Top 15 Free BlackBerry Apps – Blocked Traffic Free Arrives

Welcome to this month’s edition of the Top 15 Free BlackBerry Apps. Blocked Traffic Free is the only new App to join the list, while favorites AP Mobile, BigTinCan BuzzMe, Movies and Bible jump back into the top 15 after failing to make the list last month.

The Top 15 Free BlackBerry Apps are calculated by number of downloads from BlackBerry App World. Previously, I was compiling this list each week but have transitioned into a monthly post. Since the transition, I’ve decided to bump the number up to 15. The information provided is via BlackBerry App World. Let’s jump right into the top 15 free BlackBerry Apps (as of 6 Apr 2010), beginning with number 15.

15. (NR) AP Mobile 2.5.6 (News & Scores) 3.5 Stars, 500 reviews, 495KB

“AP News is an award-winning mobile news application, rated the Top 3 App of 2008 by TIME magazine and Best in News by The New York Times.  Hailed as one of the best applications for your BlackBerry by CrackBerry.com, AP News provides a one-touch, comprehensive news solution, featuring breaking international and national news from the AP, plus more than 1,000 local newspaper and broadcaster sources from AP members.

As a downloadable application, AP News updates and caches content upon launch, thus keeping users in the know while on a plane or underground. It includes a complete set of news categories including Sports, Entertainment and Wacky News, plus AP s award-winning photos.”

image via itworldcanada.com

14. (10) Animated Screen Savers Free 2.20 (Personalize) 4 Stars, 1k reviews, 295KB

“Animated Screensavers for BlackBerry® smartphones. Please give a 5 star rating if you like these. More screensavers will be released in due course. If you have any suggestions for new Screensavers please email me at ani@getempower.com and I will try to add them!

Note: Screensaver will not work if your battery is below 40%. This is to save your battery. Please don’t put it as a ‘Does not works’ review – please charge your battery instead.

Note: The error screen is a part of the BSOD screensaver that simulates the Windows Blue Screen of Death. It is not an error but just a screensaver reminding you how better BlackBerry is from other smartphones.

Random Screensaver now shuffles screensavers every minute.

Version 2.20 includes the following screensavers:
* Bouncing Balls
* Falling Hearts
* Floating Hearts
* Bubbles
* Decay Screen
* Starfield
* Snowfall
* Dull Jack
* BSOD(The infamous Blue Screen of Death)”

13. (15) Dictionary and Thesaurus – Dictionary.com 1.0.1 (Education) 4 Stars, 1k reviews, 258KB

“Dictionary.com – Dictionary and Thesaurus
The only free dictionary app for BlackBerry® is from Dictionary.com. Our well-known reference content from Dictionary.com and Thesaurus.com includes more than 500,000 words, definitions, and synonyms. The app also features phonetic and audio pronunciations, spelling suggestions and Dictionary.com’s popular Word of the Day that is enjoyed by millions of people.
*    Dictionary and Thesaurus
*    Word of the Day  English and Spanish
*    More than 325,000 words and definitions
*    More than 275,000 synonyms
*    Phonetic and audio pronunciations
*    Spelling suggestions
*    Recent history
*    Social networking functions
*    Email integration”

12. (6) FREE Sea Storm Animated Theme 2010.2.23.810 (Nature Theme) 4 Stars, 2k+ ratings, 679KB

“Features:
* Professional Front Screen Animation
* Custom color scheme on menus
* New front Hidden Dock navigation for full front screen Animation display
* Animation pauses when phone is on standby to reduce battery drain”

11. (NR) Movies 1.2.5.1 (entertainment) 3 Stars, 800 reviews, 1178KB

“Movies by Flixster, the top movie app for Facebook is now on BlackBerry®!
- Get details for the top box office movies
- Browse the DVD catalog of over 50,000 movies
- Watch high quality trailers  currently only available on some devices
- Read reviews from Rotten Tomatoes
- View theater info with maps, phone number, ticket info and showtimes for theaters in the USA, UK or Canada
- Buy movie tickets from movietickets.com
- Search for movies by title, director or actors
“

10. (NR) Bible 2.1.3 (religion) 4 Stars, 1k+ reviews, 329KB

“Read through the Bible this year using one of the 20+ Bible Reading Plan that were added in the 2.1 release. We also made improvements with outstanding compatability issues. This App now works on all Blackberry devices…Read, explore, and learn from the Bible no matter where you are.  A great way to read the Bible more or begin reading the Bible for the first time.

Features:
- Use the Bible reader to study any part of Scripture
- Low memory use:  No large Bible files stored in your phone’s memory
- Completely Free:  No additional purchases or file downloads required to read the entire Bible
- Browse by books of the Bible – the entire Bible is at your fingertips.
- Take your pick from 41 different Bible translations available in 21 different languages.
- The One-Year Bible Reading Plan provides daily selections to help you read through through the entire Bible in one year.
- Learn from others by checking out recent user contributions from YouVersion.com associated with each Bible verse.
- Join the community at YouVersion.com and have your Bible contributions viewable in the BlackBerry® Bible App.  Contribute videos, photos, blog posts, and more and engage in a unique social network focused on the Bible at YouVersion.com
- Easily email Bible verses to your contacts. Tweet verses to Twitter®
“

9. (NR) BigTinCan BuzzMe 2.6.9 (gadgets) 3.5 Stars, 1k+ reviews, 141KB

“*** New Version 2.6 includes a FREE trial of BuzzMe Premium (includes BuzzMe Pro features) *** If you want to hear your BlackBerry® smartphone ring and have it vibrate at the same time you need BuzzMe. BuzzMe lets you:

• Control the LED color when you receive a phone call.
• Create your own custom color for your ringtone.
• Receive a missed call reminder on your phone with LED and vibration.
• You can even set a “disco” mode to have a flashing disco in your Blackberry when you receive a call.
• And best of all BuzzMe is totally free!
• Its easy to install, and has been used on millions of BlackBerry® smartphones worldwide.

