1. Zeratul57's Avatar
    Yes I was thinking that myself. My main concern will be to get to know the device, get the best from it and then worry about bringing in some more Android apps. There will be a handful of apps I may try and port across initially but I will be concentrating on the BB experience first and foremost.
    I applaud your intelligent assessment! Android user going to try out a Blackberry-clap.gif
    Dave Bourque likes this.
    06-01-15 06:34 PM
  2. GusGF's Avatar
    Thank you for all the valuable insightful information, so much to digest. I've actually just pulled the trigger on a BBP on ebay so hopefully by the end of the week I should be holding one in my hand if all goes well. Can't believe they've got native emulators and support for games controllers!! Thanks for the warning regarding contacts will be keeping an eye on that.

    Thanks again
    06-01-15 06:38 PM
  3. Dave Bourque's Avatar
    Thank you for all the valuable insightful information, so much to digest. I've actually just pulled the trigger on a BBP on ebay so hopefully by the end of the week I should be holding one in my hand if all goes well. Can't believe they've got native emulators and support for games controllers!! Thanks for the warning regarding contacts will be keeping an eye on that.

    Thanks again
    Third party developers built those before passport was even released.

    I think they had them out for the Z10 2 years ago. Could be wrong. BlackBerry 10 is a great OS I'm sure the Passport will be a fun and new experience for you.


    Z30STA100-5/10.3.1.2582
    GusGF likes this.
    06-01-15 06:53 PM
  4. joekiser's Avatar
    Android apps are quirky on the Passport. Firefox is much slower than my Moto G, but there is the Evolution Browser if you want a native, ad-free experience. Of my two banking apps, one barely functions correctly.

    I am not a heavy Google user anymore, despite being one of the early adopters of Google, GMAIL, and Android, so I can't comment on what you may be missing out on. There are no widgets, but there is a hub. You will never get root access to the phone. Linux support simply doesn't exist for the BlackBerry, unless you use the third-party Sachesi. For contacts list, you can export your contacts list from Google, and upload it to the phone.


    One of the best things I appreciate about BB10 compared to Android is a feature called Picture Password. Look it up on Youtube. Instead of a silly unlock sequence or four digit PIN that any shoulder surfer can figure out, the picture password is a simple to use, but hard to decipher number placement that is hard for others to guess even if they are looking directly at the screen. Once you use it, you will wonder why nobody else does this.

    It really depends on what you want to do. If you want a traditional mobile phone experience that mostly stays out of the way, try the Passport. If you want to root, hack, compile your own kernel and overclock/underclock, get the Nexus 6. I've been a Linux user for over half my life, have my own initials at linux.com for an email address, and I'm using the Passport.

    Sent from my BlackBerry Passport.
    GusGF likes this.
    06-01-15 08:18 PM
  5. Poi25's Avatar
    Android apps are quirky on the Passport. Firefox is much slower than my Moto G, but there is the Evolution Browser if you want a native, ad-free experience.
    I really don't know why people keep pushing Evolution Browser, I'm guessing they must not have heard about or used Browsie yet. The developer is active here on the forums, and the app is so far and above what Evolution could ever be, it's not even funny.

    Evolution was a waste of ******* money. It looks like ****, crashes constantly, and is just a poorly executed app. Browsie is fantastic and my default browser now. Everything Evolution wishes it could be.
    Daanisawesome likes this.
    06-02-15 03:05 AM
  6. gilbert khayat's Avatar
    Former ZU owner here. That was a beast of a phone, straight up tablet. I was heavy in the android modding, hacking, and development game. Been there, done that.

    If you are all about media consumption and apps, stay with Android. Many Google related services now work on BB thanks to some awesome devs, but some still don't. There was a pretty big breakthrough 2 days ago: Google+ and Hangouts now work on BB. It should only get better from here.

    For communicating and getting **** done, you will find BB to be superior (IMO) and more efficient, with substantially better battery life.

