How come someone doesn't make a program that turns on the screen backlight for TEXT MAIL like it does when your getting a phone call? How hard is that to do. Don't more folks use TEXT mail lately?

A lot of times, I have phone laying on the computer desk where I can't see the tiny status light blinking or the vibration, so that would be real handy. You say, well you can hear it can't you. First, I'm deaf, so no, I can't hear it and I depend on text mail. Second, there are times you have to have the sound off, like if your in Starbucks or library. In those places the BB which is being used as a modem, is on the table next to the laptop. So again, I don't see the tiny status light when someone texts.

I don't know why nobody makes that. Probably because very few people need/want it. I use BBLight when I want my screen to stay on. I set it to stay on when plugged in and it works great for that.

I have the BBLight program but I need a app that only comes on when someone text me. The screen comes on when you get a call. Don't you like that feature? So why not for texting?

It would just run the battery down unnecessarily

Wouldn't be any different when the screen comes on when you get a call?
I guess I'm have to give up on this one.

I forget now which phone it was since I've had so many, but a couple years ago I had a cell phone that it's screen came on whenever some one texts. So I know it works on other phones.

I can see how one could want the screen to come on when an SMS arrives. Most every other phone I've had behaved that way. It was a little weird when I first got the BB, getting used to watching for the flashing red LED. But now I actually prefer the red LED to the entire screen lighting up. Personal preference I guess.

Good luck in your search.

I get far more texts than I do calls this is a good idea but would kill my battery

No more than getting calls would!
Of course it you can hear, you don't need it.

I don't see why not? More and more people are texting now and most like it when the backlight comes on when people are calling. What is so hard about making that work like that for texting?

It would drain the battery too fast.

If so, why do they have the backlight come on whenever you get a call???

lol so you can see whos calling maybe?!

No.............. so I can see when someone is texting me. I'm deaf and can't hear the phone when it is ringing and that status light is kind of small. When the phone rings the backlight lights up in bright white and you can easily see that. Why not for text mail and not just for calls???

Because that's what the led is for. There is nothing to do what you are asking. You can send an email to:

Ok let me put this in another way, how would you like it if the phone didn't ring and didn't have the backlight come on and just had that tiny status light come on at the top blinking.

That's what I'm dealing with as I can't hear the phone ring nor feel the vibration if the phone is on my computer desk.

I'll try the email address you gave me... thanks.

It doesn't matter whether I like or dislike the idea. The fact is, RIM doesn't offer that feature and neither does any 3rd party app.

What does matter is I can make myself HEARD!

One doesn't get something done unless they're make it known.

Why not just use BB light to keep your screen lit while it's on your desk and connected to external power? Then you can glance at it anytime you want.

The screen comes on for a phone call so you can see the caller ID, otherwise it probably wouldn't need to light up either... there is no such thing as a texter ID, so no need for the backlight to come on for every text received...
Furthermore, I don't want to have to sit there and stare at my BB to see when the backlight comes on, just to know there is a text. Use the vibrate feature if you can't hear the alert. I'd personally rather preserve my battery life than the backlight keep coming on every few minutes or so.

Jack doesn't like that answer.

First, you wouldn't be staring at you backlight!
Second, if you couldn't hear it ring... how would YOU know if someone is texting or emailing you???

That wouldn't work as then how would you know when someone is calling or texting? I do have the BBlight & BBalerts and they help somewhat. Plus I elevate the phone on my desktop so I can see the status light better.

Hey Jack,

I'm cross-posting this just in case you don't see the other thread in the Curve forum.

I can't help you with a program that makes the backlight come on when a message comes in. But I can suggest a good way of keeping your phone standing up while it's on your desk, therefore making it easy to see the LED indicator when messages are incoming.

