Handy Blacklist, as the name indicates, is an application which lets you set up a list of numbers which are allowed or not allowed to reach your phone. This is especially handy because most of the carriers around the world do not offer the ability to block individual numbers from calling you. This can be really annoying if you have an upset ex-girlfriend or other people calling you repeatedly. Handy Blacklist is small in size, so that you won’t notice a significant impact on RAM or battery life, and offers some neat functions.
First impressions
The icon of the application is nice and the menus are very clean and easy to figure out. The application offers a “quickmenu” by pressing the center d-pad. This is basically a small set of options available offering you to make choices and changes in the application with less key presses. I find this to be a great function as I don’t have to first press the left softkey and then navigate to what I want to do.
Upon start of the application you are presented with an empty blacklist. Using the center d-pad you get option to activate it immediately, do a timed activation, or edit the blacklist. If you choose to press the option key you’ll get the same options, in addition to create a new allowed list, further settings and the usual help, about and exit options.
Handy Blacklist in use
The application unfortunately only allows one blacklist, but you can make as many allowed lists as you want. For example, you could have one allowed list called ‘business’ and one called ‘friends’. A fourth option, called ‘set reject options,’ is available in allowed lists. This allows you to reject calls with a busy tone (default), reject call and send SMS, or forward the call to another number. The icons will change accordingly to which action is taken in the allowed list.
Settings
Settings is quite self explanatory, with the option to enable or disable the Active Standby notification, change the log duration from 1 day up to 60 days, and add rejected numbers automatically into the blacklist. Pressing the right navigation key shows you the log, which keeps track of your rejected calls. Here you have the option to remove a number from the blacklist, call, or send a message to the person. Once activated it will be active as a service on your phone and block or allow calls according to your defined rules.
Pricing of the application starts at $24.95 with additional 15 % off if bought through the Symbian-Guru Store. There is also a free trial available, so that you can make sure the application will work for your needs. We have also done a previous comparison between Handy Blacklist and SmartphoneWare Best Blacklist.
Personally, I use this applications because it’s small in size and offers the functionalities I look for. Do you have another similar application that you prefer to use? Why do you like it better? Is there any others that you would like to see us review?
