Review: Handy Blacklist

Score:
73%

Author: Epocware

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We all get the feeling sometimes that certain people should not be able to reach us on the mobile, no matter how much they want to.  Luckily there is a solution for those who felt guilty for not picking up the phone or not answering those messages on voicemail: with this small application you can make sure that all future unwanted calls or messages are hidden from your eyes.

I've had Handy Blacklist (on my Nokia E70) under scrutiny for a good number of weeks now and it does exactly what it says on the tin.  It is one of those splendid applications that you have to set up only once and then they just work without any sign of their presence.

And setting it up couldn't be any easier.  You can add numbers to your blacklist from recent calls, recent messages, the contact list (including contact groups) or by typing them in manually.  You can also add numbers in bulk by blocking 'Private' numbers (those deliberately hidden by the caller) or 'Unknown' numbers (any number not in your Contacts list). 

Keeping track of the blocked calls or messages is done by a simple log where you have all sorts of handy (no pun intended) options for the entries: you can jump straight to the number of that call on your blacklist in case you want to unblock it, call that number or even send a message to it.  In Settings you can set the number of days for Log duration or turn on or off the automatic blocking (adding to the blacklist) of once-rejected calls.

Handy Blacklist does a good job but there is room for improvement.  It would be great to be able to choose if one wants to block only calls, only messages or both (you may not want to pick up the phone abroad if roaming charges scare you but receiving messages is free) or you might want to wild-card block 08XX numbers on a business phone but you just wouldn't want to enter them one by one.  And adding a date/time property to the blocked numbers might be a good idea because you don't want to block business calls from 9 to 5 but the rest of the day should be work free. A few more options to tinker with in the next version would definitely make for a higher score in a future review.

Handy Blacklist, like Handy Converter (reviewed earlier), is available in more than 15 languages.

Attila, AllAboutSymbian, 28 Apr 2007

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