- It's not just about 'big apps'. With all the talk about massive dev support and coming out with 70k apps at launch, the lack of any decent variety when it comes to some basics like Twitter apps is astounding.
All this talk about Skype and Instagram yet the BB team couldn't get BlackBerry mainstay Ubersocial to code a BB10 app. That's lazy. There's a reason the main twitter app has very dire reviews in BlackBerry world.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2Coachbulldog and htcwf like this.02-17-13 10:11 PMLike 2 - Lots of big apps are already there. Of course, nobody pays attention to that; apparently it's only the stuff that's missing that's important.
Look, I get the frustration. I bought a PlayBook on week two and patiently waited for it to become more than marginally usable. The general sense that I'm getting here is that BB shouldn't have bothered unless they could get EVERY major app. Windows Phone doesn't have all this stuff either, btw, but apparently Microsoft is so all-powerful that it apparently doesn't matter.
My advice stands: do some due diligence before you buy. If the device isn't going to fill your needs don't buy it. You're not doing BB, your carrier, or yourself any favors trying to force the issue. If there's an app you really want, let the publisher know, because strangely enough, when they get enough demand they start to pay attention. Otherwise, weigh how important that app really is in your own personal grand scheme of things and see if you can do without. Or see if there's an alternative app that will be suitable.
In any event, I completely agree with your comments regarding the importance of doing due diligence. In my case, I did just that and made the decision to cancel my pre-order of the Z-10. I am not prepared to leave Blackberry but I am also not prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt - the Playbook all but destroyed any faith I had in BB. So I'm going to take a back seat and wait to see what the next few months will bring to the new OS. I am hopeful that things will change and that the quality of applications improves and that the variety of the applications available improves. The next 6 months will be very telling.JeepBB likes this.02-17-13 10:28 PMLike 1 -
Windows Phone doesn't have all this stuff either, btw, but apparently Microsoft is so all-powerful that it apparently doesn't matter.02-17-13 10:42 PMLike 0 - Yup its sounding like the PlayBook all over again.
Just like Kevin called for RIM to just change their name to BB, I think BB should make their slogan "coming soon". Its even longer overdue than changing their name to BB lol
If they are actually coming, I'm expecting to see some/many announced before the US launchLast edited by Rello; 02-18-13 at 05:13 PM.
02-17-13 11:12 PMLike 0 - ThunderbuckRetired ModeratorA lot of truth in what you post here. 14 out 15 apps a consumer considers essential could be available for BlackBerry but it is the one that is missing that might cause a potential consumer to look elsewhere for their new phone.
I have paid zero attention to Windows phones and I had no idea what is or isn't available for them. But after reading your post I did a quick search on the Windows phone website for what most CrackBerry posters consider "big apps." Netflix, Words with Friends, Skype are available. Instagram is not. My personal favorites, MLB at Bat, NHL GameCenter, Radio.com, Wells Fargo Bank are also not available. This is why I hope some of the "big name apps" do come to BlackBerry because it would make BB10 devices more appealing than Windows phones to the general public.
NHL GameCenter and MLB at Bat are both coming (officially announced).
Yup its sounding like the PlayBook all over again.
Just like Kevin called for RIM to just change their name to BB, I think BB should make their slogan "coming soon". I even longer overdue than changing their name to BB lol
If they are actually coming, I'm expecting to see some/many announced before the US launch02-17-13 11:19 PMLike 3 - A lot of truth in what you post here. 14 out 15 apps a consumer considers essential could be available for BlackBerry but it is the one that is missing that might cause a potential consumer to look elsewhere for their new phone.
I have paid zero attention to Windows phones and I had no idea what is or isn't available for them. But after reading your post I did a quick search on the Windows phone website for what most CrackBerry posters consider "big apps." Netflix, Words with Friends, Skype are available. Instagram is not. My personal favorites, MLB at Bat, NHL GameCenter, Radio.com, Wells Fargo Bank are also not available. This is why I hope some of the "big name apps" do come to BlackBerry because it would make BB10 devices more appealing than Windows phones to the general public.
Forget about the 'big' apps. The BASICS need to be taken care of. Funny how we often spun the OS7 devices as real social media powerhouses and yet the Twitter apps on BB10 so far are rather lacking.
I think this is a fallout of the rather manic race to build up a large app portfolio for bragging rights. Most people ported over crapware or brought simplistic apps just to score a free dev device. Quality took a back seat to quantity.02-18-13 12:12 AMLike 0 - OmnitechDragon Slayerinteresting. So it's the market penetration of iOS/Android that makes it worthwhile for them to develop for those platforms?
This suggests that there might be a Catch 22 involved where the devs are reluctant to work so hard for a platform that's not widely used by their particular user base, and people are unwilling to adopt the platform if thy don't have those apps.
The iPhone had zero apps when IT was launched.
No other smartphone platform has ever started out with 70,000 apps the way BB10 did.
