The best BlackBerry Torch apps

The BlackBerry Torch is not your typical BlackBerry, but that’s the point. Instead of focusing on just a touchscreen or just a full QWERTY keyboard, the Torch brings both to the table. Both features do feel a bit awkward — the keyboard is thinner and the screen is smaller than comparable BlackBerry smartphones — but the combination allows for many more possibilities. It also means there are apps that work well specifically with the Torch. Here’s our take on the best BlackBerry Torch applications. Angry Farm For whatever reason, Rovio, the developer of Angry Birds, has yet to release a BlackBerry version of its popular game. It was only a matter of time, of course, until another developer created a clone. That’s what Smarter Apps did with Angry Farm. It’s essentially the same game. You rear back and fling farm animals at walled-up foxes. Kill them all to clear the level, and get bonuses by smashing everything to bits. You can get Angry Farm for half off right now, just $2.49. SnapScreen It’s always handy to have a screen capture app on hand. This goes more for full-screen smartphones, since there’s more going on within the screen. It’s useful for creating tips and tutorials, or just showing your friends the crazy thing that just popped up on your BlackBerry. While there are many screenshot apps, SnapScreen is both cheap and effective. It lets you use JPG, PNG, and BMP formats, and it allows you to email the screenshot immediately. I’ve been using SnapScreen since my BlackBerry 8830, and recommend it to all who ask. You can get SnapScreen for just 99 cents. PatternLock With touchscreen devices, unlocking usually consists of three steps. First, you wake up the device. Then, you slide a button to unlock. Then you enter your password. You can take out that last step, though, with PatternLock. Instead of simply dragging an icon to unlock — which is there just to prevent you from unlocking in your pocket — PatternLock allows you to set a certain pattern swipe that will unlock your device. That acts like a password in itself. You can lock the entire device, or just individual apps. Whatever the case, it’s much easier than entering in your password every time. You can get PatternLock for $2.99. Google Maps At first I wasn’t going to include this on the list. After all, it’s a pretty common app for any BlackBerry. The difference, I guess, is that it works even better with touchscreen devices. Since the Torch is roughly the size of a GPS, you can easily mount it — using a BlackBerry car mount — and get turn-by-turn directions. Google Maps, as always, is free. You can get Google Maps for mobile here. YouTube Download Downloader Watching YouTube videos on the BlackBerry has never been better. The new Torch has superb screen quality, which means you’ll get the best possible picture from YouTube. But sometimes you might want to have that video around even when you don’t have an internet connection. That’s where YouTube downloaders come in handy. YouTube Download Downloader is a versatile app that allows you to grab the video, or just the audio. It also allows you to store either on internal or external memory, and allows you low, medium, and high quality options. You can get YouTube Download Downloader for $2.99. CameraToGo As with screenshots, it seems that touchscreen users simply take more photos than non-touchscreen users. I’m not sure why. In any case, any avid smartphone photographer probably wants a few options that the native camera does not provide. While there are some good tips for taking better BlackBerry photos, there are just things that only an app can bring. CameraToGo brings a few essential options, including a mute button for stealth photographers. It also has a timer, so you can pop up your BlackBerry and take quick photos. You can get CameraToGo for $4.99. Email++ As I mentioned last week, Email++ is a powerful BlackBerry email tool. It lets you perform a number of functions that you could not otherwise. For example, the unsend feature is something that BlackBerry users have been awaiting for a long time. You can set a nice, long queue, and it will allow you time to rethink your message and, if you reconsider, take it all back. You can also edit the content of forwards and replies, automatically scrape emails for calendar appointments, and set pop-ups for new messages. IT’s a comprehensive email tool that has come in super handy since I’ve started using it. You can get Email++ for $4.99. Calendar Pro Your BlackBerry already has powerful organizational tools. The calendar, email, and contacts systems are second to none in the smartphone world. Yet we’ve already seen where certain apps can make those functions even better. In the same way that Email++ makes your email experience better, Calendar Pro makes your calendar experience superb. It lays over your normal calendar, but super-charges it. You can read the BBGeeks walkthrough of Calendar Pro for all the tantalizing details. You can get Calenar Pro for just $5.99, down from $14.99 previously. SpeedLock While PatternLock makes for easy unlocking of your touchscreen device, SpeedLock makes for quick unlocking. SpeedLock makes it easier to lock your device, by making it automatic. That is, you can customize different settings that will automatically set off your screen lock. That will help you avoid accidental pocket dialing or app activation. It does include its own unlock feature, but hey, you already have PatternLock for that. You can get SpeedLock for just a buck.

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.