"How to optimize your BlackBerry Storm or Storm2 touchscreen


We show you how to tweak the screen settings of the BlackBerry Storm and Storm2 for optimal performance
Published on Apr 10, 2010

The SurePress touchscreen on the BlackBerry Storm and Storm2 isn't exactly the most intuitive variety of screen available. It isn't horrible, and many actually love it, but when compared to other modern touchscreen devices such as the iPhone and even many Android and Windows Mobile devices, it's hard to justifiably consider it on the same playing field.

However, experiences can vary greatly depending on the settings you keep for the screen and keyboard. Here, we break down some configuration tips that should provide you with a more enjoyable Storm or Storm2 experience.

Access the Screen/Keyboard settings menu

1. Select "Options" from the main application list.

2. Highlight and select "Screen/Keyboard" from the Options menu.



Configuring the screen and keyboard

3. Scroll down, and highlight and click on the "Key Rate" toggle.

4. Change the Key Rate setting to "Fast" in the pop-up menu.



The Key Rate setting controls the speed at which characters are repeated when held, how long it takes for letters to capitalize when a key is pressed and also how rapidly letters are deleted when the delete key is pressed. The faster this is set for, the less time you have to wait for routine actions to take place.

5. Scroll further down, and highlight and click on the "Tap Interval" toggle.

6. Change the Tap Interval setting to "100" in the pop-up menu.



The Tap Interval setting essentially controls the amount of time needed in between two taps to register them as two separate taps. This is not the same as clicks of the SurePress screen. Times where double tapping would come into play are, for instance, utilizing the zoom feature of the BlackBerry's native web browser.

7. Directly below Tap Interval, highlight and click on the "Hover Period" toggle.

8. Change the Hover Period setting to "100" in the pop-up menu.



The Hover Period setting controls the time it takes to activate a hover function in the BlackBerry system. For instance, when typing a message, to access the special characters on the keyboard, you must hover, or continually touch without pressing, on whatever letter contains the character desired. The lower the Hover Period, the less time you have to wait for what you want.

9. Directly below Hover Period, highlight and click on the "Swipe Sensitivity" toggle.

10. Change the Swipe Sensitivity setting to "(High) 6" in the pop-up menu.



With the Swipe Sensitivity setting, you're in control of how deliberate or slight of contact is required to activate a scroll or swipe in the Storm2's OS. On the SurePress screen, you can never have this set too high. As this setting gets lower and lower you have to press harder and harder while swiping, to the point where you almost inevitably depress the screen every time, activating functions that you did not intent to.

Important notes

We've found these settings to provide the optimal experience for our use. If you configure your device as such, we're confident that with regular usage and continued SurePress experience, these settings will prove to bring you the most enjoyment possible from the somewhat unorthodox SurePress screen on the BlackBerry Storm and Storm2.
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by Ryan Hamrick

thanks for sharing!

wooow, so much better thanks