If you have a BlackBerry Storm, BuzzMe includes Facedown mode for calls – that turns off the BuzzMe vibration when you set the phone facedown – its the coolest way to control your phone vibration. If you want more control over vibration and LED color for calls, messages, emails, Blackberry Messenger, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, BeeJive and more try BuzzMe Pro and BuzzMe Premium.”

image via blackberrysoftware.org

8. (9) UberTwitter 0.971 (social networking) 4 Stars, 1k+ reviews, 493KB

“UberTwitter is a full featured location aware Twitter client which supports all of the features of Twitter as well as advanced capabilities such as:  photo integration, embeded videos in tweets, tweet shrinking, URL shortening, twitter lists, changing your twitter avatar,  and a plethora of other features.”

7. (5) Pandora 1.1.3.2 (Music & Audio) 4 Stars, 5k reviews, 352KB

“Pandora.  It s radio that is personalized just for you, playing only the music that you love.  Simply enter one of your favorite songs or artists and Pandora creates a radio station that explores just that kind of music.  With your BlackBerry® smartphone, Pandora brings an effortless personal soundtrack right to you whenever you want to listen to music.

Pandora plays all your current and old favorites and introduces you to new songs that you ll love.  Rate songs as they play because Pandora caters your radio stations to your tastes and adapts the playlist to your feedback on the spot.  Pandora has all styles of music – from hip-hop to jazz, country to classical, latin to rock, dance to pop, and much more.”

6. (NR) Blocked Traffic Free 2.1 (Games) 3 Stars, 600 reviews, 121KB

“This is a free version of  Blocked Traffic  application with subset of positions. The goal of the game is to get a car on third line out of a box by moving the other cars out of its way. Cars can not enter Construction areas.

Game has:
* 80 positions (Easy & Medium)
* 4 graphic themes
* Min moves and undo move”

5. (3) Imagining Theme 1.3 *recent version upgrade* (Abstract Themes) 3 Stars, 1k+ reviews, 336KB

“The luxury imagining theme reflect the prosperous of modern city life!
Changelog in v1.30:

1. Font is adjusted into default, so users can change the size
2. Fix the font is so big then “…” bug
3. Fix the folder missing bug
4. 6 icons in dock
5. Add profile icon in homescreen
6. Adjust the background into darker of the calling & incoming call
7. Add ‘Status text’ when highlight an icon in homescreen

Features:
1. Dedicated background with splendid feeling!
2. A theme can be used for long time and wont feel tired!
3. A theme will not drag system performance.”

4. (7) The Weather Channel 1.5 (Weather) 3.5 Stars, 500 reviews, 2098KB

“It’s The Weather Channel® when and where you need it the most. Get detailed conditions and forecasts, radar maps, local and national severe weather alerts, airport delays and more. You can even access the weather from your calendar or address book, and forward alerts to friends and family.”

3. (8) Facebook 1.7.0.22 (social networking) 2 Stars, 3k+ reviews, 1397KB

“Stay on top of your social life with Facebook® for BlackBerry® smartphones. This free application makes Facebook services – like sending messages, poking friends, writing wall posts, inviting friends to join and uploading photos – available on the go! Take Facebook wherever life takes you and don’t miss a beat!”

2. (2) BlackBerry Messenger 5.0.0.57 (Instant Messaging) 3 Stars, 4k+ reviews, 3213KB

“Battery life has been improved with the latest BlackBerry Messenger.  This version also addresses some of the issues identified in BlackBerry Messenger 5.0.0.33, such as file transfer not working or working slowly, no file preview, and file transfer requests expiring after a short period of time. This version does not include any new features. The Check Spelling As You Type feature has been restored for all devices.”

“Share your pin or unique barcode to connect with friends anywhere, anytime. Take comfort in knowing your friends are only a BlackBerry Messenger message away whether you want to make plans for the night or ask a quick question. Chat and share funny stories, pictures, videos and more with individual contacts or groups of friends instantly. Stay in touch like never before with BlackBerry Messenger”

1. (1) BlackBerry App World 1.1.0.33 (Shopping Tools) 3 Stars, 1k+ reviews, 835KB

“Discover a world of possibilities at the BlackBerry App World™ storefront. Personalize your BlackBerry® smartphone with games, social networking, personal productivity applications and so much more. BlackBerry apps can take full advantage of proven features like BlackBerry push technology and GPS to name a few so you can experience apps like never before. Put more of your life on your BlackBerry smartphone.
”

What’s your favorite Free BlackBerry App? Which do you think are too high? How about ranked too low or not listed? Feel free to share your favorites.