Beejive 2.0 for BlackBerry is Everything An App Should Be
By: Hillel Fuld
I have tried and reviewed many IM apps in my day, some better than others, some with the basic IM features only, and others with VOIP capabilities. When I first heard that Beejive 2.0 for BlackBerry was released, I have to be honest, I did not run to install it, nor was I particularly excited about this announcement. However, when I did finally install the app, all that changed. The app in its entirety is actually very exciting both in terms of its capabilities, its easy to use interface, and its convenient and useful features.
Let’s start from the beginning. Beejive is one of the industry leading IM app developers, along with other names such as Shape Services, Nimbuzz, and Fring. They have released multiple winning apps such as Beejive for iPhone and BlackBerry, as well as Tweetgenius for BlackBerry. This new release adds many new features and UI enhancements to their already successful IM app on the BlackBerry platform.
Beejive for BlackBerry enables you to stay connected on all the major platforms including AIM, MSN, Gtalk, Yahoo, ICQ, MySpace, Jabber, and now Facebook IM. Why is this different than simply SMSing your contacts? Mainly because it is free, not to mention instant and a lot easier.
What I love about Beejive 2.0 is that the app’s interface is both simple and complex at the same time. How is that possible you ask? Well it is simple because, with the exception of maybe one or two features that I had to look to their Help section to understand, as soon as you open the app you understand what all the options mean. It is complex because every single aspect of this app’s UI is fully customizable. When I say every aspect, I mean every aspect. In the Options menu of Beejive 2.0, you can define what color the background of the chat window is, you can choose what color the bubble of incoming and outgoing messages is, and you can even set the color of the device’s LED when receiving an incoming message on Beejive 2.0.
Some of the app’s advanced features include push notifications of new chats, as well as the ability to receive emails about new IMs when you are away. You can define the time interval at which the app considers you away, at which point it will send an Away message to the sender, or not, depending on your preference.
The app includes so many basic and advanced features that it would be impossible to mention them all, so I will just go over some of the options that I found interesting. I like the fact that you can sort all the accounts in the list by service (my personal preference), status, or username. You can also choose how each buddy will appear on the list, whether it is on one simple line or two lines with an icon. You can choose to hide your offline buddies, a feature I found to be missing on some of the competing apps.
You can define whether to save logs of all your chats, as well as configure how you navigate between conversations when chatting with more than one person at the same time. There is even the option to define how a file is sent through the app with the two options being actual direct transfer or posting a link for the recipient to download the file.
You can easily send files and voice notes to your buddies, which is also a very useful feature missing from some of the other apps I have reviewed. Like I said, I could not possibly mention every feature supported by Beejive 2.0, but those are some of the fun ones. In terms of missing features, I would like to see Skype on the list of networks supported. I would also like the ability to preview a picture before sending it, so I know I am sending the right one. Besides that, I noticed some slight sluggishness when selecting certain options in the menu, but all in all, the app moved fast, the features are all there, and the interface is unprecedented.
Our Rating: 4/5
Developer: Beejive
