[jd914]

Some interesting reading for those BB users thinking of going to Android

BlackBerry To Android: Confessions Of A Convert | Android Phone Fans

Android: Confessions Of A Convert by Jeff Dickerson on January 24th, 2011 at 1:45 pm

Jeff Dickerson, a moderator known as gobluejd on AndroidForums, is a former BlackBerry addict gone Android.


So you are thinking of moving from a Blackberry to Android, huh? Well it�s a scary journey, but once you do, hopefully you�ll never look back.

As a former Blackberry addict myself I knew there would be some hurdles and things I knew ahead of time that I might truly miss. Once you decide to take the plunge, there are some obvious understandings you�ll want to embrace. The 3 �biggies�:

1. Blackberry Messenger

� This was hard to lose. I miss the received / sent icons but after a month or so, Google Talk took over. It�s just as good plus I can use it at any PC I am at as well. I used Google Talk from the beta days, so it was already familiar. The hard part was getting everyone else that I BBM�d to use Google Talk. Most of them already had Gtalk installed on their BB�s so eventually they just started communicating with me this way. Now a year later there is no problem, I love Google Talk.

2. BB Holster Magnet

� Yep I still miss/want it. When you un-holster your BB, the screen instantly comes on, the call/email/etc is staring you right in the face. With Android you don�t get the information staring you in the face but it is much simpler to access, you swipe down the notification bar, select the item and you are instantly taken to that specific app. It takes some getting used to but if you never used the BB holster feature you won�t even miss it!

3. Security

� If this is your personal mobile phone, you really have no worries. If it�s a company phone more than likely you�re on a Blackberry Enterprise Server (BES) and your IT department will have to okay the transition to Android. Keep in mind if you�re on Microsoft Exchange, your emails are secure no matter what mobile device you�re on (Windows, Blackberry, Palm etc). That being said, non-Exchange emails (Gmail and Blackberry Internet Server aka BIS) are secure from the server to your mobile device. All other email is not secure no matter what the device.

Here are some quick pros and cons of each platform to further guide your decision/transition:

Performance 1. Blackberry - Quick and somewhat stable. Typically I�d have to do a battery pull every few days. The re-boot time is ridiculous - sometimes 8 minutes. 2. Android - Quick with no lag or hesitation. I do not think I have ever had to take the battery out, unless swapping for another one. Boot time is quick.

Battery 1. Blackberry � The battery life on a Blackberry is fantastic. However keep in mind that it is not doing much. 2. Andorid � Not so good. I can make it through a full day � sometimes. However I find that I am doing A LOT more with my phone. There are threads upon threads on Android�s battery issues. It all depends on how you use the phone. If you�re browsing the web for an hour or watching a video (something you would not typically do for long on a BB) you�ll certainly see the difference. If there is something at which Android can improve, it�s battery life.

Email 1. Blackberry - This is what RIM /Blackberry is known for. Gmail on BB is starting to improve but does not hold a candle to Android. If you�re not on BES this really does not matter to you. 2. Android - So far email is pretty good. Emails are almost instant with Exchange. Gmail however EXCELS (of course, it is a Google!).

User Interface (UI) 1. Blackberry - Not much to say here. It�s tried and true. No glitz and glam. It does what it is supposed to. I now refer to this as the DOS phone. 2. Android - Wow! What the **** have I been smoking that has caused me not to move us all over to the Android side? Two words: Love it!

**Note � User interface really is a matter of personal preference rather than a question of better or worse.

Web Browsing 1. Blackberry � Painful to browse the web. If you�re stuck with it, at least it accesses the web. 2. Android - This is where Android DOMINATES. Web browsing is night and day compared to Blackberry� and by that I mean wonderful.

Apps 1. Blackberry � More and more apps are showing up, but the iPhone OS is keeping it behind. It will be interesting to see what Blackberry can do to start competing with Android and Apple OS. 2. Android � Dominates again. More and more apps that are loved on Apple iOS are already making their way to Android. Android is right up there with iOS.

Well hopefully this information can aid in your decision making process. I certainly had help from our forums, but collectively this info was not available in one place when I was in my decision making process. A year later, I am now an Android addict and a proud member and moderator here at Android Forums. If you want to find me on AF my user name is gobluejd!

[howarmat]

I know him from the board over there and he is a great member. Fair assessment from him for sure

[TERRY_BUTLER]

This helps me a lot,havein a tour and lookin at the bionic.Tryin to read and find out as much as I can about android.N ur opinion thunderbolt or bionic?

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[jd914]

This helps me a lot,havein a tour and lookin at the bionic.Tryin to read and find out as much as I can about android.N ur opinion thunderbolt or bionic?

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

They are both 4G LTE devices, it comes down weather you want a dual core processor or not, the Thunderbolt doesn't have one the Bionic does.

Also keep in mind Motorola locks their boot loaders.

