9 Things You Didn't Know a BlackBerry Smartphone Could Do

9 Things You Didn’t Know a BlackBerry Smartphone Could Do

Updated on November 13th, 2014 by Quertime Writer in Mobile

It’s not breaking news that BlackBerry phones can do a lot of things. Like many smartphones out there, they can serve as music players, calendars, web browsing devices, and just about anything else you can find an app for. Realistically however, most BlackBerry phones are not used to their full potential because their owners aren’t aware of all the cool things they can do.

When you really want to accomplish something in life, you have to use everything you have to the utmost extent of its power. The following are just a few things your Blackberry can do that you probably didn’t know about.

Work Like a Decibel Meter

If your phone is running the BB10 OS, just for example, it can monitor the level of strength your call has based upon the decibel level instead of using bars. While bars are a nice and simple visual aid to knowing how strong your calls are, the decibel meter makes your calling process into a more scientific one.

This method allows you to think about how well you’re getting the loud part of “loud and clear.” All you have to do to activate this process is hold the Alt key and press N, M, then L twice. You can toggle the effect off by using the sequence again.

Fixes Your Address Book

Sometimes your address book has inconsistencies and even outright errors, and not correcting these problems could result in not having access to the kind of information that you might need later on. In the case of the BlackBerry smartphone, the device is able to look through the structure of the directory and check for any kind of inconsistent data.

From there, a BlackBerry phone can often fix the problem. This way, you can focus on the content in your messages instead of the details about who they’re going to. Just hold Alt and press V, A, L and D to spot the inconsistencies and R, B, D and L to rebuild your address book’s structure.

Makes Coding Easy

If you have the skills to code the type of webpages your smartphone shows you, you can get a lot of information about how they work. This is simple to do when you view the source code, which you can do by holding the Alt key and pressing R, B, V and S while you’re in the web browser. Being able to pull the source code up from your phone can prove to be a very useful feature, whether you enjoy coding webpages, or are just learning how to do it.

Tells You What You Need to Know

You can easily get technical information about your BlackBerry and its specifications by holding the Alt key and then pushing the left Shift and H keys. This is great if you want to learn how to program and want to know something specific about how your phone works from a hardware perspective.

If you just want to know the serial number, you can get this easily enough by typing *, o, 6, and # to get the number at any time. This is very useful information if you’re talking to tech support and need to identify your phone easily.

Translates On-the-Go

The Navita Translator app has the capability of translating spoken and written words into 60 different languages. The free app can also be connected to your Facebook and Twitter Accounts, as well as offering a basic memo format, so you’ll never have to wonder what the ladies at the nail salon are talking about again.

Gives Messaging Shortcuts

By now anyone who owns a smartphone, or has used one for a short time is familiar with text messaging. One thing that makes the BlackBerry unique to other smartphones is its keyboard shortcuts, making messaging even more convenient. Here are shortcuts to use when typing on your BlackBerry:

Press the Space key twice to insert a period. The next letter will be capitalized.
To capitalize a letter, hold the letter key until the capitalized letter appears.
To activate the number lock feature, press Alt + Left Shift.
To turn on Caps lock: Alt + Right Shift.
To turn off Number lock or Caps lock, press the Shift key.
Press the Space key to insert an “at sign” (@) or a period (.) in an email address field.

Know When You Don’t Want to be Bothered

Blackberry has an automatic on/off option. You can program it to turn off when you are in class or at work (if it’s a personal BB) and back on again once class or work are over. This could be especially helpful for conserving energy and battery life. Tell your device to turn off shortly after you usually leave the office, and back on again when you’re up and moving in the morning. This will extend your battery life and conserve energy at the same time.

Perform a “Soft Reset”

Your BlackBerry can reset itself. Simply press-and-hold “Alt”, then press-and-hold (left) “shift”, then press-and-hold “Del”. This is the equivalent of removing the battery for a few seconds and replacing it.

Balance Work and Personal Time

Keeping work and personal issues separate is a common dilemma with BlackBerry and smartphone users. How do you leave work at work if it follows you home on your phone? Your BlackBerry is actually equipped with a feature that will keep these things separate for you. The BlackBerry Balance feature sets up two distinct content streams on your device. This can be especially helpful if your employer allows you to use your company furnished phone for personal uses, or if you just want to keep things separate. Access this feature through the Blackberry Business Cloud Service.

So here are a few things you probably didn’t know your phone could do. By knowing them, you’ll have a better all-around user experience. Do you know of any other cool tricks your BlackBerry can do?

Author: Kristina Jackson

Kristina Jackson is a freelance writer in technology and design. When I am not busy writing, you can find me hanging out with my puppy Louie while watching YouTube videos of Paula Deen.