BlackBerry App World, RIM’s app download service to rival the iPhone App Store, has been up and running for a while now, but what are the best BlackBerry apps available? We’ve gone through the store - as well as the wider web – to find the very best BlackBerry apps out there in our round up right here.
Some of these apps have different operating requirements (3G, say), but many work on all models, including the touchscreen BlackBerry Storm and Torch models. If it’s available on BlackBerry App World, there’s a simple way to check: an app won’t show if your BlackBerry doesn’t support it. Enough preamble though, check which BlackBerry apps you need to download right now!
Check out the Best BlackBerry apps top 5 here
1. Facebook
£free
Available on BlackBerry App World: Yes
Previous versions of Facebook on Blackberry have simply been fronts for the mobile version of the site, but the latest version of Facebook for BlackBerry does a great job of integrating all those pokes and virtual vampire bites. It’ll sync people’s Facebook profile pics with their contact in your address book, and so long as you leave it running in the background, will even include Facebook conversations in your inbox along with emails, SMSs and IMs. You can also use Facebook Chat, at last.
2. Spotify
£free
Available on BlackBerry App World: No
It’s taken its sweet time, but the Spotify BlackBerry app finally walks among us. It’s free, but in beta right now, so it only works for newer BlackBerry models with a portrait screen, rather than elongated BlackBerry Torch touchscreen line. Once it’s ready though, it’ll be available in the BlackBerry App World. As usual, you’ll need a Premium subscription, but once you’re in, you know what to expect: all the music you can handle, for ever.
3. WhatsApp
£free
Available on BlackBerry App World: Yes
BlackBerry Messenger is fun, but BBM with more smartphone platforms would be even more fun. While we wait for that, WhatsApp is the next best thing. It’s tied to your phone number and stupidly easy to use: load it up and you can chat to your mates on Android, iPhone, Windows Phone, Symbian, BlackBerry and even S40. An absolutely essential BlackBerry app.
4. Google Maps
£free
Available on BlackBerry App World: No
Depending on what network you’re on, you may well have the Google Maps BlackBerry app installed already. If not, it’s a great complement to BlackBerry Maps: pulling up your rough location can be much quicker in poor reception areas, there’s Street View for when you’re truly stranded, and crucially, directory search is far more powerful than RIM’s wholly inadequate database for Maps. For one, it actually knows that tube stations exist!
5. HulloMail
£free
Available on BlackBerry App World: Yes
If you’re using a BlackBerry, there’s a good chance you take business seriously. If so, HulloMail is one of the very best BlackBerry apps you can download. Voicemails are simply sent to you as an MP3 you can play and listen to at your convenience: no farting around pressing 0, hash, 2, 7 and waiting for bloody beeps. You can also send short audio messages (“Hullos”) to friends, but really, it’s the ace visual voicemail that makes this stand out.
6. Google Sync
£free
Available on BlackBerry App World: No
Over the air updates are where it’s at, and luckily for us, Google knows that too. Google Sync is another ace BlackBerry app you need only set up once, which slings your Gmail contacts and Google Calendar to your BlackBerry. After that, it simply runs in the background however often you set it to. If you use a desktop calendar like Outlook on Windows or iCal on Mac, just a little tinkering will have events you put in on your computer floating on over to your BlackBerry a short while later.
7. Windows Live Messenger
£free
Available on BlackBerry App World: Yes
Which instant messaging service you use most on your BlackBerry comes down to which your friends natter away on most, but Windows Live Messenger is our favourite BlackBerry app IM client, largely because you can chat to more than one person in a conversation, unlike Google Talk. If that’s not a problem though, Google Talk is near identical, and you can always have both running in the background.
8. BBC iPlayer
£free
Available on BlackBerry App World: Yes
It’s only a web shortcut, sure, but it’s still a very useful one. BBC iPlayer on BlackBerry works a treat, letting you watch all your Auntie On-Demand shows whenever you like, and stream the live BBC channels too. Handy tip: if you want to watch other live Freeview TV channels on your BlackBerry, just head to the website m.tvcatchup.com.
9. Vlingo
Free
Available on BlackBerry App World: Yes
Sure, the iPhone 4S has Siri, but Vlingo can make your BlackBerry do things it can’t just with your voice. Read out emails, update your social network status. Usually, the privilege of this would cost you £20, but RIM has actually made it free on the BlackBerry App World until the end of the year. Go get it, stat.
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10. BlackBerry Protect
£free
Available on BlackBerry App World: Yes
This is the best BlackBerry app you’ll hopefully never have to use. If you do though, you’ll be grateful: if your BlackBerry is stolen, you can simply login on a browser to track it, or worst comes to worst, wipe it completely to protect your information. No mobile platform would be a proper mobile platform without this today.
