How To: Top 10 Tips for BlackBerry 10 Smartphones

Now running BlackBerry OS 10, BlackBerry devices are smarter, more powerful and more connected than ever. There are various ways to improve the user experience and get things done faster and more efficiently with BlackBerry devices, here are the top 10 tips worth trying out to get the most out of your BlackBerry 10 device.

1.     Reset the BlackBerry 10 Hub:

·       Make 5 short quick swipes from the top right corner of the display to reset the Hub and notifications. You will see a message that lets you know your smartphone is “Preparing BlackBerry Hub.”

2.     View attachments at a glance in the Hub:

·       BlackBerry Hub lets you quickly find attachments in your messages so you don’t have to try to remember the subject of a message or hunt through a long list of emails. Simply select the Attachment icon to see all attachments. You can then immediately share the attachment with others.

3.     Customize your BlackBerry Hub:

·       You can set the Hub to show only Unread Messages, Flagged Messages, Draft Messages, Meeting Invites, Sent Messages or Level 1 alerts. Once the filter criterion is set, you can activate the filter with a pinch gesture on the Hub’s message list.

4.     Change your default search engine:

·       The default search engine on BlackBerry 10 smartphones is Bing, but BlackBerry 10 users may have other preferences. To change it, simply begin typing a search term in the browser bar. This will bring up a search engine option box at the top right corner of the screen, where you can select your preferred service provider.

5.     Delete an entire word with just one swipe:

·       Instead of holding the back space to delete a whole word, just swipe from right to left from any spot on the touchscreen keyboard to remove it quickly.

6.     Use Bedside mode:

·       When the smartphone is in stand-by (lock screen), swipe down from the top of the display to pull down the shade and go into Bedside mode, which dims the clock display and disables alerts. You can customize this to allow notifications or phone calls to chime while in Bedside mode by going into the Clock Settings.

7.     Use gesture shortcuts on the touchscreen keyboard:

·       To capitalize a letter or access extended characters: Holding on a particular key on the keyboard will automatically capitalize the letter. If you hold on the key a little longer, the key’s extended character set will pop up. For example, if you hold on the letter “R” it will show you the symbol for a registered trademark. To select an extended character, slide your thumb from the letter to the extended character you want, then lift your thumb to complete the selection.

·       To insert a period: Tap the space bar twice to get a period.

·       To delete an entire word at once: Hitting the backspace key will delete one letter at a time. If you want to delete an entire word, make a short quick swipe to the left from anywhere on the keyboard. To delete two words, swipe with two fingers. To delete three words, swipe with three fingers.

·       To toggle through character key sets: Instead of tapping on the “?123” and “&%” buttons to toggle through the various character key sets, you can simply swipe down from the top of the keyboard with your thumb.

·       To close the touchscreen keyboard: Hold down on the space bar until the keyboard closes

·       Select a predicted next word: See the correct word appear on the keyboard? Simply flick the word with an upward motion and the word will appear in the text field.

8.     Use BBM Voice and Video:

·       With BBM Voice and Video, you can set up phone calls or face-to-face chats with friends, family and colleagues over a Wi-Fi network. BlackBerry Natural Sound technology enhances audio and makes BBM Voice and Video chats sound more natural and realistic, letting you hear nuances and variations in tones and making conversations sound like you’re in the same room.

·       BBM Video also comes with Screen Share that lets users show documents, presentations, photos, your browser, and even the view from your camera.

*These features require the use of the BBM app, which comes pre-installed on BlackBerry smartphones. iOS and Android users can download BBM directly from their respective app stores*

9.     Reply to a message without leaving the app you’re in:

·       Emails, texts and BBM messages will appear at the top of the screen no matter which app you are in. To reply immediately just hit the ß to reply or the X to dismiss the message.

10.  Send messages to email or SMS distribution lists:

·       Open up your contact list and tap New Group at the bottom. Then select the people you want in that group. Or better yet, you can move that group over to BBM even if your friends or colleagues are on Android or iOS now that BBM is available cross platform.