[pashan]

ER Dude,
In Vibrate your volume shouldn't matter as long as your In/Out Holster is set to Vibrate and NOT Vibrate+Tone. (I could be wrong though, as my volume is set to mute and I can't test it, as the hubby is sleeping!)

CBMember what do you mean by "update fix"?

ERDude, could you please pass the Jack? I've got my Diet Coke ready!!!

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[tmember]

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By 'update fix' I mean BB sending out a fix for another program instead of "Profiles", which confuses me by calling the Modes (Loud, Quiet, Vibrate, etc) "Profiles" and also calling the Contacts "Profiles" and the whole thing seems to be a mass confusion.

But I discovered something, well a little bit of help....if you go to the HELP Icon...then go to CONTACTS...then go to CONTACT BASICS...then go to ABOUT CUSTOM RING TONES....it will tell you somewhat about profiles and the "Exceptions". Read it carefully.

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[Mikey1969]

So to get this all straight...

I can add custom ringers, and I can make ringer profiles, but I CAN'T make the profile override the individual ringers, right? From what I seem to hear, the settings on the profile let me specify how loudly the ringtone for the contact comes through, but doesn't let me override their custom ringtone with another set specifically for that Profile.

Like I said, I want a specific ringtone for both my 'Driving' and 'Quiet' profiles, no matter WHAT I have set for that particular contact. When in my 'Normal' profile, I want all of their custom ringtones.

At the moment, it seems like ringtone profiles are pretty much just the same as anything I've had on a prevous cellphone, just with a few more options, such as 'In Holster' and 'Out of Holster' settings. In other words, 'Profiles' seem to be mostly useless.

The truly sad thing is that all they had to do was add a little bit of code with an option that says something like 'Do not allow custom ringtones in this profile', or 'Allow profile to override custom ringers'.

[tomvb2000]

I understand your frustration since there doesn't appear to be an easy way to do exactly what you want. One (ugly) option is to uncheck all your exceptions when you want only the Driving or Quiet profiles.

About the only other hack I could think of was setting the 'out of holster' for each exception the same as your Driving profile. This assumes the 8830 was out of the holster only when driving (vice-versa would work as well). Like I said, an imperfect hack.

I had a powerful profile manager for my Treo700p which could do what you asked and a lot more. The diff was that it was a 3rd-party app developed to meet everything the forum folks wanted.

[Mikey1969]

OK, so if a 3rd party app is the answer, does anyone out there know of a good profile manager for the Blackberry? I looked here for software, and there wasn't really anything that did this. Everything ringtone related seemed to be either an app for making ringtones, or a huge bundle of tones...

Thanks guys!

[tomvb2000]

I've been using Blackberry Profile Scheduler but it's not going to be a complete solution for what you want. It's primary purpose is to automate switching of existing profiles, not customizing them for different situations. Assuming you compute at a consistent time of day, you could use it to automatically turn on your "Driving" profile for the commute times.

Note however, it doesn't support profiles that have a custom name - it only understands the defaults like "Normal", "Quiet", etc. You'd have to customize one of them per your "driving" profile needs.

[Cymru]

I'm really really sorry to drag this on, but I read all this thread and I think it confused me more.

Here's what I need: in ALL PROFILE MODES I need 7 people to ring with their specific ring ("Bossman"), for example..when I turn it to quiet at night..the only thing that makes noise is if my bosses call me.
Then I want all the people in my address book who have seperate ringtones of their own to ring with the specific tone...WITHOUT having to go uncheck them all when I go to bed?

I'm so lost, sorry.

[Cymru]

Here's the thing... IT IS SIMPLE TO ME!!! I think this is a case of overthinking it!

When a call comes in your phone does what the "profile" tells it to. Unless there is an exception. If there is an exception is just does what the exception tells it to do.

An exception says this, "For <name here> do this: ________"

Your options Within the exception are:
1. From: This is where you enter contact names for the people who this exception will apply to.

2. Use Profile: This is the profile that your exception will route the call through. If set to vibrate your phone will vibrate when the people listed in #1 call you, no matter what the active profile is. If it is set to Use Profile: Active then your phone will route the call through the Active profile when the people listed in 1. call you. So if the active profile is vibrate then the phone will vibrate. Why use this then you ask? Because of item #3 (see the next item)

3. Custom Phone Tune: (check box): CLICK TO SELECT RINGER
a. Check box: put a check here to use a specific profile for certain people
b. Select Ringer: click the trackball to select the specific ringer here.

Item #3 give you two options essentiall... Here are the options demonstrated as specific examples:

• When my daughter calls me I want my phone to play "Buttercup" unless I have my phone on vibrate, indicating that I am in a meeting or church. So I put a check mark in 3a. and then in 3b. I select Buttercup. HERE IS THE IMPORTANT PART: In option 2. I have it set to use the ACTIVE PROFILE, which indicates that my phone will vibrate if it is in vibrate. If I am in a profile that allows "ringing" then my phone will play Buttercup when she calls.
  
