I have a policy for evaluating BlackBerry applications — at least for personal use. If it’s free and appears remotely useful, I’ll give it a shot. All this costs me is the marginal amount of time it takes to download and use the app, and then the time to restart my BlackBerry if I decide to delete it. If, on the other hand, the app costs money, I had better be sure before I buy it if I’m going to need it or not. When I first saw Antair Snippets, I thought that it might be worth it. But then I saw the price tag and thought that Memo Pad might be able to perform a similar function for free. I thought I’d present the case for you in this space.
Antair Snippets
Antair’s video provides the best introduction to Snippets. It’s basically a canned message application. You input frequently typed messages, and can then select them whenever you need a quick response.
I can see the advantages. It integrates with your BlackBerry inbox, so it makes for quick and easy canned messages. I can think of plenty of instances where I’d love to have a series of canned messages ready for use. But then again, I can accomplish a similar action with a native BlackBerry app.
Memo Pad
Memo Pad is not fancy. It’s just a basic note-taking app, and I’m sure nearly every BlackBerry user has jotted something down with it at least a few times. It’s my note-taking buddy while I’m on the subway and other forms of transit. When I examined Antair Snippets a bit closer I thought that Memo Pad could do the same thing, but for free.
You can create a new file for each snippet, or you can store a bunch of snippets in one file. Either way, it doesn’t take too much effort to retrieve them. While you’re in the composition screen just hold the Menu button, scroll to Memo Pad (assuming it’s already open), select the file, and copy and paste the appropriate canned message. Again, it takes a few extra movements, but if you use the task switcher function (holding Menu), it shouldn’t take too long.
Verdict
For me, Memo Pad does the job just fine. I don’t mind the couple of extra keystrokes, especially if it saves me $20. Memo Pad might not have the fancy interface and inbox integration that Snippets features, but it’s simple, familiar, and cheap. I’ll take it.
I can understand, though, if others would rather just pay for the ease that the application offers. I tend to think that it’s more of a $5, maybe $10 application, so the $20 price tag seems a bit steep, at least in terms of what I normally pay for a BlackBerry app. If it sounds up your alley, though, you can get Antair Snippets at the BBGeeks Store. For the rest of us, there’s always Memo pad.
This post originated at BBGeeks.com – home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.
Antair Snippets can save you time, Memo Pad can save money
This post originated at BBGeeks.com – home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.
Antair Snippets can save you time, Memo Pad can save money