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App Review: Find My Berry
Ever misplaced your cellphone? Of course you have.
Tried calling it with another phone and listening for the ring, only to remember you had left it in vibrate or silent mode? A helpless feeling, isn’t it?
“Find My Berry” is an application (”app”) that is really helpful in this situation. A $4.95 purchase from Mobireport, you almost can’t afford NOT to have this app. So, how does it work?
The only “catch” is that you must have a way to send an email to your phone. If you own a BlackBerry, I’m guessing you probably don’t stray too far from Internet access. Compose an email with a custom subject line (the default is “findme”; it is not case-sensitive). In case someone else finds your phone before you do, enter a message body with enough information for the finder to contact you about finding the phone (e.g., “If you find my phone, please call me at my office at 770-555-1234. Thanks!). Then, send the email to your BlackBerry using any of the email addresses that your phone is setup to receive. (BTW–a text message won’t work because it has no subject line.)
When your BlackBerry receives an email with the special subject line, Find My Berry is activated. Here’s what it does to get attention:
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Rings in loud mode (no matter if the phone had been set to any other mode)
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Vibrates
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Flashes the screen, alternating between all white and all black screens (but see below)
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Flashes the LED, alternating between red and blue
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Continues the above for 3 minutes, then leaves the email message on the screen
Small imperfections:
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If the screen backlighting has timed out–which is virtually guaranteed to be the case, the screen flashing cannot override it so is ineffective. If your phone is in a case or lying face down, the flashing screen or LED probably couldn’t be seen anyway. To see the email message, the finder must press a key to “wake up” the screen.
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If the keyboard is locked, the finder must know how to unlock the keyboard to read the message on the screen. Fortunately, the BlackBerry gives directions on which keys to push to unlock.
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One time during my testing of the app for this review, the screen seemed to get locked in dim mode no matter what I did, but it returned to normal after the 3-minute interval completed.
I highly recommend this app for your BlackBerry. Mobireport states that it is compatible with all models of BlackBerry.
3 comments on this post
Kelly,
I downloaded this App. I think it will be worth the money, if I ever lose my BB. The phone didn’t Vibrate or have any Audio after I did the FindMe. I tried changing tones, but still nothing. There were some app alarms that popped up the first time I tried the app, but not since. I will let you know if I get a resolution.
Thanks,
Brad
I did some more research and found somebody else had the same problem.
Here was the solution.
Ok…..update I contacted the developer and they sent me 2 different steps the last step worked which is to allow permission:
1. Go to Options\Security Options\Application Permissions\ on your BlackBerry.
2. Highlight BerryLocator and select Edit Permissions from the menu.
3. Configure the Security Permissions to “Allow” for all categories.
4. Save the changes.
5. Next please perform a battery pull out
6. send another email to phone
Brad,
Super troubleshooting work (again)!
When I get time I’ll try to revise the articles that you’ve helped add useful information for. I can’t say enough how great it is to have readers that can contribute, and will take the time to return and share it. I’ve been wondering how long I can sustain the effort I’ve been putting in to keep this blog worth returning to. A key to keeping this blog relevant is a community of readers who contribute.
Thanks,
Kelly