How to maximize free space and battery power on the BlackBerry smartphone

Monitoring available memory

To see the approximate amount of occupied flash memory on the BlackBerry smartphone, complete the following steps.
For BlackBerry Device Software 5.0 and earlier

1. On the Home screen of the BlackBerry smartphone, open Options.
2. Select Status.

For BlackBerry Device Software 6.0

1. On the Home screen of the BlackBerry smartphone, tap All, then open Options.
2. Select Device.
3. Select Device and Status Information.

The File Free field shows the approximate amount of available flash memory available for data. To make sure that this value is as accurate as possible, restart the BlackBerry smartphone to initiate a full garbage collection. For instructions, see KB02141.

From the Status screen, press the Menu key, to the right of the green phone key, and select Database Sizes to view the number of objects and size of databases on the BlackBerry smartphone.

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What is considered low flash memory?
The BlackBerry smartphone's Java® operating system has a complex and dynamic way of determining exactly how much available flash memory it should have before starting the Low Memory Manager application. To determine if it has low flash memory, the BlackBerry smartphone takes into account a number of factors, such as the BlackBerry smartphone hardware model, the operating system version, the number of installed applications, the frequency at which BlackBerry smartphone user data is added and removed, and so on. Generally speaking, the more the BlackBerry smartphone is used, the more memory the operating system sets aside for normal, efficient operation.
Note: When the BlackBerry smartphone has determined that is has low flash memory, it automatically starts the Low Memory Manager application, which reclaims memory.
The File Free field shows 0
When the File Free field shows 0, it most likely means that the BlackBerry smartphone is full of data. The BlackBerry smartphone determines that it has low flash memory and performs more extensive garbage collections in order to make room for any new data. However, even when the BlackBerry smartphone is full of data, it is designed to operate properly. The Low Memory Manager application starts recovering flash memory when data is added that requires additional flash memory.
How the Low Memory Manager application works
The Low Memory Manager application works to recover flash memory by removing old and unimportant data; when the Low Memory Manager application is running, it does not affect the regular operation of the BlackBerry smartphone, so you are not aware that it is running. The Low Memory Manager application makes requests to all applications on the BlackBerry smartphone to recover memory. However, third-party applications must be specifically designed to interact with the Low Memory Manager application.
The Low Memory Manager application makes requests of the applications on the BlackBerry smartphone in the following order:

1. The Low Memory Manager application first asks all applications to remove low priority data (for example, transitory data such as browser caches). If step 1 does not recover enough free flash memory for normal operation, the Low Memory Manager application asks the applications to remove medium priority data (for example, very old messages, cached map data, and out-of-date calendar entries).
2. If step 1 and 2 do not recover enough flash memory, the Low Memory Manager application prompts the Messages application to remove email messages starting with those that are the least frequently accessed.

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How to maximize free space

It is a good idea to take active measures to maximize the BlackBerry smartphone's available flash memory, and thus, prolong the time before the operating system starts the Low Memory Manager application.
The following are suggestions on how to maximize available flash memory on the BlackBerry smartphone.
Use a media card
Media cards are especially useful for BlackBerry smartphone users who want to store media files like songs, pictures, videos, voice notes, and ring tones, or who want to store pictures they take with the built-in cameras. Built-in video cameras on BlackBerry smartphones require a media card to function.
To make sure the built-in camera is set up to save picture files on the media card, complete the following steps:

1. Install the media card in the BlackBerry smartphone.
2. Open the Camera application (for BlackBerry Device Software 6.0, tap All, then open the Camera application).
3. Display the menu and select Options.
4. Set the Store Pictures field to On Media Card. You can also change the folder setting to the particular folder in which you want to save pictures.
   Note: For BlackBerry Device Software 6.0, this option has been removed. However a different location can be specified when the file is renamed after image capture.

Remove unnecessary items
Removing features and applications that are underused increases the available flash memory on the BlackBerry smartphone.

• Use the Setup Wizard application to remove languages that you do not use from the BlackBerry smartphone. Removing languages is highly recommended because it is one of the most significant ways to increase available flash memory.

To remove languages from the BlackBerry smartphone, complete the following steps.
For BlackBerry Device Software 5.0 and earlier

1. On the Home screen of the BlackBerry smartphone, open Setup Wizard.
2. Select Languages.
3. Select the language you want to use on the BlackBerry smartphone and click Next. The BlackBerry smartphone deletes all languages that you do not select.