I just picked up the BB Charging Pod from Amazon for ~$19 which included shipping (~$15 without)... It'll keep the Curve standing... and it'll charge it as a plus: Amazon.com: BlackBerry ASY-14396-002 Series Charging Pod - Silver for 8300 (CURVE) Series Devices: Cell Phones & Service

It seems like you're looking for a program to light up the backlight when a message comes in because your curve is laying down on the desk...making it hard to see the LED indicator. But if your Curve was standing up... the LED indicator would be in plain sight and you wouldn't need the backlight to come on...

So... hopefully this is a solution for you.

Hanwei

The only solution I can think of (albeit admittedly not that helpful) if you don't want to miss that SMS, is to wear the phone so that you can feel it vibrate.

I'd anticipate that you'd thought of that already and prefer to see it on your desk and ideally yes, have the screen light up where it'd catch your eye -- but barring that, currently I think you already have it as good as it can get for now (with BB Alerts' LED and desktop positioning).

Alternately, although I hesitate to suggest an alternative to BB Alerts (which I love and use), there is also another one out there, e-Mobile Alerts. The basic premise is the same; and although I feel e-Mobile Alerts has less of a feature set overall, one thing that it does have that may appeal to you is multi-coloured alerts (it may catch your eye easier), e.g. rapid flashing of alternating red and blue, for example. It also has vibrate and tone options too, but there is no evaluation version, you must purchase it first to try it (available on Handango).

That is probably what I'll end up doing. Looks neat too.
Thanks for the pixs.
I'm sort of doing that here:

No problem, Jack

interesting set up ^

Not only can I see it better at that angle, when it vibrates, it slides off the base. Can't miss that!

Notice you CAN see the status light better at this angle...


than you can laying flat.

and when the phone vibrates, it slides off the pad.

PocketDay Pro has a setting to make the backlight come on when a message arrives. It works for email -- I'd assume it works for text messages also. I don't get many text messages, so I haven't noticed. I like the feature because I can see right away who the email is from.

Can you test that by having someone text you? I'll get it for sure if the backlight does indeed work for text mail.

Sure, I can do that. You can download the trial also and try it out. The trial is good for 30 days. PocketDay Personal may do that as well and it costs less than Pro.

Thank you!

jack55,

I started a new thread - http://www.blackberryforums.com/afte...e-updates.html to see if someone would modify bblight to fix it for my situation. I've done a quick look at the API for the BB and there are provisions to get an alert in a program when a message arrives.

If someone takes up my request to update bblight for me they might also add a feature for you to enable the backlight when an sms is received.

SMF

Cool!

I just downloaded the trial version of PocketDay Personal. Now I have to read the manual to see how to set it up. If it has the backlight feature for text, I'll buy it when the 30 days are up. That will give me time to see if someone does a hackup/update for BBlight or BBalert which I have now.

I forgot to get someone to text me yet.

To set it to have the backlight come on with a message, open it, go to settings > Utility settings . check "Blacklight on Message Receive" and save changes. You might have to change permissions for the application for it to work. I was getting security alerts that it was trying to change settings until I changed permissions for it to allow all.

Yep, I found that setting and set it there. Didn't know exactly what it was. I'll test it when my wife gets home. Hope it works. Thanks!

I just got a text message and I'm happy to report the backlight did turn on!!

Cool... can't wait to try it out on my wife's cell. She is at work now with her cell phone off. I just got this from the Pocketday support:

Yes. PocketDay will cause the backlight to come on for both text and email

- Show quoted text -
------Original Message------
From: Jack
To:
Subject: pocketday text question
Sent: May 13, 2008 6:31 PM

On your pocketday software can you set it so the backlight, (not just status light) comes on when someone texts you, like it does when someone calls you, the backlight comes on and shows who is calling. I'm deaf and can't hear the phone. I don't always have my phone on my side which is set on vibrate. Sometimes the phone is on the desk near my comuter and I can't really see the tiny status light.

Thank you,
Jack

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Awesome! PocketDay has great support. The dev posts here as crs. It's one of my favorite apps on the BB.

Question? I also have BBalerts & BBlights. Will those settings mess up the one for PocketDay Personal? Should I disable BBalerts & BBlights while testing Pocketday?