BerrySlider prevents your BlackBerry from unlocking in your pocket

As humans we all have a level of pride, and part of that pride means not wanting to admit that we’re wrong. We’re wrong all the time, of course, but to admit it would be to show a sign of weakness. Or something like that. It’s not easy, then, for me to say that I was completely wrong about bLOC. It was a great idea, but the execution was poor. To unlock your phone you had to click the unlock key, then hit the back/escape key, and then roll the trackball to unlock. Worse, it happened every time the screen went dark, which meant a lot of button pressing and sliding. I uninstalled after a day. There is an app, though, that cuts out one of the steps and provides a much better experience. Welcome to BerrySlider. I had seen this in the Store for quite some time, as it feature prominently on our best selling apps list. Yet, for some reason, I thought it was for touchscreen devices only. It is not. You can use it on almost any BlackBerry. What I like about BerrySlider is that you have tons of options with it. For instance, by default it goes to the lock screen when your backlight times out. I don’t like that at all. Yet I realize that in some instances it is useful. The app gives me the option to stop it from launching after backlight timeout, but even better, it gives me the option to set a timer. So now it takes five minutes after my backlight times out before I have to use the slide to unlock feature. There are a ton of other options, too, including password protection, automatic launch upon charger connection, and weather widgets. This all brings it a step above other applications. You can even change the wallpaper if you don’t want to stare at the BlackBerry logo when you’re on the lock screen. I am truly sorry for recommending bLOC without testing it for more than a day. Because of this, I’ve walked around with BerrySlider for most of this week, and I have found it to be an easy experience. The options really put it over the top. If you’d like to keep your BlackBerry locked, even when you accidentally hit the unlock button, you can get BerrySlider for $2.99. Again, it works on almost all available BlackBerry models.

About the Author

Joe Pawlikowski is the Senior Editor at MobileMoo.com and has been covering the mobile industry full time since 2007. When he's not writing about the tech scene, he can be found discussing his personal love - baseball (and more specifically the New York Yankees) as well as writing on his personal blog.