11. Qik
£free
Available on BlackBerry App World: Yes
Qik is an incredible video streaming app that’s only not blown up because it’s not available on the iPhone App Store, but it works a treat as a BlackBerry app. The premise is simple. Turn it on, start recording a video with your BlackBerry and people will be able to watch it streaming in realtime online. You can even send out a Twitter alert with the Qik BlackBerry app. If you’re on Wi-Fi or 3G, the entire video is ready to playback from the beginning online within seconds once you’re done, it’s that fast.
12. Twitter
£free
Available on BlackBerry App World: Yes
The first party Twitter BlackBerry app is never going to be as slick and fluid as the best iOS Twitter clients, but it still gets the job done. See what your friends are up to, send links and images, search by location, add to lists – bar multiple accounts it’s all here. Best of all though, it integrates tightly with the BlackBerry inbox, so @mentions and direct messages drop straight in along with your emails.
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13. ShortcutMe
$4.99
Available on BlackBerry App World: Yes
Ditch the homescreen altogether by slapping shortcuts on to the side keys with this BlackBerry app. ShortcutMe comes preloaded with shortcuts to more than 50 apps you may have installed already, including all the features baked into BlackBerry OS, and you can always add your own if they’re not there. All you have to do is click the side button once, twice or thrice and you’re away!
14. SlingPlayer Mobile for BlackBerry
£19.99 (30 day free trial)
Available on BlackBerry App World: No
SlingPlayer Mobile has only just emerged, mangled, on the iPhone App Store, but it’s been available as a BlackBerry app for months now. As you might have guessed, you’ll need a Slingbox to chuck telly on to the BlackBerry, but it really is one of the best executed BlackBerry apps available, letting you change channel with the trackball. Oh, and with the SlingPlayer Mobile BlackBerry app, there’s no 3G/Wi-Fi issue, you can just watch wherever you are.
15. Evernote
£free
Available on BlackBerry App World: US only, but still works in UK
TwitterBerry will let you publish short messages and pictures to other people, but what about when you want to keep these little scraps of info in the cloud to yourself? That’s where Evernote comes in. With the Evernote BlackBerry app, you can jot down messages, take voice memos and upload pictures and files to an Evernote account online, and grab them later from a computer. Evernote is supposedly available in BlackBerry App World, but it doesn’t appear here in the UK at least. Not to worry though, as you can download over the air from Evernote’s official site for no pennies at all.
16. PodTrapper
$9.99
Available on BlackBerry App World: Yes
Sure, you can hook a BlackBerry up with iTunes for podcasts, but that involves a desktop computer and a cable. That’s no fun. BlackBerry app PodTrapper is though, downloading as it does all your podcasts for you over the air, and remembering how far you’ve listened through them. You can add your own manually, but there’s already a well stocked list to pick from, and you can even set it to download only when charging, so your BlackBerry will fill up while you sleep.
17. Shazam
£5 (Free for 60 days)
Available on BlackBerry App World: Yes
You know what Shazam does already, and now it’s a BlackBerry app. Record a bit of a song you hear, Shazam for BlackBerry will tell you what it is, then you can buy it. It’s perfect for pub quizzes, or if you can only remember catchy tunes and never the artists. You’re right to be peeved that the Shazam BlackBerry app costs a fiver, but with a 60 day trial, you’ve got two whole months to decide if you like it, and Shazam says it’s looking to bring a permanently free entry level version soon.
18. BBM Music
£free (£4.99 per month Premium)
Available on BlackBerry App World: Yes
Quite frankly, if you’re prepared to pay for Spotify, you really don’t need this, but it’s an interesting idea none the less: the BBM Music BlackBerry app lets you download 50 songs from all the major record labels to play whenever you want. Pay for Premium however, and you can tap into all of the downloads your friends have made too, streaming them on demand. The more friends you have, the more music you have.
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19. Guitar Hero World Tour
$9.99
Available on BlackBerry App World: Yes
Even the most die hard BlackBerry email addicts need some more leisurely BlackBerry apps installed, though Guitar Hero could prove a bit too addictive for some. Strumming away works surprisingly well, but you don’t need us to tell you to use earphones if you plan on being a portable Jimmy Page.
20. Opera Mini
£free
Available on BlackBerry App World: No
BlackBerry browser does a decent enough stab at displaying many websites on your BlackBerry, but when all else fails, it’s time to switch to the guns: the Opera Mini BlackBerry app. It’s zippy, and has RSS feed support, so you can see what’s what in realtime if Viigo is a bit too bulky for your liking. It’s a matter of preference which you use for the most part, but you at least need the Opera Mini BlackBerry app as back up for when reception is patchy.
