The top 10 things we hate about the BlackBerry
We gave you our iPhone list, and while this probably has many more minor annoyances than actual feature omissions, we still thought it would be fun to put a list of our gripes together. Some of these might be device-specific, but you’ll get a general feel for the direction we’re going and why these things piss us off to no end.
1. The ridiculous limit on file sizes when downloading from the browser. Look, if I want to download a friggin’ video file, let me.
2. Attachments are pretty bad and it has to do with RIM’s ever-so-sneaky compression. We’ve heard that when data is sent over their network, it literally can take a 100kb file and compress it to around 7kb. (A carrier’s dream). Just let us get the entire file without having to constantly wait for it to render when we zoom it, etc.
3. Specifically speaking for the Bold, the “R” shortcut key no longer takes you to the Alarm. This pains me.
4. Actually, about shortcuts… for a product that excels on making your life easier and offering up a ton of user-customization, there is no reason we shouldn’t be able to program our own shortcut keys. If I want the letter “B” to take me to the Memo Pad, then let me do it damn it. I’m tired of being stuck at the mercy of RIM’s shortcut key assignment. They make no sense and they are hardly integrated in 3rd party applications.
5. When you get a pop-up menu, there are no boundaries to where you can scroll. Let’s use one of the Application Permissions screens. Why am I allowed to scroll above “Yes” and below “No”? There are only two options yet it seems as if you could scroll to China before selecting one of them.
6. Horrible APIs that developers can’t access. If RIM opened these up, we’d have a much better set of applications on there than we do now. I’m not sure anyone can say 3rd party apps are one of BlackBerry’s strengths.
6 and a 1/2. One of the reasons the OS is so bad at times is because of the nature of the device — security. We know this is why over 50,000 of them are deployed across the U.S. Government for instance, but look, RIM either needs to deploy a consumer brand or find a way to make this work. Security is great and all, but stick to what you know. You’re either the businessman’s savior or the tween’s IM machine. It’s incredibly difficult to be both. Don’t try and conquer the music industry or take on Apple’s App Store. It won’t work and you’re diverting precious resources away from other serious projects.
7. Build quality has been declining. That’s not to say there aren’t some BlackBerrys that will last forever, but from personal experience, every device since the Bold has suffered countless production issues and problems. (Anyone get the screen freak out on their Bolds? I bet you have.) I’d be interested in seeing the average lifespan of a BlackBerry now compared to two years ago. I think it would be shocking.
8. When sending an email with a local file attachment, show me the status! I want to watch it go from 1%-100%! It comforts me.
9. Desktop Manager shouldn’t take forever to update the operating system. I think it’s fair to say RIM has the longest OS update time in the biz.
10. Stop with the “More” crap. Let me get the entire email message when I want it. Also let HTML emails load external images automatically. Yes, yes, we know. It’s for security. But you know what, if I want to venture out on a limb and *gasp* download external .jpgs automatically, let me!
i hate how you cannot highlight or change the color of anything in emails, memopad, calendar etc. I would love to be able to change the dates in a calendar to a different color…. it would just make things way easier.
and has anyone ever noticed that when you pull the bold out of the holster you’re always pressing one of the side buttons? the buttons are spaced out accordingly so you’re always pushing something on either side. i had to disable my buttons completely!
I love how even though the iPhone list contains far more desireable features that are needed, this list still feels like a prolonged, and unnecessary attack at RIM, even though most of the list is very nitpicky and minor.
I want to be able to forward and rewind like any other music player. Depending on the length if the mp3 the rackball can skip from 10 seconds to a couple of mins(if you have one 60 min mp3) I hate that I can’t rewind and forward properly. And another nig one sound thru blutooth when watching videos.
I’ll add one; cut the fat. I don’t understand why I’m presented with a Webster’s dictionary-sized list of menu options in the most popular applications when I’ll only use, say, 5 of them frequently at the most, and those choices aren’t presented first. You have to scroll to get to them. Put those at the top, don’t make me scroll, and add a More… option at the bottom for the things I’ll never use. Done.
@BGR
Dude your an idiot. Always bringing up. Apple. This might have been an ok article even though your obviously dissing the Blackberry but you think the iphone is the Holy Grail of phones. It’s not it sucks and there’s 50 things you can easily hate about it. Sure itunes is great and the media and browser are great but it sucks ass as a phone. Stop working for apple you damn fanboy. Go get a real job let someone non-biased blog. Btw stop emailing my naked pics of you, your ugly.
Some of the things on this list don’t pertain to me but I can certainly understand where you are coming from on others.
“Stop with the ‘More’ crap.” That is priceless. lol.
I have also noticed that the left side of my case bulges out slightly on my Storm. It definitely wasn’t like this in the beginning so I hope it doesn’t get worse over time. Glad I have the replacement plan.
windows mobile… ftw? I didn’t now these flaws existed on iphone and blackberry.
Well no doubt you got pressure from the Ipod fans to take an equal whack at RIM. However, the only problem is even BGR really couldn’t come up with 10 serious gripes and you pretty much admitted this yourself. So you threw in some really lame gripes just to count to ten? Come on BGR . . . you’re better than this . . . or are ya?
The calendar — it needs to emulate outlook 2007 as best as it can.
The media player needs to be updated to sync better with itunes – star ratings, create new playlists, etc. It needs to incorporate a lot of the fixes the people above me have mentioned, these should be a breeze for programmers.
THE BROWSWER. Even on the bold it’s not great. And for the life of you, get flash support, WAKE UP, you know how many people will love you for that?
