Who watches the Watcher? BlackBerry 10 customization power-tool gets an update

Watcher is a freshly-updated BlackBerry 10 power-tool armed with plenty of tweaks to customize your phone and operating system. In fact, some of its options are so clever that you probably didn't know you needed them, until you had them presented to you. For example, Watcher has an option that makes your Berry vibrate when an outgoing phone call connects, so you don't put it on your ear too early. We all know how annoying it can be to hang onto a signal or, God forbid, a trendy ringtone when the person on the other side is too busy to answer. The vibration alert is such a simple and effective solution to this little problem, that we wonder how it never occurred to manufacturers.

Here are some other highlights. Watcher can make the smartphone's notification LED blink in different colors for incoming calls, connecting to a cellular network, receiving texts and e-mails. It also has an auto-switching feature that automatically changes the profile between Silent and Normal at set periods of time. For example, it sets the BlackBerry to Silent in the night and Normal through the day. If you carry your phone in a holster, Watcher can change the profile as the device is taken in or out.

While we're on the topic of silence, the app has options to block all incoming phone calls in a set period of time. We suspect this is a delightful feature when you are in the middle of something, and turning off the smartphone is undesirable.

Watcher's Home Screen options include automatic changing of your wallpaper in predefined time periods, with pictures chosen from a selected folder. Watcher can do the same for your lock-screen, although it will cause "big trouble" when using Picture Password, according to the developer.

Watcher costs $2.99 and is available on BlackBerry Q10, Q5, Z10, Z30. It requires BB OS 10.2.1. Future updates will bring more features and customizations, such as outgoing call and e-mail blocking, to the application.