[TERRY_BUTLER]

So I hear,the thing with that is I don't no how to root,so really that doesn't mean anything to me.But to those who do that,they r not happy campers.Plz xplain to me why blur is so bad? And do u think dual core matters at this stage?

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[djsnoopygirl]

thanks for this ... I'm still on day one and I really hope to NOT spend the whole week on simply having a new phone!

[ThaGeNeCySt]

So I hear,the thing with that is I don't no how to root,so really that doesn't mean anything to me.But to those who do that,they r not happy campers.Plz xplain to me why blur is so bad? And do u think dual core matters at this stage?

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

I don't think a locked bootloader prevents root... I think it makes it hard for custom roms (bootstrapper needed) and no custom kernels and what not

[Chrisy]

Great article! Thanks for posting this. I can't wait to go from BlackBerry to Android. Hurry up, Bionic!

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[jd914]

I don't think a locked bootloader prevents root... I think it makes it hard for custom roms (bootstrapper needed) and no custom kernels and what not

you are 100% correct

Rooting a device with locked bootloader is possible but you're greatly limited on the customizations you mentioned.

[Xopher]

I think the only thing I don't fully agree with is transitioning over to Google Talk. I use it, but it doesn't have the confirmation tags like BBM. I was using Google Talk to chat with some of my non-BB friends when I was on BB, so the transition wasn't bad at all.

I use Kik and LiveProfile now, which do have the S/D/R notifications. I also have PingChat, but don't know as many people who use that app, so it doesn't get used much.

I'm a huge IM junkie, chatting all the time. Between Kik, LiveProfile, PingChat, Google Talk, AIM, MSN, YM, and Facebook, I chat a lot. The thing I really miss from BBM is BBM Groups.

[jd914]

The thing I really miss from BBM is BBM Groups.

Me too I think that's a great BBM feature but everyone that I used to text on BBM now has an Android phone lol

[avt123]

you are 100% correct

Rooting a device with locked bootloader is possible but you're greatly limited on the customizations you mentioned.

The only thing limited is no custom kernels and no upgrade path without a signed kernel from Moto. That is the only customization you miss out on (no upgrade path is a big deal for some if they plan on keeping the device for 2 years, if not t doesn't matter one bit). No custom kernel sucks as well but you can still overclock Motos kernel and provide LV and ULV substitutes.

[jd914]

The only thing limited is no custom kernels and no upgrade path without a signed kernel from Moto. That is the only customization you miss out on

ROM's like Cyanogen come with custom Kernels so that's a deal breaker for most.

[avt123]

ROM's like Cyanogen come with custom Kernels so that's a deal breaker for most.

I understand this. CM is great but it is not the be all end all of ROMs. My DX with Gummy, Rubix or Liberty runs better than Evos and other devices with similar hardware on CM (also tested it against an N1, MyTouch4G and Desire HD, the Desire and Mytouch just scores higher on Quadrant which I can care less about), and I get better battery life.

Custom kernels is a huge part of the hacking community for some people. For the majority of Android hackers, the ability to root and load a custom ROM is more important.

[Tre Lawrence]

BBM kept me on BB too long.

[jd914]

BBM kept me on BB too long.

BBM can be a bad thing. I simply can't understand why BB users attach themselves to BBM and then don't want to leave for a better platform solely for this reason.

There is a world outside BBM.

[howarmat]

most people admit their BBM list is getting smaller everyday. That should hint to them whats going on lol

[Chrisy]

Maybe gtalk will add the D and R. Would that be possible?

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[MOTH477]

BBM kept me on BB too long.

I missed BBM until I found Whatsapp. It does everything BBM was doing with the exception of "read" confirmation.

[jd914]

Maybe gtalk will add the D and R. Would that be possible?

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

I would really like to see Google put more development into Gtalk, there is so much potential for it.

[ThaGeNeCySt]

I'm wondering when google will fix that lil gtalk bug where.. if you send someone a link via gtalk on a different platform (such as gmail.com), when your phone syncs up, it scrolls your phone all the way to the top of the convo... pretty annoying lol

[Rickroller]

I missed BBM until I found Whatsapp. It does everything BBM was doing with the exception of "read" confirmation.

Actually..if you notice there will be one "green checkmark" for delivery..and two "green checkmarks" when read It really is to me the perfect BBM replacement..but that's because I don't know ANYONE in these parts that uses Gtalk.

[lssanjose]

iGotChat has promise, but needs users! haha. It does push notifications, group chats, media transfers, and what not. I goes through email/username, and not PIN like BBM, or LiveProfile. I've yet to really test it since i have no contacts on it right now.

[Tre Lawrence]

Yes, my BBM list has dropped drastically. Down to seven from several dozens. 5 of those 7 are required to carry BBs.

[thebignewt]

My BBM was good, but I don't miss it. I just use SMS, no biggie. We all know by now that browsing is all about the screen size and the speed, and BB sux at both. Compared to browsing, messaging is low tech, thus the BB excells at more low tech things (messaging, battery life). Too bad, I like my BB smartphones a lot. But browsing was not their thing.