• When my elderly, ill mother-in-law calls me I want my phone to ring loudly NO MATTER WHAT the profile setting is. So I have it set as follows: 3a - no check box, 3b (no check in 3a so nothing to select). BUT (and HERE IS THE IMPORTANT PART) In option 2 I have it set to Use Profile: Loud. This forces my phone to use the Loud profile, but not a custom ringer, whenever my elderly mother in law calls.

(There is a great deal of mis-information in this thread above... read with caution CBMember...)

Wait Wait...I've had another cup of coffee..and I THINK I get this one...I'll try it out.

[tadrscin]

Right now I have my Curve set so that when it's in the holster it doesn't play a tone or vibrate for any alert. I'd like to be able to have an exception so that when my wife calls it rings, but it's still silent if anyone else calls. Is this possible? So far the best I can come up with is to set it vibrate when I get a phone call and have an exception to have it ring when my wife calls.

[PhineasPoe]

Here's the thing... IT IS SIMPLE TO ME!!! I think this is a case of overthinking it!

When a call comes in your phone does what the "profile" tells it to. Unless there is an exception. If there is an exception is just does what the exception tells it to do.

An exception says this, "For <name here> do this: ________"

Your options Within the exception are:
1. From: This is where you enter contact names for the people who this exception will apply to.

2. Use Profile: This is the profile that your exception will route the call through. If set to vibrate your phone will vibrate when the people listed in #1 call you, no matter what the active profile is. If it is set to Use Profile: Active then your phone will route the call through the Active profile when the people listed in 1. call you. So if the active profile is vibrate then the phone will vibrate. Why use this then you ask? Because of item #3 (see the next item)

3. Custom Phone Tune: (check box): CLICK TO SELECT RINGER
a. Check box: put a check here to use a specific profile for certain people
b. Select Ringer: click the trackball to select the specific ringer here.

Item #3 give you two options essentiall... Here are the options demonstrated as specific examples:

• When my daughter calls me I want my phone to play "Buttercup" unless I have my phone on vibrate, indicating that I am in a meeting or church. So I put a check mark in 3a. and then in 3b. I select Buttercup. HERE IS THE IMPORTANT PART: In option 2. I have it set to use the ACTIVE PROFILE, which indicates that my phone will vibrate if it is in vibrate. If I am in a profile that allows "ringing" then my phone will play Buttercup when she calls.
  
• When my elderly, ill mother-in-law calls me I want my phone to ring loudly NO MATTER WHAT the profile setting is. So I have it set as follows: 3a - no check box, 3b (no check in 3a so nothing to select). BUT (and HERE IS THE IMPORTANT PART) In option 2 I have it set to Use Profile: Loud. This forces my phone to use the Loud profile, but not a custom ringer, whenever my elderly mother in law calls.

(There is a great deal of mis-information in this thread above... read with caution CBMember...)

It may seem simple to you but it seems unduly complicated to me. Lets compare it to how a Palm phone would do it:

•Each Contact has a place to assign a unique ringtone just like with a BB.

•Each contact also has a field to assign a category (family, friends, clients, w/e) and each category can have its own ringtone, which can be set from any contact's window by simply selecting Edit Categories at the bottom of the field

•The default ring is chosen in the preferences pane of the phone application. You also have the option here of setting a different ring if the caller is known, unknown or if you are roaming.

•Ring volume is as easy as toggling the switch on the side of the phone, no need to select a profile. Anybody that calls will use their assigned ring tone (personal, category, known, unknown, etc) at the volume set. If you want vibrate you simply flip the toggle at the top of the phone. This is a very handy feature. I can't count the times I was amused watching people cycle through menus to turn their ringer off at the movies while I flipped a switch.

The one thing I don't know how to do is the example for your mother-in-law, but I never had a need for it. Basically, if I put my phone on vibrate I want it on vibrate.

The Palm way of doing it seems preferable to me, especially being able to assign rings by category. It allowed me to know how important a call was by the ring without having to see who was actually calling. It was also a lot easier to set up than using exceptions.

And, as much as I like my new Curve, there are some functions my Centro had that I miss. For instance: Why are calendar events associated with email accounts on the BB? I assign categories to my appointments in Outlook and they are color coded by category. This system transfers over to my Centro but all my events get dumped to one calendar and are all the same color on the BB.

I also miss being able to launch programs from my memory card. I don't use my phone for music or video so I end up not really needing a card for anything but ring tones. I hope I never fill up a 4gb card with ring tones

That said, there are things I like better about the BB. I never realized how nice push email would be. The curve is a much better looking phone, the screen is beautiful and I much prefer the track ball to a touch screen. And, as weird as it sounds, I really like having a Back button.

The internet is better on my berry as is Sprint TV (which makes my 4yo happy - Playhouse Disney FTW!). I like the desktop better on my berry and the ability to do themes so easily has made it mac-tastic. But I do miss things like having tasks listed on my agenda view and programs like minitones (You can easily trim any mp3 you load on your phone and make it a ringtone. No need to use your computer and then load the ring, it's all done quickly on the phone - plus it's free).

I know no phone is perfect, and I am happy overall with my Curve, but I do think they could streamline their menus and make them easier to use.