Initial setup is pretty terrible. It needs MUCH better integration with Gmail/yahoo/hotmail/outlook for email sync (deleting, sent message storage, etc)
Address book/notes/tasks and calendar need to sync with outlook, gmail, etc, ALL ON BIS.
It needs to have a better way of letting me attach files to emails – I don’t want to have to look through a list of IMG0001 IMG0004 when I am trying to attach to an email, I want to be able to see thumbnails for pics on that screen.
PLEASE FIX THIS RIMM, YOU HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO MAKE A GREAT OPERATING SYSTEM HERE.
I hate having to pay to upgrade docs to go.
“Specifically speaking for the Bold, the “R” shortcut key no longer takes you to the Alarm. This pains me.”
+1 : you have no idea how much this sucks until you start using the Bold
Already exists… i think in 4.5 software an above you can set the option in screen keyboard to “Full Menu” or “Short Menu” – with this set to short when you press the trackball to open the menu it will just have the most common used selections – if you use the Blackberry menu button you will get the full menu.
Lol most of these are directed at the bold
Call me a fanboi if you want, but several of these complaints sound like you had a hard time getting all the way to 10 and started nitpicking.
1) “The R shortcut key no longer takes you to the Alarm” YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING!
2) Scrolling in pop-up menus: IRRELEVANT.
3) Compressed attachments is a SMART feature. It makes things faster. You should just want to take a peek and check what the document is about. It’s a phone, for crying out loud! Not a notebook.
4) Security is king! If you don’t like it, get an iPhone.
5) Yes, taking too long to update the operating system is annoying, but not nearly as annoying as taking too long to simply REBOOT the phone. That is at least 25 times more annoying and you didn’t mention it. So what kind of “Top 10″ is that? Where are your priorities?
by the way, FIX SMS and MMS. By fix SMS I mean MAKE IT THREADED. It is not hard. You are such a bunch of lazy bums that program devices over there at rimm. I dont know what the heck is wrong with you.
Also, start using the same parts in your phones more often and stop making stuff so carrier specific. You guys are wasting valuable resources and you are just complicating things.
This is a awesome list and very well thought out. Try the Storm though and then multiply it by 10! For example, no themes! Also the theme does this transition thing when going from the icon screen to the app screen and if I time it right I can press the screen with enough lag that I can never actually get it to stop transitioning back and forth, effectively making me want to throw it against a wall. Also the lock screen needs to be pressed after you lock it to see the app below! It’s slow and lags on rotations even though the accelerometer has a very high resolution as seen in the ONLY true tilt game, Tiltris. WTF is with that? Then we get to the compatibility mode issue. i.e. older apps show in this tiny screen and SUCK until you turn compatibility mode off. Why isn’t this the default. Whenever I’m on a web page and try to click a form button or image, I have no idea if I have highlighted it unlike html links and have to click it 10 times until it’s zooomed so big that I can’t miss it. And I’m not even trying to zoom in.
Otherwise I love it and it’s my favorite blackberry of all the others I’ve had.
I’ve had 8703e, 8830, 8330 (curve).
to people complaining about the ‘r’ alarm shortcut:
find a programmer and they can write something that will bring it back like qsms. That program is great.
@DarkCobra: Possibly, the list is spot-on, given #6.5.
Although much more costly to produce and manage, I think BG is right in his thought to diversify RIM’s ‘professional-grade’ from the ‘consumer-grade’ along with all the apps and features each employs.
I’m a blackberry lover, however, what I hate most is the SLOW @$$ boot up time when you do a battery pull. (yah a battery pull is the ultimate ctrl-alt-del, but hey at least I can do a battery pull :: wink ::
I’ve timed my bootup time to about 4.5mins from time of battery insertion to time I can use my phone. Ridiculous in my mind.
How about the Fuze top ten?
This is an interesting list because I have had a Bold for about 5 months now and none of these items bother me and I haven’t even noticed some of them. Haven’t had any issues with build quality, though I know some people don’t like the plastic bezel. For sure, upgrading the OS is slow (I think it took about 25 minutes for me to go from .162 to .216) but I don’t do that very often. In terms of daily use and functionality, it’s a pretty kick-ass device.
It’s not perfect, of course, and every BB user has their list of gripes depending on their habits. I would like a better camera. I would like to be able to see the time when I’m on the browser. I would like to be able to choose different LED colours for different alerts.
All small things, all about daily use.
another meager attempt at pointing out the shortcomings of a BlackBerry…
low on posts today BGR
?
in all seriousness, those are all minor at best, but some valid points.
also, there are some long run statements made which i’d like to see some data for – for example, ‘build quality is decreasing’. please let me know what percentage of the new line of devices have failed, and compare with old, then we can get an unbiased view of the situation. and if you are correct, then well done – just back it up with facts please.
I love my berry, but I have to add to this list (and i’m surprised it wasn’t on there):
THE MEDIA PLAYER IS THE WORST!
How can you take on iTunes when your media player is only ‘futuristic and sleek’ in comparison to a Casio Walkman from the 90’s. Definitely needs major work still.
how about the 5 minute boot time and the inability to turn the radio back on when the battery is below a certain percentage…even when its in the charger?
…and i could probably write a book about what the storm could use
I don’t have a problem with any of those minor issues. The only thing that has happened to me twice since I got it in December is that all of a sudden it reboots on it’s own while on youtube. I guess it’s because it freezes due to a buffering issue or something.