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Now that I finally have a BlackBerry that can actually be used, I can see why many of you guys are hooked in the crackberry addiction, and I can see myself sticking with BlackBerry for some good time.
That said, with serious stability issues no longer overshadowing my BB user experience, other smaller annoyances are getting my attention. Unfortunately, I think RIM is going to be more concerned with making all their Berrys Storm-like than with actually fixing the little and not-so-little things that do improve the user experience, but here is my top 5 list of annoying BB bugs: (or poor design choices)
5. BlackBerry's Not-so-Smart Dialer
One of the things I love about Windows Mobile phones, especially non-touchscreen ones, is the smart dialer. Type a couple of letters from a contact and the dialer finds the name. BlackBerry does this too! But Windows phones take smart dialing a logical step further. You can actually type a few digits of the phone number, and the phone still finds contacts as well as previous entries from the Call Log.
Well, type a couple of digits on a BlackBerry and what you get? "No Addresses"
Gues what? When you are making a phone call, instinctly you dial numbers, not names. Why doesn't RIM get this?
4. Clearing in-call screen's input
I rarely use a cell phone directly to my ear for talking. I use either wired or Bluetooth headsets. Now, there are calls that require us to input numbers, some of them of sensitive nature, like when calling phone banking and you are asked to enter your account number and ATM PIN number. I still haven't found a way to clear that input from the in-call screen once entered, which means I always have to get away from people when making certain calls, as people standing nearby can see what I'm entering. The example below is from T-Mobile USA's voicemail. (and that's not my real password by the way)
The ex-girlfriend of a friend of mine began stalking him and spying on his voicemail. She didn't have to use a spoof card or some other fancy method of hacking into the VM server. She just figured out that the number string before the # sign was his VM password as she was able to see what he entered when she was standing next to him.
Conclusion: There has to be a quick and easy way to clear the in-call screen from these numbers once they have been entered. Oh, and as a bonus. Still we can't get rid of the "My Phone Number" being displayed on the in-call screen without messing with our SIM card settings?!?!?
3. Your BlackBerry handed to thieves in a silver platter
(I'm assuming this one doesn't apply to BES users though.) If someone steals your BlackBerry, the thief just has to enter the wrong password 10 times and voila! A freshly wiped BlackBerry ready for the thief to use. Sure, at least your personal data is erased, but I think recovery from a wrong password should not be that obvious and easy. Wiping the device to recover from a lost password should occur only after typing some funky key sequence and/or connecting to a computer with Desktop Manager installed.
2. BlackBerry password bureaucracy - Part One
Why does the device have to force a lock every hour (if not less)? This should be a configurable option. I should be able to set this to every 3 hours or every 12 hours, or turn it off completely. After all, on-demand lock at any time is soooo easy, why is the auto-lock even needed and being forced down users' throats?
1. BlackBerry password bureaucracy - Part Two
This is the one that's really taking the cake. Take this scenario. You haven't used your BlackBerry in an hour or so. Now you want to connect the BB to your computer and transfer some video files. You plug in your device and you type your password for unlocking the device because it's been more than an hour. Then you have to type your password again to enable Mass Storage mode. But we are not done!!! You have to type your password a third time, now in Desktop Manager, and assuming you'll be using Media Manager to convert/transfer the video, you have to type your password a forth time!!!
Am I the only one getting annoyed by these issues, or is RIM just dense and not listening to its users?04-12-09 01:26 PM - Until you posted this I didn't really put 2 and 2 together, but it puzzled me when I'd wake up why I'd always have to put my pass in...? Guess I don't leave my BB alone long enough any other time of the day for it to ever force it to password security LOL and I don't set it down for thieves to steal so there's your solutions for #2 and #3.{snipped}
4. Clearing in-call screen's input
I rarely use a cell phone directly to my ear for talking. I use either wired or Bluetooth headsets. Now, there are calls that require us to input numbers, some of them of sensitive nature, like when calling phone banking and you are asked to enter your account number and ATM PIN number. I still haven't found a way to clear that input from the in-call screen once entered, which means I always have to get away from people when making certain calls, as people standing nearby can see what I'm entering. The example below is from T-Mobile USA's voicemail. (and that's not my real password by the way)
The ex-girlfriend of a friend of mine began stalking him and spying on his voicemail. She didn't have to use a spoof card or some other fancy method of hacking into the VM server. She just figured out that the number string before the # sign was his VM password as she was able to see what he entered when she was standing next to him.
Conclusion: There has to be a quick and easy way to clear the in-call screen from these numbers once they have been entered. Oh, and as a bonus. Still we can't get rid of the "My Phone Number" being displayed on the in-call screen without messing with our SIM card settings?!?!?
3. Your BlackBerry handed to thieves in a silver platter
2. BlackBerry password bureaucracy - Part One
Am I the only one getting annoyed by these issues, or is RIM just dense and not listening to its users?
touch your berry, touch it lots 
#4 they make privacy screens or whatever they're called and they supposedly work well. I just don't make sensitive calls around ppl but some don't have that luxury.
I would like to see a way to mask those though... I have some of my most frequently called ones set up with the "wait" then the #s then "wait" and #s but it DOES still show those onscreen.
doing this way though you CAN turn screen toward floor and just hit enter.
Voicemail (IDK if it's same for your model as mine) I go to Call Log>Menu>Options>Voicemail and put in password there...won't show on screen but if you allow her access to your phone she'll have it.
To get rid of your phone number being displayed:
Call Log>Menu>Options>GeneralOptions and select "no" for the "show my number"
Hope this helps.
Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.comLast edited by bfoster; 04-12-09 at 02:18 PM.
04-12-09 02:12 PM - #4. Very simple solution
sometimes the obvious is the last thing we see! Thanks, I'll use this!
#5. I love the speed dial... Used it a lot on the old phone and was glad to still have it!
My only real annoyance is that I don't have Area Code ID, where it pops up the state that's calling when the # isn't in my contact list. I still have one old phone (rugged little Sanyo 7400) on my acct that can do it, so why can our BBs not do it?! Drives me nuts! LOL!
I only have 3 states I answer, everybody else I throw to VM so it peeves me to have to either answer all or none which I also do if I'm in the mood but if I'm expecting business calls I HATE answering telemarketing calls and after awhile I'm not nice
esp when they don't take a polite 'no, thank you, remove me from your call list' for an answer. 
/OFF rant (see? Obviously an annoyance LOL)
Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com04-12-09 04:29 PM - Then you have to remember who you put in speed dial 1, who goes in speed dial 2 and so on. That's why I never use speed dial. I just rather dial the first 2 or three digits of the actual phone number and have my phone fetch the rest for me.speed dial is quite efficient: hold 1 letter in and it dials someone.
Oh and by the way, I don't think RIM got it wrong with the smart dialer for searching by name, but they should allow searching by number too.04-12-09 07:40 PM - What model do you have? Because on mine speed dial is letters, not numbers, so if I can't remember the person's first initial I probably shouldn't be drunk dialing them
(The above is a joke, as I don't drunk dial but the rest is accurate = 1 letter held in makes the call)
Additionally, for those who have numerous contacts in the same area - we would have to dial FOUR
digits to get a narrowing of listings to come up, and for those of us with numerous contacts in the same exchange? We would type in SEVEN.
Not efficient.
Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.comLast edited by bfoster; 04-12-09 at 09:18 PM.
04-12-09 09:13 PM