For BlackBerry Device Software 6.0

1. On the Home screen of the BlackBerry smartphone, tap All and open Setup.
2. Select Languages.
3. Tap Manage Languages to expand the option.
4. Select the language you want to use on the BlackBerry smartphone and click Update. The BlackBerry smartphone deletes all languages that you do not select.

Remove underused applications.

• To remove applications from the BlackBerry smartphone, complete the following steps.

For BlackBerry Device Software 5.0 and earlier

1. On the Home screen of the BlackBerry smartphone, open Options.
2. Select Advanced Options.
3. Select Applications. The BlackBerry smartphone takes time to build a comprehensive list of the installed applications.
4. Highlight the application you want to delete, display the menu and select Delete.

For BlackBerry Device Software 6.0

1. On the Home screen of the BlackBerry smartphone, tap All and open Options.
2. Select Device, then Application Management.
3. Tap the application you want to delete. The Application Properties screen appears for that application with a Delete option to remove the application.

• Minimize the number of contacts stored in the Address Book on the BlackBerry smartphone.
  One way to minimize the number of contacts stored in the Address Book is to use the remote address lookup feature when you need to send an email message rather than store company contacts in the Address Book. You can use this feature if your BlackBerry smartphone uses BlackBerry Device Software 4.0 and later and one of BlackBerry® Enterprise Server 3.5 or later for Microsoft® Exchange or BlackBerry Enterprise Server 2.2 or later for IBM® Lotus® Domino®.

Delete old items
The BlackBerry smartphone user can delete old and unused items and also adjust settings so that the BlackBerry smartphone deletes old items as part of its regular routine maintenance.

• Delete Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) messages that are no longer needed. Because MMS messages can contain large media files and cannot be stored on a media card, MMS messages can use a lot of flash memory. If you do not want to delete the media files in an MMS message, open the MMS message and save the media files on the media card before you delete the MMS message.
• Change the Keep Messages setting on the BlackBerry smartphone to reduce the number of old messages using flash memory.

To change the Keep Messages setting, complete the following steps.
For BlackBerry Device Software 5.0 and earlier

1. On the Home screen of the BlackBerry smartphone, open Messages.
2. Display the menu and select Options.
3. Select General Options. For BlackBerry Device Software 6.0, select Message Display and Actions.
4. Set the Keep Messages field to either 15 Days or 30 Days.

For BlackBerry Device Software 6.0

1. On the Home screen of the BlackBerry smartphone, tap All and open a message list.
2. Display the menu and select Options.
3. Tap Message Display and Actions.
4. Set the Days To Keep Messages field to 15 or 30.

• Change the Keep Appointments setting to reduce the number of old calendar events using flash memory.

To change the Keep Appointments setting, complete the following steps:
For BlackBerry Device Software 5.0 and earlier

1. On the Home screen of the BlackBerry smartphone, open Calendar.
2. Display the menu and select Options.
3. Select General Options.
4. Set the Keep Appointments field to either 15 Days or 30 Days.

For BlackBerry Device Software 6.0

1. On the Home screen of the BlackBerry smartphone, tap All and open Calendar.
2. Display the menu and select Options.
3. Select Calendar Display and Actions.
4. Set the Keep Appointments field to either 15 Days or 30 Days.

Note: Email messages and appointments are only removed from the BlackBerry smartphone. The email messaging application and the appointment application the BlackBerry smartphone is associated with will retain the email messages and appointments that are removed from the BlackBerry smartphone after the time period that is specified.

• Clear the browser cache often.

To clear the browser cache, complete the following steps:
For BlackBerry Device Software 5.0 and earlier

1. On the Home screen of the BlackBerry smartphone, open Browser.
2. Display the menu and select Options.
3. Select Cache Operations.
4. Select Clear for Content Cache. (You can increase the amount of flash memory by also selecting Clear for Pushed Content.)

For BlackBerry Device Software 6.0

1. On the Home screen of the BlackBerry smartphone, tap All and open Browser.
2. Display the menu and select Options.
3. At the bottom, select the Cache check box below Clear Browsing Data and tap Clear Now.

Adjust settings for optimal storage efficiency
Adjust the following settings for optimal storage efficiency on your BlackBerry smartphone:

• In BlackBerry® Desktop Software, set messages to stop being forwarded to the BlackBerry smartphone when it is cradled. To adjust this setting, complete these steps:
  
  1. In BlackBerry® Desktop Manager, open Email Settings.
  2. Select the check box beside Disable message redirection while your device is connected.

Note: This option is not available in BlackBerry Desktop Software 6.0

• Set messages to prompt you when deleting an email message on the BlackBerry smartphone. The prompt allows you to choose to either delete the message on the BlackBerry smartphone only or on the BlackBerry smartphone and the messaging server, which deletes the email message on both the BlackBerry smartphone and the email application with which it is associated.

