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QuickLaunch by NikkiSoft for the BlackBerry and Other Apps

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I recently bought a BlackBerry Bold 9000. Since my purchase, RIM and its associate mobile phone service providers have launched the slimmer Bold 9700 (the “Onyx”) but I’m not fretting even though the reviews have been positive. From what I hear in the CrackBerry.com forums, some users lament the loss of the large “Bold 1″ keys and its bulky but luxurious feel (hey — it’s got a leather back instead of plastic and I am very happy with the handset I currently have. I am not happy with the state of BlackBerry applications as third-party stores affiliated with sites like CrackBerry.com (a very respected BlackBerry information website but I don’t recommend it!) sell shoddy, unsigned applications by developers who either don’t know what they are doing and think their application is capable of doing the impossible, or are trying to lure in unsuspecting customers. For more information on this which will be the subject of a future post (including the posting of all e-mails between the developer and I which is always fun!), please see my post in the CrackBerry.com forums. Nevertheless I would highly suggest using BlackBerry’s own store, called App World, to buy your handset software. Some users misconstrued my comments thinking I was blasting CrackBerry.com itself which is not true. I wanted to know why such an esteemed site in the BlackBerry world would want to associate itself with a store that sold applications by said developer. Anyway, before I end up writing that future post let’s get back to the topic at hand.

Thus far I’ve downloaded at least twenty-five applications for the BlackBerry, all for free. Among my favorites is Dictionary.com’s application (visit the preceding link in your mobile browser and download the application using the link on the page) which provides an interesting feature called “Word of the Day” in both Spanish and English and you can hear the pronunciation of the English word (not the Spanish word unfortunately) with a click of the trackpad.

In addition to this feature, the Dictionary.com app offers other familiar services like a dictionary (duh), a thesaurus, plus a useful history list so you can revisit words you’ve looked up in the past. Simple features but a nice interface. My only gripe is that you can select and copy text you find in the main window of the app using the context menu but you can’t paste it in the search input widget!

So let’s look at the screenshot above. I’ve used the thesaurus to look for synonyms of indolent. I view the results in the main window and let’s say that I don’t know what listless means. I could scroll to it, select it, copy it, and then you would think I could move the cursor up the the search text input widget and paste it but you can’t. I’ve e-mailed Dictionary.com in hope of them fixing this little “bug” but who knows if they really read customer responses.

Another great free application for the BlackBerry I just downloaded from App World is Thompson Reuters News Pro powered by Handmark which provides all types of news. The interface is well designed and you can customize the look and feel of the app using a comprehensive set of options. It it a nice application for your news needs.

The final free application for the BlackBerry I will mention before turning to QuickLaunch is QuickPull Free. This is a must have for all BlackBerry owners. DO NOT BUY ANY APPLICATIONS PURPORTING TO INCREASE YOUR MEMORY! THEY ARE ALL BOGUS AS THE BLACKBERRY API IS NOT CAPABLE OF PERFORMING ACTIONS CLAIMED BY COMPANIES THAT SELL SUCH SOFTWARE! BEWARE! Seriously, don’t buy an application that says it can tweak your BlackBerry handset because it can’t and there is proof. Some say they are a scam and I agree. Again, I will cover this scam in an upcoming blog post but for now I will leave you with this public service announcement: DO NOT BUY APPLICATIONS FROM EMOBISTUDIO.COM INCLUDING MEMORY UP PRO AND NETWORKACC for the BlackBerry (see here for the reasons why). QuickPull Free is exactly what you need and it is legitimate (and free!). From the developer:

Unlike the red power button on your phone which merely reloads your device, QuickPull will actually refresh the device, freeing up memory and increasing performance!

QuickPull Free has more than 1,000,000 customers to date. Schedule to run a QuickPull at a certain time each day, or multiple times each week with new convenient scheduling features to keep your memory and performance running at its best.

You can even set a memory threshold that will allow QuickPull to alert you when your available memory drops too low. Compatible with all BlackBerry devices with OS 4.5+!

