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BlackBerry Connection > Tips & Tricks: Working with Applications

Tips & Tricks: Working with Applications

What does it mean to give an application "Trusted Application status?" How can you manage your BlackBerry® smartphone's application memory? And should you archive or delete an application you no longer use? Get the answers to these questions in this article all about applications.

• Tip 1: What does it mean to give an application “Trusted Application status?”
• Tip 2: Managing application memory
• Tip 3: Archiving vs. deleting an application in My World

Tip 1: What does it mean to give an application “Trusted Application status?”

When you first install an application on your BlackBerry smartphone you might see a popup message asking whether you wish to give the application "Trusted Application status." Just what does this mean? And what happens when you select "Yes" or "No?"

The short answer is that by choosing "Yes" to the Trusted Application prompt you can quickly set several common Application Control permissions to "Allow." That means that commonly needed permissions will be granted to the application—without later prompting you for permission. If you choose "No," then a dialog box might later prompt you to accept or deny the application's connection request for certain tasks like accessing the phone function or connecting to the Internet.

Remember that for all situations you should trust an application only if you downloaded or installed it from a trusted source.

Manually set permissions for a third-party application

Keep in mind that you can also manually set permissions that control how many third-party applications on your BlackBerry smartphone interact with the other applications on your smartphone. For example, you can control whether third-party applications can access data or the Internet, make calls, or use Bluetooth® connections.

Note: If your BlackBerry smartphone is managed by your organization's BlackBerry® Enterprise Server you might not be able to change permissions on some or all of the applications installed on your smartphone. Also note that changing permissions for third-party applications can significantly affect the operation of applications on your BlackBerry smartphone. For more information about how changing these permissions might affect the operation of the applications on your smartphone, contact your wireless service provider or administrator.

Steps for BlackBerry® Device Software v5.0 and earlier:

1. On the Home screen or in a folder, click the Options icon.
2. Click Applications.
3. Perform one of the following actions:
   • To set permissions for a specific third-party application, highlight the application. Press the Menu key. Click Edit Permissions.
   • To set permissions for all third-party applications, press the Menu key. Click Edit Default Permissions.
4. Expand Connections, Interactions, or User Data.
5. Change the permission fields.
6. Press the Menu key, then click Save.

Steps for BlackBerry® 6 OS:

1. On the Home screen or in a folder, click the Options icon.
2. Click Device, then Application Management.
3. Perform one of the following actions:
   • To set permissions for a specific third-party application, highlight the application. Press the Menu key. Click Edit Default Permissions.
   • To set permissions for all third-party applications, press the Menu key. Click Edit Default Permissions.
4. Expand Connections, Interactions, or User Data.
5. Change the permission fields.
6. Press the Menu key, then click Save.

Tip 2: Managing application memory

BlackBerry applications are stored in your BlackBerry smartphone's application memory, the size of which depends upon your smartphone model. If you install too many applications, you might bump up against your storage limit. In that case you will need to free up memory, either by deleting some installed applications or archiving them.

An easy way to tell how much application memory you have free

Steps for BlackBerry Device Software v5.0 and earlier:

1. On the Home screen or in a folder, click the Options icon.
2. Click Memory.

Steps for BlackBerry 6 OS:

1. On the Home screen or in a folder, click the Options icon.
2. Click Device.
3. Click Storage.

To see what applications you have installed

Steps for BlackBerry Device Software v5.0 and earlier:

1. On the Home screen or in a folder, click the Options icon.
2. Click Applications.
3. Make sure Third Party is selected from the drop down menu.

Steps for BlackBerry 6 OS:

1. On the Home screen or in a folder, click the Options icon.
2. Click Device, then Application Management.
3. Make sure Optional is selected from the drop down menu.

From there you can also delete any applications you no longer want to keep

Steps for BlackBerry Device Software v5.0 and earlier:

1. On the Home screen or in a folder, click the Options icon.
2. Click Applications.
3. Make sure Third Party is selected from the drop down menu.
4. Highlight a third-party application you want to delete.
5. Press the Menu key, then click Delete.

Steps for BlackBerry 6 OS:

1. On the Home screen or in a folder, click the Options icon.
2. Click Device, then Application Management.
3. Make sure Optional is selected from the drop down menu.
4. Highlight a third-party application you want to delete.
5. Press the Menu key, then click Delete.

Note: If your smartphone is associated with an email account that uses a BlackBerry Enterprise Server, you might not be able to delete some third-party applications. For more information, contact your administrator.

Best practice: Conserving memory on your smartphone

Try to maintain at least 400KB of application memory on your BlackBerry smartphone. To use less memory try to:

• Reduce the amount of time that your smartphone stores email messages and calendar entries.
• Receive only the first section of long email messages.
• Store media files on a media card.

What to do when the available application memory on your smartphone is low

When the application memory available on your BlackBerry smartphone is low, your smartphone displays a dialog box that lists applications and languages that you do not use frequently. You can delete applications and languages in this list.

Consider the following guidelines:

• Verify that you have deleted old email messages and MMS messages, especially messages with attachments.
• Verify that you have deleted contacts that are already in your organization's address book.
• Verify that you have deleted media files from the smartphone memory.
• If you recently updated your BlackBerry Device Software over the wireless network, verify that you have deleted the previous version of the BlackBerry Device Software.
• Verify that you have cleared the browser cache.

Tip 3: Archiving vs. deleting an application in My World

My World in the BlackBerry App World™ application gives you an easy way to manage the applications you downloaded from BlackBerry App World. If you no longer want an application you can either archive it or delete it completely from your smartphone.

What is the difference? An archived application can no longer be used. However, the archived application can be restored for use at a later date. If you delete an application, you cannot restore it for use at a later date. Instead, you will have to download and install it again.

Archive an application in My World

1. Open the BlackBerry App World application.
2. Click the My World icon.
3. Highlight the application to be archived.
4. Press the Menu key, then click Archive.

Delete an application from My World

1. On the My World screen, highlight an item.
2. Press the Menu key, then click Delete.
3. When prompted click Yes. (Or in BlackBerry 6 click Delete.)
4. If you are prompted to restart your BlackBerry smartphone you can click Yes or No.
5. The status of the application changes to Uninstalled.

Note: Purchased apps can be redownloaded and reinstalled on the same device at no additional charge (or on up to four additional devices each year at no charge).

What about applications that you don't download from BlackBerry App World?

You can download applications from places other than BlackBerry App World. The Google® Maps application, for example, can be downloaded from a Google webpage. These applications cannot be archived, that is a feature found only in BlackBerry App World. You can, however, delete them by following the steps in Tip 2 above.