To adjust this setting on the BlackBerry smartphone, complete the following steps:

1. On the Home screen, open Messages.
2. Display the menu and select Options.
3. Select Email Reconciliation.
4. Select Prompt for the Delete On setting. (You can also select Handheld rather than Prompt, which will delete messages on the BlackBerry smartphone without a prompt, when you choose to delete messages.)

Note: If you position the cursor on a date field in the email messages list on the BlackBerry smartphone and select Delete Prior, you will only delete the messages on the BlackBerry smartphone no matter what the setting is in the Delete On field, which leaves the email messages saved in the email application with which the BlackBerry smartphone is associated.

• Flash memory is used to download and display email messages on the BlackBerry smartphone. Set the Auto More option to No to make sure that only the sections of the email message that you want to read on the BlackBerry smartphone are downloaded, displayed, and thus, stored in flash memory. By setting the Auto More option to No, the BlackBerry smartphone displays approximately the first 2 KB of an email message; you can display more of the email message by selecting More on the menu.

Note: If the Auto More option is set to Yes, scrolling automatically displays more of the email message. Be aware that you may be dowloading large email messages by scrolling through an email message on the BlackBerry smartphone.

Note: The size of the entire email message is displayed at the bottom of the email message screen. Average messages are usually no larger than 2 KB.

By setting the Auto More option to No, you can make sure the flash memory is not unnecessarily used on the BlackBerry smartphone by disallowing the automatic download option.

To set the Auto More option to No, complete the following steps:
For BlackBerry Device Software 5.0 and earlier

1. On the Home screen of the BlackBerry smartphone, open Messages.
2. Display the menu and select Options.
3. Select General Options.
4. In the Auto More field, select No.

For BlackBerry Device Software 6.0

1. On the Home screen of the BlackBerry smartphone, tap All and open a message list.
2. Display the menu and select Options.
3. Select Message Display and Actions.
4. Remove the check from the Auto More option.

Caution: The More All option on the menu gives you the choice of downloading the entire email message at once, no matter how the Auto More setting is configured.

The More All option should be used with caution since the BlackBerry smartphone uses flash memory to store email messages that have been displayed.

• For BlackBerry smartphones running BlackBerry Device Software 3.8 or 4.0, set the BlackBerry smartphone to allow content compression. Although content compression causes the BlackBerry smartphone to work harder (thus, using more battery power), it will make sure that email messages use the least amount of flash memory that is possible.
  To set the BlackBerry smartphone to allow content compression, complete the following steps:
  
  1. On the Home screen of the BlackBerry smartphone, open Options.
  2. Select Security Options.
  3. Select General Settings.
  4. Set the Content Compression field to Enabled.
• For BlackBerry smartphones running BlackBerry Device Software 4.5 to 6.0, turn off HTML support since plain text messages are smaller in size.

To turn off HTML support on the BlackBerry smartphone, complete the following steps:
For BlackBerry Device Software 5.0 and earlier

1. On the Home screen of the BlackBerry smartphone, open Messages.
2. Display the menu and select Options.
3. Select Email Settings.
4. Change the Enable HTML Email field to No.

For BlackBerry Device Software 6.0

1. On the Home screen of the BlackBerry smartphone, tap All and open a message list.
2. Display the menu and select Options.
3. Select Email Preferences.
4. Remove the check from the Enable HTML Email option.

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How to maximize battery power Battery power can be maximized by following these simple suggestions.

• Use BlackBerry smartphone shortcuts to access common system features quickly. For instructions, see the Getting Started Guide for your BlackBerry smartphone. Using shortcuts allows you to do the same things on your BlackBerry smartphone more quickly and efficiently, while saving battery power.
  Some common shortcuts include the following:
  
• • To delete a highlighted item, press the Delete key.
  • To select or clear a check box, press the Space key.
  • To view available values in a field, press the Alt key.
  • To switch applications:
    1. Hold the Alt key and press the Escape key.
    2. Continue to hold the Alt key and highlight an application.
    3. Release the Alt key.
  • Set the Auto On/Off option to turn off the BlackBerry smartphone at a time of day when you are not using it (such as at night), and turn on again at a time of day that you are ready to use it (such as in the morning just before you wake up). Battery power is saved by turning the power off at times when the BlackBerry smartphone is not being used. To set the Auto On/Off option on the BlackBerry smartphone, complete the following steps:
    
