BlackBerry Playbook
Apps and Other Cool Things to Know

For reading e-books and getting library books.


You will need:

From AppWorld on your PlayBook, get:

The trick to finding your epub and/or pdf files on your PlayBook using "Simple File Browser" is to browse to:
/accounts/1000/shared/. Here you will find the folders for documents, music, videos, etc.

A good site for free epub books is Project Gutenberg.
Note: The latest version of Overdrive seems to have changed making it impossible to add a new website and difficult to add your own epub books. For reading your own non-DRM epub books I recommend Book Reader for EPUB and Kindle Books by Untangled Development. It is ony $0.99. Overdrive is still required for getting and reading e-books from your local library.

Password Management


For managing an ever increasing list of passwords, accounts, etc. I recommend this solution:

If you don't already have a DropBox account go to dropbox.com and signup for a free account. Install Dropbox on your PC and/or laptop.

On your home PC: Go to keepass.info and download KeyPass v1.24 (not v2). Use the PC version to create one or more password files and add your various secret info to it. I chose to save my keypass file directly in my Dropbox folder on my PC. That way, every time I make a change it is automatically backed up on the Dropbox server and available for my PlayBook.

On your PlayBook: Go to App World and get:

Once these are installed, open the BlueBox app and highlight your Keypass file (*.kpd) and choose to download it. To find a password or other secure bit of information you can run the KPD app, and browse to the .kpd file you just downloaded. (It should be in the folder Documents/BlueBox/YourName/.)

Remote Control Your Home PC


Ever been out and wish you could look at a file or look up a name in your home desktop computer. Use your PlayBook to remote-in to your PC! (Requires a static public IP to your home router. There are free ways to do this!)

  1. Download and install UltraVNC onto your desktop computer.
  2. Configure your home router to redirect port 5900 to the IP address of your desktop.
  3. Download and install "Free bVNC" onto your PlayBook.
  4. Run bVNC and a new connection. You are now seeing and controlling your desktop computer on your PlayBook!

Other apps


Sideloading Android Apps

To use a Google Chrome extension to sideload apps, follow the instructions at Crackberry.com

Recommended Accessories

"Blurex Slim Leather Portfolio Case With 2 Tier Stand for Blackberry Playbook" - available at Amazon.com

Cool Things About Your Playbook


Transfer Files Wirelessly

  1. Tap setup icon (upper right corner)
  2. Tab "Storage & Sharing" in list on left side of screen
  3. Turn ON "File Sharing", "Wi-Fi Sharing" and "Password Protect"
  4. Set a password
  5. Tap "About" in list on left side
  6. Select "Network" from the dropdown list
  7. Note the IPv4 address (ignore the grayed out "/24")
  8. On PC, run Windows Explorer and enter the following in the address line (use the IP you noted in the previous step): "\\192.168.0.113\media\"
  9. When prompted to enter a Network Password, enter "playbook" for the username and enter the password you set on the playbook in a previous step.
  10. The playbook can now be accessed like any other drive on your computer. Copy files to the appropriate folders as needed.