    If you have any specific Android vs BB questions, ask away. I'll just say this: I was heavily sucking on Google's titty and left it for BB in January. Im still enamored by the Passport and have no intention of switching devices anytime soon (not common for me). That says something.
    Would it be possible to share the steps of how did you manage to get google+ to work. Also any apps that requires google play services don't function the right way and sometimes they don't even work.
    I was a note 4 owner and I switched to passport due to company policy. No regrets for switching. However I do mis watching proper youtube and movies. And I am seeing lots improvement keep coming.
    06-02-15 04:27 AM
  7. zombiecupcake's Avatar
    I've been a longtime BlackBerry user but now and then over the years I've switched to Android phones (my last one being a Galaxy S Relay).

    One thing that you'll notice right off the bat is how austere the OS is... there's no bloatware pre-installed by manufacturer or carrier. It's just plain stock OS; no nonsense, no busy cluttered widgets floating around. For someone who actually uses widgets or themes and other customizing features, this might be hard to acclimate to. But I've found the lack of these things to make it so much easier to get around and get tasks done, and without all the lag of an Android interface.

    The Hub is far superior to the drop-down menu in Android. You don't have to open each individual app to respond to all your messages -- just swipe and you've got your control center, all your messages right at your fingertips. There's not a better email system out there, it's where BlackBerry really shines. If you're a big messager you'll see the difference in efficiency right away.

    You've got lots of options for apps (Amazon app store, BlackBerry world, Playstore, etc), so in a way you actually have more apps available to you than an Adroid user :P While the Android apps don't always run 100% on a BlackBerry, they do function well enough to use easily. With future OS updates the Android runtime should improve and therefore give better app functionality.

    One thing that you might miss is the voice assistant, as BlackBerry Assistant is way behind the others. For basic functions, she can probably help with all your bare bones needs. But she thinks very slow and will not understand your knock-knock jokes. Don't expect her to be a good wingman or anything.

    Lastly, I would suggest you peruse the forums to see what kind of benefits/issues BlackBerry phones have. Keep in mind that while there can be a lot of negative posts, it is because people are more inclined to post when they need help than not. Most of the hardware and customer service issues experienced do not happen to most users.

    Overall, BlackBerry is straight up business, and with a bit of tweaking you can make it fun too. But really the best thing about it is the simplicity. When you turn your phone on, nobody's trying to sell you something on your home screen or bombard you with the loud blinking colors of some unnecessary widget. It just... works. Plain and simple

     = ♥ | 8220, 8530, 9670, 9810, Q10, Passport
    06-02-15 05:08 AM
  8. entwisi's Avatar
    was Android user from Dell Streak running 1.6 till my Note 3, then I decided to take the leap to the passport. main reason for me is I've always been a hardware keyboard sort of guy ( e90 communicator, N900 etc ) and teh one bug bear of android was lack of a device that filled that need.

    short answer? I love it, its fast, the keyboard is ace, the touchpad effect just "works" , screen brightness even in direct sunlight is superb, battery life is a different league to the Note 3

    apps wise the only stuff that so far doesn't work for me are apps that wont run on rooted devices ( my banking apps and Skygo), I've got workaround for banking by using the .mobi site but skygo I have to use my old Note 1 ( i knew there was a reason i never throw old kit away!! ). otherwise all games I used to play still work, some actually suit the square screen better than on droid IMHO.

