ShaoSoft have released an app for the BlackBerry which they consider to be somewhat unique because, put simply, nobody knows what it does. Well, nobody knows what it does until they pay £1 for the privilege of downloading it. Welcome to ‘The Surprise App’.

This is not a new marketing ploy; people have been selling ‘mystery bags’ on eBay for years. However, this is the first time such a ploy has been used in the app world- and it seems to be working. Humans share some attributes with cats, namely curiosity. It is in our nature to want to know things, and it is this human nature that ShaoSoft have cleverly exploited and made themselves a small fortune. I only wish I’d got there first!

I must admit, I was curious myself, but I didn’t want to spend £1 on something I would later regret. For now I’m a humble student, and money is tight! So I spent a number of minutes flicking through the reviews on the app. None of them, I repeat, NONE of them gave the game away. ShaoSoft themselves told users not to “spoil the surprise in a review”, and for once the community of BlackBerry users actually played along!

At this, I fired up my PC and had a look on Google. Zilch. Nada. Not a single explanation anywhere. There were dozens of comments on an article, anonymous users practically begging people to let them know what the app does, but the author of the article removed any helpful replies before they could be read.

Okay, I have a sense of humour and I see the  “fun” of downloading a mystery app, but I was disappointed that there wasn’t a single explanation on the web. Surprises are all well and good, but ultimately this is a business to consumer transaction and there should be information about the app SOMEWHERE. So I decided to take the plunge, for your anonymous benefit, and download the app. If you want to keep the surprise a surprise, stop reading now. If, like me, you feel that you should at least have the option of knowing what the app is before you make a purchase, then read on, for I am about to reveal everything.

Application download screen

This is the application download screen.

Reviews aren’t giving much away.

As you can see, none of the reviews gave any clue as to what the application does.

Installing…

I had no choice but to download it for myself!

So I had to download it!

And here it is, downloaded and ready to run. I wonder what it does?

App welcome screen

The application welcome screen.

Here it is!

The app is simply a BBM notification popup. Those that use BBM might find this useful, but I’m a fan of traditional SMS.

Testing

This is me pressing the ‘Test’ button. It’s quite a snazzy popup; you wouldn’t fail to notice a new BBM!

Surprises!

Oooooh, extra feature! Again, utterly useless for me, but some might appreciate this shortcut.

More?

More you say? Yes! Get two apps for the price of one- it also installs ‘Super Popup’, which gives you a big pop-up with the content of your SMS message or email whenever a new one is sent to you. This works quite well and could be considered an asset, or it could also be a privacy issue (as anybody could read a new text you are sent without needing to know the PIN to your phone).

Install completed.

I selected Install, as it was the only option I had available. Whether you want it or not, you need to install both apps.

Surprise

At least they give you the option to turn it off.

Configuration options

Here are some of the configurable options for the ‘Super Popup’ part of the app.

I kept the app for a while and tested it with BBM and SMS. It worked well and looked different to the normal notifications, but I couldn’t really see the point of it. Sure, I could read my new text at-a-glance on the home screen, but I’d then have to go into my messages and read it again to stop the ‘New Message’ default notification LED flashing away at me. I uninstalled ‘The Surprise App’ within 15 minutes of setting it all up.

Am I annoyed that I paid for an app I will never use? Yes and no. I see nothing wrong with “Mystery Apps” but there should be an option, somewhere, hidden away in helpfiles or forums, which actually explains the purpose of the app. That removes the mystery element, sure, but as long as people don’t click on “SPOILER ALERT- HERE IS THE APP’S EXPLANATION”, then they don’t have to spoil the surprise.

People deserve to have the option to know what they’re buying, even if they choose not to. And now they know.