in G Docs and I didn't need to unzip the report on my device first.

    The beauty of all this is that I can now access my reports while I'm on the go and they are also available on my PC, having been uploaded to Google Docs. Very nice!
    dimm0k likes this.
    12-01-11 07:42 AM
  20. W Hoa's Avatar
    While listening to music you can move forward a track by holding down the 'volume up' button. You can move back a track by holding down the 'volume down' button.
    12-01-11 07:48 AM
  21. Cerbere's Avatar
    If you are bridged, you can't take screen shots this way. It's a security feature.
    Actually, that's only partly correct. Screenshots don't work when bridged to a BES BB. If you're bridged to a BIS BB, they still work.

    http://forums.crackberry.com/blackbe...orking-618485/

    http://forums.crackberry.com/blackbe...orking-611542/

    Thanks for putting all this information together, blackjack93117. I'm just finishing my second day with the playbook, and loving it. Though I am disappointed that RIM has opted to bite the apple, and limit apps to only those that are on AppWorld.

    On a semi-related note, does anyone know of a free ebook reader that will sideload non-DRM epubs?
    Grand Piano likes this.
    12-01-11 11:53 PM
  22. greatwiseone's Avatar
    Actually, that's only partly correct. Screenshots don't work when bridged to a BES BB. If you're bridged to a BIS BB, they still work.

    http://forums.crackberry.com/blackbe...orking-618485/

    http://forums.crackberry.com/blackbe...orking-611542/

    Thanks for putting all this information together, blackjack93117. I'm just finishing my second day with the playbook, and loving it. Though I am disappointed that RIM has opted to bite the apple, and limit apps to only those that are on AppWorld.

    On a semi-related note, does anyone know of a free ebook reader that will sideload non-DRM epubs?
    I only have a BES BB, and so I won't know about a BIS only BB
    12-02-11 12:53 AM
  23. ealvnv's Avatar

    Battery icon - contributions from ealvnv (aka Elmer Fudd?)
    LOL...yeah my name is Elmer... my last name? i forgot it
    12-03-11 11:58 AM
  24. anon(55900)'s Avatar
    I remembered what I do on my 9700 in order to create a nicer looking icon when creating a 'Favorite' bookmark. I zoom in on the web pages header or name, filling in most of the screen. As the Playbook will make a copy of the current web page for it's icon.

    so by doing this my favorites icon show up as the zoomed in web page name! pretty neat huh!

    mawil1013
    BLu and djmm2 like this.
    12-04-11 09:17 PM
  25. PatrickMJS's Avatar
    hey blackjack: playbook password and bluetooth keyboard

    Here's a tip to remember when you connect a bluetooth keyboard: when you tap to enter text, since the bluetooth keyboard is connected, the virtual keyboard doesn't pop up automatically. That's the way it should work. But, sometimes, if you move away from the keyboard, maybe to another room, the bluetooth will stay connected, so you have to bring up the virtual keyboard manually by swiping up from the lower left corner. Where this can get confusing is if you pick up the PB when it is in stand-by mode and you swipe to wake it up, if you have a password enabled, the password entry box pops up, but not the virtual keyboard (because the bluetooth keyboard is still connected). So again, just swipe up from the lower left corner. Might sound trite just reading this, but trust me, when it happens, it can be confusing. Especially if the person who picks it up wasn't using or aware of the bluetooth keyboard.
    djmm2 and bruteforce037 like this.
    12-05-11 05:06 PM
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