Download it to your device now and use it to reset your BlackBerry should you notice performance degradation. I would recommend performing a device reset (you won’t lost any of your data or settings) once a week which you can actually schedule. There is a Pro version available but I think the free one is sufficient though I haven’t used the former.

QuickLaunch by NikkiSoft

I can finally turn to the main application I want to discuss in this post called QuickLaunch by NikkiSoft. While not free like the above apps, it only costs $4.99 at the App World store and I guarantee you it is worth that small amount of money! Microsoft Windows (plus all other desktop operating systems like the various Linux flavors running Gnome, KDE, or Xfce, etc. and Mac OS X) has always had a useful little widget likewise called Quick Launch in Windows parlance that sits in the Taskbar — you know, the big bar at the bottom where the Start menu is located.

This little widget is the key to increased productivity. The applications I use most are located there so I can easily access them without having to sift through directories in the start menu (which I don’t use anyway and instead move to a separate “Programs” directory”). Unfortunately, BlackBerry OS 4.6 does not include such a ubiquitous feature found in modern desktop operating systems so instead you will need to shell out $5.00. Big deal. The increases in productivity you will gain are very noticeable.

QuickLaunch for the BlackBerry is a full featured, customizable menu that allows you to quickly access your favorite applications, websites, pictures — whatever! — with at least two key presses. I set the left button below the power input on my Bold 9000 to open QuickLaunch and QuickLaunch itself defaults to using that button to close the app. This makes ergonomic sense: use the same button to rapidly open and close QuickLaunch. Here is what it looks like when I press that button:

Notice how elegant the white on black text looks (the colors can be changed to a few preset colors) and its right side location (which can also be changed the left). I leave it on the right because the standard BlackBerry context menu comes up on the left and this provides good visual contrast for each menu. At the top of QuickLaunch is the optional date and time plus the current weather! These options aren’t enabled by default and if you do enable them, you won’t be able to add as many applications to the main menu because of the loss of some screen real estate but that’s okay because you can create submenus!

In addition to submenus, you can also create horizontal ruled spacers between menu items. Clicking the BlackBerry menu option lets you move items around which is a little clunky but it does the job. When moving item menus around, the application has a hard time visually indicating where the item is actually going to move to but if you keep track of its location in your head and practice a few times, you should be just fine figuring out where the item will end up. Items can of course be moved to submenus and the aside from the little item-moving issue, the GUI is intuitive.

Items themselves can be…

• Applications
• Websites
• Phone numbers
• E-mail addresses
• SMS text message s
• PIN messages
• or any other type of “openable” file like an image or audio clip

The screenshots above were actually taken by an application that comes with the software. Unfortunately it seems a bit difficult to capture menus like “Settings” and “Add Item” so that is why I list them above. I can’t complain too much about this because I am trying to use QuickLaunch on itself and of course this isn’t the typical use case. Nevertheless the settings are highly customizable and NikkiSoft actively updates the software (I received an update two weeks after my purchase). QuickLaunch can be opened from any context (at least it seems that way) meaning if you are busy using BlackBerry Messenger you can still open QuickLaunch just as if you were on the home screen. In addition, every item can be assigned a unique shortcut key which makes productivity even faster! For example, if I want to write a new text message, I press the left button (the aforementioned button on the left side of the phone) and press the “T” key and a blank text message pops up. When I press “D,” Dictionary.com’s application launches and I can quickly look up words.

The only downside thus far is that when BlackBerry OS updates occur, your settings are wiped out. This isn’t limited to QuickLaunch but they recognize the problem and have an option to backup your menu configurations to a text file which is created in the root of my MicroSD media card. Make sure you back up your QuickLaunch settings or they will be gone after an OS upgrade.

This product is amazing so sack up and drop five bucks on this worthwhile application. Comments, questions, hate mail, whatever — use the comment form below and I will get back to you ASAP! Thanks for reading!

NOTE: I am not at all affiliated with anyway of the companies listed above and am conducting an independent review of the third party BlackBerry apps.

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