The Blackberry Bridge

**myklgrant** · 03-25-2012, 10:38 PM

I thought I would put all my problems/complaints/questions into a single post rather than app by app as I have been doing so far.

Hello,

Could someone explain what exactly the BB Bridge is, and what it's limitations are? I was under the impression that the PB used the Blackberry phone as a type of hotspot using Bluetooth rather than WiFi to give the PB access to the internet. That it was transparent as far as the server was concerned, specifically that the server application could not tell that it is communicating with the PB through the phone as opposed to over WiFi. The bridge is my favourite PB feature but...
Since getting my PB and my Bold 9900 I have found that 3 of my favourite apps work via Wifi but not via the bridge: Slacker Radio, Nobex Radio, and now Zinio I have read in the forums that there are others.
The web looks like the web through whatever browser I use (and RIM removed the Bridge Browser) so the PB sees the web transparently. The native email app works like the email app on my desktop so those ports are transparent.
Why do some apps fail when using the bridge? The individual developers have been no help at all (though they have tried).

Michael Grant

**kill_9** · 03-25-2012, 10:47 PM

There might be limitations on which protocols are carried over the Bluetooth connection for performance reasons. Imagine streaming a HD movie over Bluetooth. If you have a BlackBerry Bold 9900 you can listen to SlackerRadio on the smartphone. BlackBerry AppWorld does not work over Bluetooth yet works via WiFi on the BlackBerry PlayBook.

**jem9777** · 03-25-2012, 10:54 PM

Slacker Radio works over Bridge for me. As far as I know, any third-party app can use Bridge to get a data connection if the developer so chooses.

**myklgrant** · 03-25-2012, 10:56 PM

I forgot about App World. But I assume that is by design.

**Dissentient_One** · 03-25-2012, 10:58 PM

HD YouTube works fine over the, bridge... I don't get it either. Flash works... RDM+ works over Bridge but Splashtop and VNC do not....

**dan_dollar** · 03-26-2012, 10:10 AM

How is the speed of the internet via bridge?

**jthep** · 03-26-2012, 05:06 PM

Everything I use works EXCEPT app world and sketch w/ friends...

**myklgrant** · 03-26-2012, 05:18 PM

Same here. (Almost) indistinguishable from Wifi. No problem streaming video. Only a few problem apps. The bridge is the best thing about the Playbook

**Gatmyer** · 03-26-2012, 05:56 PM

You can also use the tether method. This is a mobile hotspot feature using your phone as a modem. Everything will work no limitations.

Word of caution. You must have it in your data plan (mine is $10/mo for 500mb) well worth it.

I use bridge for emails and such and tether for mobile google maps or anything else that bridge wont do.

**cletis** · 03-26-2012, 08:15 PM

Originally Posted by myklgrant

I was under the impression that the PB used the Blackberry phone as a type of hotspot using Bluetooth rather than WiFi to give the PB access to the internet. That it was transparent as far as the server was concerned, specifically that the server application could not tell that it is communicating with the PB through the phone as opposed to over WiFi.

The use of a Bridged connection is transparent to the server at the other end of a network connection. However, it is not transparent to the app on the PB itself. I think I know what you're thinking, because I also initially thought it would be this way: You're probably thinking that the PB establishes the Bridge connection at the OS level and makes it look and behave like a virtual network connection that any and all apps on the PB should see as a valid, live internet connection with lower priority than the Wifi Connection, so that the Bridge connection is only used when Wifi isn't connected, and that this is all managed by the PB OS so that it's transparent to the app. However, no such application-transparent virtualization takes place; an app must be aware of the existence of Bridge and invoke it specifically.

Originally Posted by myklgrant

The web looks like the web through whatever browser I use (and RIM removed the Bridge Browser) so the PB sees the web transparently.

Originally the regular, non-Bridge Browser was written to only connect over Wifi. In OS 2, it was modified so that it intelligently detects whether Wifi is available, and if not, it falls back to use Bridge. So the app is written to make the connection transparent to the user, instead of the OS making it transparent to the app.

Originally Posted by myklgrant

The native email app works like the email app on my desktop so those ports are transparent.

The native email app is, for whatever reason, written to NOT connect over a Bridged BB, so there's no transparency there.

I'm not a developer, so I don't know whether the calls to invoke a Bridge connection are exposed to developers over any of the available APIs. They may be secret calls that only RIM apps know how to use, which would explain why the only apps that I'm sure use Bridge are RIM apps like BlackBerry News. Of course, I hope that's not the case, and there may well be 3rd-party apps already in production that use Bridge, which would answer that question decisively.