How to bypass Motoblur on Motorola Defy Plus

motorola (Photo credit: Adam from another planet…)

I always wanted to do a review of a device and being a proud new owner of a Motorola Defy+, gods have smiled upon me.

But! … you have to wait for a while and here is why:

People have mixed feelings about Motoblur, a system designed to hold in that Motoblur account all the phone contacts, e-mail accounts, messages, streams from social networks etc., lots of people didn’t want to have all personal data in one place without the option to limit that “backup”. I am one of them.

When you first power up a Motorola device with Motoblur, you are asked to make a Motoblur account and the obvious question is “How to bypass Motoblur?”. You have tones of responses on the internet, many of them going way too far like rooting your phone, installing a custom ROM, gaining access to Pentagon after setting up 3 computers from NASA and NORAD as proxy servers.

Many of the answers online are for permanently disable/remove Motoblur because simply bypassing the creation of a Motoblur account will left some processes running in background.

My simple tutorial on simply bypassing the creation of a Motoblur account:

1. power up your phone;
2. if it asks you for SIM card activation/PIN code, insert it;
3. at the Motoblur account screen, press the Menu button (the first button from the left, that with the 4 boxes, 1 white and 3 black);
4. if you don’t see a Skip button, choose More and then press Skip;
5. you’re done!

What you will miss:

• All your contacts, e-mail accounts, social network streams, messages synced in one place. Some Motorola made widgets won’t have data to show on the screen.
• Operating system updates can’t be made without a Motoblur account. First, some say that if you’ll wait for Motorola to update the Android version, you’re life will pass by blazing fast. Second, you can always root your phone and install a custom ROM.

What you still can do:

• Manage your e-mail accounts;
• Use social network apps to stay in touch with your friends;
• Sync your data with any service you like;
• Enjoy a plain default Android experience.

Don’t get me wrong, lots of people love this all in one sync stuff and Motoblur is in fact the key selling point on a Motorola device so if it’s ok for you, you will have a full Motorola+Android experience.

I’m on Android

– Hello, i am Kaigara and i’m on Android.

– Hello Kaigara!

I’ve made the switch, i put to sleep my old and wonderful Nokia E51 and bought a Motorola Defy Plus. I know…i know.. he who is without sin, to throw the stone first.

After months of comparing, testing, reading blogs and websites, talking to people i finally decided to go with an Android smartphone over other smartphones like Symbian (yes, even if it’s dead), iOS, Windows Phone.

What were the key buying points:

• i am a linux user and i wanted a similar open environment (so iOS and WP are down);
• i wanted a rugged smartphone to take on cycling trips, with enough screen space but with good battery life (Motorola Defy Plus wins over Samsung Galaxy Xcover and Sony Ericsson Xperia Active);
• a good price/quality ratio (i think).

What i don’t like in Google’s services and products is that they gather every data from your device/service, this being a really big no no for me, but i think, hey, if someone, anyone will really want  to track me and know every step i make, they will know. Anyways, if you plan to bomb something, you don’t post your progress on Twitter or gather Likes on Facebook.

I really don’t care how many apps are on the Store, i’m not an avid user of social networks and i don’t care how much integrated are those services or any other services with the phone system.

There are many online debates, pros and cons, fights about how that OS is better then he others, how a smartphone maker have the best product, about the killer app, the iPhone killer which i really think it’s all rubbish (the majority of stuff on the internet is rubbish but that is another story).

To put it simple, a smartphone is good, is friendly and useful, just like a mini computer that can handle small and frequent tasks that otherwise requires a computer or laptop.