The Z10 has landed in the United States and with it comes BlackBerry’s brand new mobile platform, BlackBerry 10. Now how does this thing work?
If you picked up the latest and greatest from the smartphone maker of the north, it may take a little while to figure out all the features hidden in the OS’s nooks and crannies. We dug up 10 helpful tips to get you started on your way to BlackBerry nirvana. Or at least get your Nirvana singles on your phone.
Take a Screenshot
Press the top and bottom volume buttons at the same time. Photos will be in the Pictures app in the Camera roll.
Stop a Phantom Video From Playing
If you load a video or a web page with a video, it will continue to play long after you’ve moved on to another app. To stop the video, tap the button between the volume control buttons. If you press the volume buttons, a controller will appear on screen and you can stop, forward and reverse the video that you can’t actually see, but you can hear. Weird.Turn on Adobe Flash
Why would you want to do this? Sometimes you need Flash. In the browser, go to Settings>Display and Actions and flip the toggle for Adobe Flash to on. Good luck with that.Get Media on Your Z10
BlackBerry has BlackBerry World with all its songs, movies and apps. But that doesn’t mean you have to start buying your music from yet another music store — you can actually add your music to your new smartphone with the BlackBerry Link app. You can download it here.The BlackBerry Link app isn’t without its bugs (it shot my MacBook Air’s CPU to the roof by just being on), but once you get it set up and drag your songs, videos, photos and docs to your new phone, you’re good to go.
Skip a Song With the Volume Button
In addition to adjusting the loudness of your tunes, the physical volume buttons can be used to skip tracks. To enable track-skipping, head to Settings>System Volume and turn on Music Shortcuts. Volume levels are controlled by tapping on the volume buttons; to skip forward or back in a playlist, hold down the up or down volume button.Change Your Search Engine
BlackBerry 10 ships with Bing as the default search engine. If you’re a fan of Google or Yahoo, you can swap it out. Initiate a search in the URL field at the bottom of the browser app. When the app recognizes a search, it’ll start to complete your search and in the top right-hand corner you’ll see a drop down menu to choose a different engine.
We were Promised Time Shift
Time Shift — a feature that shoots a few frames before and after you actually click the shutter to help you get the perfect shot — isn’t turned on by default. You have to select Time Shift from the options button at the top right-hand corner of the Camera app. Sadly, you can’t make a GIF out of all the frames.Take a Photo From the Lock Screen
In the lower left corner of the lock screen you’ll see the universal icon for a camera. Tap and hold on that icon for a few seconds and the camera app will launch. Snap a photo by tapping the screen or tapping the volume up or down buttons.Word Shortcuts
Fans of Text Expander will appreciate the ability to create shortcuts to words. BlackBerry 10 already has a list of word substitutions, but you can add your own. Head to Settings>Language and Input>Automated Assistance>Word Substitution, tap Add Shortcut at the bottom of the screen and start adding all your favorite words and ASCII art, like this historically accurate Twitter reaction to Google killing Reader.–> (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻)Find Your BlackBerry
Like Find My iPhone but with a hint of poutine. Actually the service is called BlackBerry Protect. But like Find My iPhone, it lets you pinpoint your missing Z10 on a map, send messages, have it sound an alarm, and remotely wipe the device from the Protect BlackBerry website.To turn the service on, and you really should turn it on, head to Settings>BlackBerry Protect and just toggle it on. That’s it.
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