Ever since I moved from lesser phones to BlackBerry, my favorite life improvement has been getting emails on my phone.  It has drastically reduced the number of times per day that I check my email from my computer, especially on the weekends.  I’ve been able to leave my computer off completely, or at least use it very little, and spend my weekends looking at things more than 3 feet away.

It’s amazing.  I highly recommend it.

Google’s Multiple Inboxes

I use the Gmail interface for my personal email as well as in the office.  I like it a lot — it’s every bit as useful as MS Exchange, and there’s nothing to install.

In Google Labs, they now have a feature called Multiple Inboxes which displays multiple filters on your Inbox page.  Being the intrepid Google-fiddler that I am, I took the following steps (repeated here, if you want to do the same):

1. Open your primary email and go to Settings –> Accounts. Set up POP3 under Get mail from other accounts to link in your secondary account.  Use the option to label all incoming mail from the secondary address.
2. Go to Settings –> Labs and enable Multiple Inboxes.
3. Go to Settings –> Multiple Inboxes and set up a filter for the label you set up in step 1.

That’s it!  You’ll have both of your inboxes in one window, eliminating the need to switch back and forth.

BlackBerry Torch

Google has its own BlackBerry app that might make this easier, but I really like the native message system.  End disclaimer.

While Multiple Inboxes made life easier in my browser, I was getting duplicate emails on my phone from the secondary account (because it was forwarding to the primary).  I didn’t want to kill my secondary email account on my phone, because I still needed to send emails using that address from my phone.

The fix for BlackBerry Torch (which is likely possible on other BlackBerry devices as well):

1. Go to Messages.
2. Press the Menu button and go to Options.
3. Go to Email Account Management.
4. Highlight your primary email account (where you set up Multiple Inboxes), press the Menu button and go to Filters.
5. Tap Add Filter.
6. Give the filter a name.
7. Under Filter on: select To address.
8. In the Contains: field, type your secondary email address.
9. Under Action: select Do not forward messages to the device.
10. Tap Save.

All done!  I’ve got all the functionality and none of the duplicates.  Multiple Inboxes is still throwing me a couple of glitches, but I’m sure Google will get that worked out in short order.

It wasn’t so bad, actually.  I used the BlackBerry Manager software to do a full backup, then used the wipe command by going to Menu –> Options –> Security Options –> General Settings –> Menu –> Wipe Handheld, and I was back to defaults within a few minutes.  When I applied the backup, I got everything except my apps back.  I reconnected to my preferred WiFi hotspot here at the office right away!  Not sure what was wrong there,but I was back on track.

My next stop was ÜberTwitter to reinstall my most-used app.  So far, so good!  Then I reinstalled WhatsApp (the chat app that my girlfriend and I have been using), and my WiFi died again shortly thereafter.  I uninstalled it after awhile, and my WiFi eventually started behaving again.

I’m not sure if WhatsApp actually killed my WiFi, but the app and my WiFi certainly seem incompatible.

I’m currently installing Opera Mini to replace the (essentially worthless) built-in BlackBerry browser.  I apologize for the alliteration.

In more exciting news, the BlackBerry Torch featuring BlackBerry 6 touchscreen OS is now available!  I’ve made the decision to jump from T-Mobile’s poor network coverage (well worth the $200 to break the contract), and until recently, was resigned to getting an iPhone; but with this sexy new darling from RIM on the market, I just might remain a BB user.  I’ll make my decision this weekend, when I go to a store for a demo.