I have been using a BlackBerry Storm for about a month now and have came to like the phone. While I don’t have an iPhone love affair going on, it’s a solid phone I wouldn’t not recommended. (understand?) It has its quarks like any phone, but the single most annoying feature could – and should – be resolved by Research in Motion.
You see the Storm auto rotates everything unlike the iPhone where only certain apps switch to landscape view. That’s fine with me for apps and such. Auto rotating the main menu/app menu doesn’t add any usability and in fact, is frustratingly annoying. Half the time the phone takes a few seconds to change orientation causing random bad thoughts to race through my head while the phone decides what to do. But mainly, there is no reason to have the home screen rotate and RIM needs to address this aggravating trademark of the Storm.
The BlackBerry Storm has square-like icons just like the iPhone and the beauty of these squarish icons is that you can tell what they are no matter how you are looking at them. The Twitter app still looks like the Twitter app when viewed on its side. The same thing goes for the Calendar, Contacts, Messages, all of them really cause they are square.
Listen, I would not have an issue with the auto-rotating thing if the Storm were fast enough to rotate. But when you pull the phone out of your pocket to make a quick call, you shouldn’t have to wait for the phone to decide which way it’s going to orientate itself and then allowing you into the phone dialing app.
This should be an easy fix by RIM. Just give users an option in the Homescreen Preferences to disable this action. Maybe some people like the feature, but a quick look at BlackBerry forum sites will turn up dozens of threads ranting about the same thing.
Other than that annoying feature and typing on a touchscreen, I have been pleasantly surprised by the Storm. The early reviews blasted the touchscreen BlackBerry, but if you’re bound to stay with VZW for some odd reason, the Storm isn’t that bad. Or you could wait for the 9630.
I don’t know how people use these touch screen phones without throwing them at a wall. Even the best of them (iPhone) are an exercise in frustration to use.
Like any technology, it is all a learning curve…I was horrible at first, but now I can type faster than I could on my pearl…
same here. is a matter of exctations. you can not expect a touch screen to be the same as a normal phn with key board. first two weeks i have to say i was questioning my decision. but as i got use to the touch screen worries when away.
i can do many things faster and better. plus the surepress in the storm beats any touch screen. if i selected the wrong font or option is just a matter of sliding that big finger to the left or right :) and then pressing…
You guys are assuming that I haven’t given these things a chance.
Trust me. I’ve made it past the “learning” stage with these devices. No amount of learning will make it so you can push a button by feel on a flat piece of glass.
It’s not about learning. Believe it or not, there are limitations to the technology.
Seems you are one of the few who likes the Storm. Do you use the keyboard a lot? I haven’t seen very many positive reviews about it and given the upcoming 9630, it might be short lived.
I don’t mind the phone. In fact, I kind of like it. This auto rotating thing is annoying and there isn’t the plethora of apps like the iPhone has.
The keyboard is something to get used to. I still miss the physical keyboard but the large screen is a great trade-off for web browsing.
The Storm isn’t that bad, but isn’t that amazing either.
Perhaps those who have troble with the auto rotate are not capable of understanding how to use it. I love the storm, for what it can do, and do not hate it due to my lerning curve.
You need to update the operating system on your Storm. Once you update the OS, your phone will rotate much much quicker
I totally agree. I don’t hate this phone. I love Verizon and wouldn’t even consider going to ATT to get the IPHONE but the rotating thing is a big problem. I hear that if I use some of the firmware beta’s that are out that it will correct it but I’m a little afraid to do that. I think that RIM should just fix the problem. It can’t be that hard can it?
Anyone using a Storm with the factory OS is destined to curse it forever. Upgrade the OS to .109 and you will enjoy it much more.
…and I agree with the OP comments that the menu/ home screen should be locked in Portrait mode.
Agreed!. Good observation… My personal frustrating experience comes from trying to answer the phone by pressing the “answer” button on the screen. Except, the screen auto rotates while I’m trying to do so and I miss the button, and then my call goes to voice mail.
Of course, I can just push the physical answer button, but I need to learn to resist using the one on the touch screen.
You’re right, I like my Storm, I’m writing really fast with it but this rotating thing is nonsense if you’re not using an app.
BTW, I’d like my screen to be locked when I’m talking on the phone, I can’t block my Storm between my and my shoulder without pressing the mute button :s
There are at least two free apps for that. Go to
http://www.cellavant.com/TalkLock/
work for me, no problem
TalkLock – use it
I totally agree. This is one of my main issues with the phone. It is always in the wrong orientation. ALWAYS. The only two apps I user in landscape are email and the browser. Other than that portrait is fine. It would be another story if the orientation was snappy, but it is not and frequently hangs.
Agree! The rotating is a BIG PAIN!
Many times it is frustrating, the real advantage for me is the screen much bigger than the tactile
Where the hell is Peter Ha in the mist of all of this?
I kid I kid.
I actually agree with you 100% on the rotating home screen issue. I know shocker, resident crunch gear Blackberry Storm supporter actually finding an issue with his precious phone.
If anything they should remove the option, because you never know someone might actually like it, but just give the option of turning it on and off.
“Bound to stay with VZW for some odd reason.” Why would that be a odd reason? I’ve been with almost every single carrier except for Altel and VZW is the best on the market hands down. Best customer service, best prices on plans, best deals period on their plans. They may not have the coolest phones but they’re getting there.
Still can’t understand all the whining. I moved from a Treo 700 w/ a querty kbd to the STORM. I use it daily w/ 3 separate & active pop3 email accts, SMS, MMS & browsing…oh and I use the phone also.
Somehow I just do not seem to experience all of the grief described in this blog. I do agree, you couldn’t pay me to use an Iphone if it meant switching to AT&T.
Bell Canada doesn’t have an OS upgrade to 109 yet. The auto rotate is really frustrating though. There’s also quite a lag sometimes when hovering over the buttons. I really like the phone and its functions but the slowness is a little frustrating. Also, some of the applications use a lot of the system resources in the background sometimes which also slows down the phone. I like this better than Iphone but have to hold out a lot of hope for future software and upgrades.
check out this program it is free and you can choose what screens/programs that you dont want to auto rotate. you can choose them to stay in portrait or landscape. the only problem is that it does not keep your settings after reboot.
http://www.freebbapp.com/OrientationLock.jad
You can do this by downloading this app StopTilt