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.
http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/156...ynumberro7.jpg
Well, type a couple of digits on a BlackBerry and what you get? "No Addresses"
http://img235.imageshack.us/img235/51/dumbdialer.jpg
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)
http://img235.imageshack.us/img235/7...passwordbb.jpg
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!!! :mad: :mad: :mad:
Am I the only one getting annoyed by these issues, or is RIM just dense and not listening to its users?