Email is at the heart of many people’s BlackBerry use, but it can be tiresome when you constantly pick up your device to find spam or emails that you don’t need to read yet. There is no way around this issue, or at least there wasn’t until now.

MailTones from Electric Pocket is a simple app which gets around the problem by allowing you to specify sounds dependant on who is emailing you. For example, you can set a spooky Halloween sound if your boss is emailing you or a romantic sound if your partner is trying to get in touch, or maybe you will reverse those sounds depending on how strange you relationships are?:)

The way MailTones is interfaced is simple and logical and you should be up and running within minutes. There is quite a long list of tones included which range from ‘You have mail’ spoken tones to more off the wall effects which are sure to grab your attention wherever you are. Add to this the ability to download extra tones, such as timely Halloween noises, direct from the developer’s site and the options are plentiful enough to cover a large database of contacts.

I receive lots of email every day, but only need to read some of them and the complexity of handling multiple contacts can be a real pain. For example, I will receive an email every time someone joins PDA-247 as a new member, but I don’t need to read the email. I do, however, need to still receive these emails so they are now set as silent in MailTones. Messages from freelance editors and contacts are set with a loud tone so that I do not miss them and others such as friends have already been allocated MP3 files on my Curve.  Myself and Tom Munch email a lot so his version of Stardust is now the tone when he emails me which adds a nice personal touch.

There is also a ‘Do Not Disturb’ feature which you can set when you need a break from the constant communication and an extra touch which makes the whole process even easier. In the standard Blackberry messaging app you can highlight an email and then choose the new menu option to quickly select a tone for it without leaving the app- very clever.

MailTones does not proclaim to change the world, but it will make your mobile communicating easier and more fun. It works on all levels; those who only have a few contacts can take the time to really personalise their communications and for those who are bombarded with emails like I am you can use it in a more inclusive way by picking out the contacts you ‘need’ to hear from and making sure that the relevant tones will alert you immediately.

Put simply, every BlackBerry on the planet should have MailTones installed.

Available here for only $2.99.