    Hub deserves its own paragraph as it is quite simply THE best communication tool I have ever used on any platform. filtering/priority/pinch to unread only etc just works as it should, integration of all social networking brings my life completely into a single place.

    camera is pretty good, maybe not quite of the note3 quality of feature set but I have excellent pictures taken from the PP so I'm not that worried as I have DSLR for "proper photography".

    overall my contract in the Uk is due for renewal at Xmas and I would normally be starting to think what device I want next based on rumours and and I really hope they bring out a PP2 that just polishes a few minor pieces without re-inventing the wheel, I like this device as it is, just a few tweaks is all it needs IMHO
    GusGF likes this.
    06-02-15 06:44 AM
  9. MC_A_DOT's Avatar
    The Z Ultra is a huge beast, how did you fit it in your pocket lol?
    06-02-15 08:02 AM
  10. arkenoi's Avatar
    I am ex-Droid4 user (cm11 android 4.4). The keyboard of Passport is clearly inferior, and "google play services has stopped" message freaks me out, and the sad irony is that I bough Passport because I got tired of constant hacking and tuning my phone to make it usable and now it's only worse.. but at least it has decent performance, BB Hub is great (and Executive Assistant on Android is not) and email client is not that ugly and certainly not two distinct ones for Gmail and Exchange respectively. Well, my previous phone sucked, and this one sucks a bit less. And it is not made of cheap plastic and screen is much more decent.

    I miss Hangouts much (Cobalt's new version did not work for me and I cannot figure out why). That means I can miss a party because I cannot be invited to a group chat!
    06-02-15 10:23 AM
  11. RyanGermann's Avatar
    Skype on BB10 is an android port: I find it slow and unreliable. My attitude towards Skype on BB10 is "it will do in a pinch, but I won't enjoy it, and I'll be glad when I'm done." Absolutely not "Oh, I'll just use Skype! :-) "

    The best mobile Skype experience in my opinion (that I've used) is on iOS: the iPhone 6 runs skype very snappy and it connects quickly, well, better than Android devices.

    So, the issues with Skype may be more "android code" than "android port running on BB10".
    06-02-15 10:37 AM
  12. Dave Bourque's Avatar
    I am ex-Droid4 user (cm11 android 4.4). The keyboard of Passport is clearly inferior, and "google play services has stopped" message freaks me out, and the sad irony is that I bough Passport because I got tired of constant hacking and tuning my phone to make it usable and now it's only worse.. but at least it has decent performance, BB Hub is great (and Executive Assistant on Android is not) and email client is not that ugly and certainly not two distinct ones for Gmail and Exchange respectively. Well, my previous phone sucked, and this one sucks a bit less. And it is not made of cheap plastic and screen is much more decent.

    I miss Hangouts much (Cobalt's new version did not work for me and I cannot figure out why). That means I can miss a party because I cannot be invited to a group chat!
    You complain about Google Apps not working correctly on the BlackBerry platform... really...

    Posted via CB10
    06-02-15 02:52 PM
  13. Poi25's Avatar
    You complain about Google Apps not working correctly on the BlackBerry platform... really...

    Posted via CB10
    Ya, I've made this comment a number of times, but I'll make it again. Because BlackBerry has given us the ability to run Android apps (they never had to), I guess people take that as an invitation to complain that core Google services don't work PERFECTLY, like they would on an Android device.

    People have no problem crying that Hangouts doesn't work, or Google+ doesn't work, or YouTube doesn't work, or wahhhhh. But you never hear people complaining that iMessage doesn't work, or iTunes doesn't work, or any other iApp doesn't work. It's a complete double standard, and it gets extremely irritating to hear it.

    Be thankful that we even have the ability to run Android apps. It's getting better with dev support, and hopefully the Android runtime will get better and better. If you want the full Android experience, get a ******* Android phone.
    miker476 and starboyforeal like this.
    06-02-15 03:48 PM
  14. Dave Bourque's Avatar
    Ya, I've made this comment a number of times, but I'll make it again. Because BlackBerry has given us the ability to run Android apps (they never had to), I guess people take that as an invitation to complain that core Google services don't work PERFECTLY, like they would on an Android device.

    People have no problem crying that Hangouts doesn't work, or Google+ doesn't work, or YouTube doesn't work, or wahhhhh. But you never hear people complaining that iMessage doesn't work, or iTunes doesn't work, or any other iApp doesn't work. It's a complete double standard, and it gets extremely irritating to hear it.