    1. On the Home screen of the BlackBerry smartphone, open Options.
    2. Select Auto On/Off. For BlackBerry Device Software 6.0, select Device then Auto On/Off.
    3. Specify the on and off times.
    Tip: Set the BlackBerry smartphone to turn on just before you need to use it, (such as a few minutes before you wake up in the morning) so that the BlackBerry smartphone has a chance to receive the email messages sent to you during the time that the BlackBerry smartphone was turned off. This way, the email messages have already been received when you are ready to read them.
• When a particular wireless connection is not needed, use the Manage Connections application on the BlackBerry smartphone to turn off the connection. For example, if you do not need to use Bluetooth® technology, you can use Manage Connections to turn the Bluetooth connection off.
  To turn the Bluetooth connection off on the BlackBerry smartphone, complete the following steps:
  
  1. On the Home screen of the BlackBerry smartphone, open Manage Connections. For BlackBerry Device Software 6.0, tap the Network Indicator area of the screen in top right corner.
  2. Click Bluetooth.
  Note: Using Manage Connections, turn the mobile wireless transceiver off when you know you are out of range of the mobile network. Turning the mobile wireless transceiver off prevents the BlackBerry smartphone from continually attempting to locate the mobile network, which uses a lot of battery power.
  
• Adjust the backlight settings to conserve power

For BlackBerry Device Software 5.0 and earlier

1. On the Home screen of the BlackBerry smartphone, open Options.
2. Select Screen/Keyboard.
3. Change the Backlight Brightness to a lower number.

For BlackBerry Device Software 6.0

1. On the Home screen of the BlackBerry smartphone, tap All and open Options.
2. Select Display then Screen Display.
3. Change the Blacklight Brightness to a lower number.

Battery power saving tips for the BlackBerry Torch 9800 smartphone 

In addition to the BlackBerry Battery Power Savings Tips listed here, the following additional tips can help you to optimize battery life performance on your BlackBerry® Torch™ 9800 smartphone with BlackBerry® 6:

• Close your Browser when not in use; ensure all Browser tabs are closed (close with the Escape key, not the red End key).
• Exit your media player when not in use (or set the default timeout to a shorter interval within media > options).
• Press the lock button (top left) before putting the device in a pocket (to avoid unnecessary display battery consumption).
• Exit/close applications when not in use (especially any applications that utilize the GPS functionality).
• Monitor/be aware of the frequency of Podcast and Social Feeds updates (you may want to disable automatic refreshing).

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Flash memory requirements for optional applications
The following table outlines the approximate amount of flash memory used for each optional application on the BlackBerry smartphone.

Optional application	Approximate space required*	Approximate number of equivalent messages*
BlackBerry Attachment Service	120 KB	120 messages
Help	65 KB per installed language	65 messages per installed language
Instant Messenger applications	350-400 KB per application	350-400 KB per application
Language Support	100-120 KB + per language	100-120 KB + per language
BlackBerry® Maps	500-1000 KB	350 messages
MemoPad	10 KB	10 messages
Password Keeper	25 KB	25 messages
Tasks	25 KB	25 messages
Third-party applications	Variable	Variable

*The approximate space required for an optional application always depends on the model of the BlackBerry smartphone and the version of the BlackBerry Device Software that is installed.
Note: Removing unused languages in the Setup Wizard is one of the most effective ways to increase the available flash memory.

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Environment

• BlackBerry® smartphones
• BlackBerry® Device Software 

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Additional Information

The BlackBerry smartphone is designed to operate properly with a modest amount of available flash memory. However, you can keep the BlackBerry smartphone operating at peak efficiency by maximizing its available flash memory. To maximize flash memory and battery power, you should know both how to monitor the available memory and what strategies help preserve flash memory and battery power.

Causes for decreased performance

BlackBerry smartphones based on Java technology depend on available flash memory for many tasks. Having low flash memory can lead to delays in processing information on the BlackBerry smartphone because the process for recovering blocks of flash memory, known as garbage collection, happens more frequently, which takes time. Java garbage collections automatically reclaim flash memory that is no longer being used by the Java operating system. Java garbage collections may also rearrange blocks of flash memory that are in use to create larger contiguous blocks of available flash memory. Just as a computer uses the hard disk as a source of virtual memory, the BlackBerry smartphone writes out lesser-used portions of its operating flash memory (normally held in fast static random access memory (SRAM)) to the slower flash memory. As the BlackBerry smartphone's flash memory begins to fill up, the BlackBerry smartphone must work harder to rearrange the flash memory to allocate the storage space it needs for normal operation. Therefore, low flash memory causes garbage collections to happen more frequently and take a longer time to complete, which also uses battery power.