    Be thankful that we even have the ability to run Android apps. It's getting better with dev support, and hopefully the Android runtime will get better and better. If you want the full Android experience, get a ******* Android phone.
    BlackBerry never intended for us to have access to Google Apps so the fact that it's even possible to get some functionality out of them is a miracle in itself. Completely agree with you

    Z30STA100-5/10.3.1.2582
    miker476 and starboyforeal like this.
    06-02-15 06:39 PM
  15. arkenoi's Avatar
    I complain about google services and I just do not care if it they are native (like they are on iphone or older blackberry) or not, but yes, we need it. No double standard here.

    Posted via CB10
    06-03-15 01:40 AM
  16. Poi25's Avatar
    I complain about google services and I just do not care if it they are native (like they are on iphone or older blackberry) or not, but yes, we need it. No double standard here.

    Posted via CB10
    26 posts and you're whining about BlackBerries needing Google services. Sounds like you should pack your bags and head back to Android.
    to boldly go likes this.
    06-03-15 02:18 AM
  17. arkenoi's Avatar
    26 posts and you're whining about BlackBerries needing Google services. Sounds like you should pack your bags and head back to Android.
    I would, if there was just one decent qwerty phone with Android.
    06-03-15 05:30 AM
  18. zombiecupcake's Avatar
    I would, if there was just one decent qwerty phone with Android.
    Sadly it seems like all manufacturers are moving away from qwerty for good. It's an outdated form factor, because they've made it so by insisting that touch screens get bigger and bigger. That's why BlackBerry is still undefeated champs of the qwerty. There are a few decent droids with pkb, if you don't mind outdated hardware.

    http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/best-qwerty-phones/

    The funny thing about that list is the Passport is #1 :P but there ARE options, you just have to find em.

     = ♥ | 8220, 8530, 9670, 9810, Q10, Passport
    06-03-15 05:44 AM
  19. arkenoi's Avatar
    No, there are not. As I mentioned, Droid4 -- the most modern and fast of non-bb qwerty phones available today *was* my previous handset and it was barely usable with modern software even if you spend a week "optimizing" the system.
    06-03-15 06:08 AM
  20. zombiecupcake's Avatar
    No, there are not. As I mentioned, Droid4 -- the most modern and fast of non-bb qwerty phones available today *was* my previous handset and it was barely usable with modern software even if you spend a week "optimizing" the system.
    Sorry to OP for taking this thread even more off topic.
    arkenoi, are you in US or Europe? Generally Europe has a better selection of phones, especially qwerty. If you try to find some Euro-exclusive models you might come up on a good one. Otherwise, you already have your best option for now.

     = ♥ | 8220, 8530, 9670, 9810, Q10, Passport
    06-03-15 07:44 AM
  21. arkenoi's Avatar
    Europe. And I am certainly willing to pay full price for the unlocked phone -- as I actually did for Passport -- or even buy "unsupported" phone on ebay as I did with Droid4 (it was US-only model). My previous phone before d4 was Nokia N950, which was a developer-only model manufactured in several hundreds total, but I needed it so badly that I acquired it; as you may now figure out I am not afraid of obstacles. Still, there are no decent qwerty phones, regardless of where you live.
    06-03-15 08:09 AM
  22. gilbert khayat's Avatar
    06-03-15 11:02 AM
  23. gilbert khayat's Avatar
    Or. Com
    06-03-15 11:03 AM
  24. gilbert khayat's Avatar
    Or Google. That can typed on any browser.
    06-03-15 11:03 AM
  25. GusGF's Avatar
    The Z Ultra is a huge beast, how did you fit it in your pocket lol?
    TBH it was a PITA, everytime I sat down or drove I would have to take it out, or if I had sat down and tried to remove it I would have to make all kinds of contortions with my body to wiggle it out of my pocket
    MC_A_DOT likes this.
    06-04-15 06:44 AM
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