That said: iOS and Android have acclimatized people to the idea of having lots of apps to choose from now - this is the reality in the year 2013. While the importance of the actual number is grossly distorted and exaggerated, it is important to have a good selection.
While I certainly don't care about all the fart apps, flashlights, dumb games and "apps" written using an app-generator that are just a generic RSS feed of someone else's website etc, I must admit it is nice to have a variety of choices to pick from when I want to find some sort of network administration tool like an RDP app, a VNC app, an SSH app, a VMware tool, an IP subnet calculator, things that are really useful to me professionally.
So once again: while the "number fixation" is indeed overblown, Blackberry does need to get a critical mass of good apps to create appeal.
Note well: What is very very good about Blackberry is that from all indications, they have probably the most welcoming and helpful developer relations regime of ANY of their competitors right now, and from what I hear, some of the best development tools in the business. All of you taking potshots at Alec Saunders need to remember that he is a KEY reason why that is so. Blackberry deserves a LOT of credit for completely revolutionizing that aspect of the company over the last year or two.02-18-13 12:21 AMLike 3 - At least Windows Phone has several very decent twitter apps, has Whatsapp and has perhaps THE best mobile Youtube app on any platform.
Forget about the 'big' apps. The BASICS need to be taken care of. Funny how we often spun the OS7 devices as real social media powerhouses and yet the Twitter apps on BB10 so far are rather lacking.
I think this is a fallout of the rather manic race to build up a large app portfolio for bragging rights. Most people ported over crapware or brought simplistic apps just to score a free dev device. Quality took a back seat to quantity.
Why are people so lazy that they need an app, when all they have to do is add a bookmark to the homescreen.
Never used instagram, but guess what they have a website for that to! There is a website for twitter too!
I swear society as a whole is becoming more and more ******** and incapable with each new generation. Sometimes i wonder where we have ended up....BlackistheBerry likes this.02-18-13 02:44 AMLike 1 - No, I don't think big apps are held until US release of Z10. Does not make sense. Having these apps now available would only heat it up for US market.
And it is also childish to believe what could not have been done during last year would be accomplished in a month time.
I am almost confident it is a matter of priorities at the developer side - Ios and android hold 90 % of the market. Plus it is a lack of communication and seriousness from BlackBerry itself.
Come on, tons of words about essential apps available when Z10 is out. Never happened including this very moment I am typing it?
Big apps? Silly us, RIM failed to even release THEIR own and essential BlackBerry Travel. Jokers.
Skype was promised 100 times. But even this essential app is a port. Just wait and see how it will eat your battery.
Therefore I don't have such a great feeling about any sooner release of big apps. They don't care it seems. Only if Z10 sells beyond some critical mass, they might ever be bothered.
Posted via CB1002-18-13 03:56 AMLike 0 - I think the main problem about the apps announced on January 30 is they never said that were coming, just that they were "committed" to BlackBerry which is as vague as it can get. And while Skype may be there by the US launch date - mainly because they have actually confirmed it themselves - I think most of us just want believe all the apps announced will be there by next month which in reality only a few apps will be there at launch, while the rest of the developers will "wait and see".
It's gonna be months to a year before we'll know if the apps are really coming.02-18-13 04:52 AMLike 0 - OmnitechDragon SlayerThere is an incentive to get in early, and Blackberry has capitalized on this by offering their revenue guarantee: when you jump into a market where there are already nearly a million different products, it's a real challenge for people to even know you exist, much less get much traction against entrenched competitors.
I have an Android tablet. It always amazes me how poor the Google app store is in terms of finding apps. They have a tiny list of "recommended" apps, and a pathetically inadequate category system that needs at least 10x more granularity than it currently has to make it remotely useful. Yesterday I tried searching for "Plants vs Zombies" and after wading through page after page of cr*p that had nothing to do with the actual original app, I gave up. It might have even been in there someplace in the list of things on my screen, but I had no simple way of finding out without going to every single app's page to see what the heck it actually was. (There are idiots selling text games that stick "Plants vs Zombies" in their unrelated app title to attract more attention, people selling pamphlets and hint books, all manner of completely unrelated junk.)
If you write an app for BB10 right now in a low-served category, you will have a vastly higher profile and could do very well.
Someone just the other day in one of these CB threads asked about a RSS reader app, a vendor stepped-up and suggested his recently-approved app, and then a bit later another vendor who had an app awaiting approval jumped-in and promoted his/her own. Right now the first guy is going to get some good exposure and possibly sales, but in a few months when there are a half-dozen competitors that will change somewhat. Don't even ask about trying to get noticed at the Android or iOS stores where you probably have hundreds of competitors already.d3rd likes this.02-18-13 05:22 AMLike 1 - At least Windows Phone has several very decent twitter apps, has Whatsapp and has perhaps THE best mobile Youtube app on any platform.
Forget about the 'big' apps. The BASICS need to be taken care of. Funny how we often spun the OS7 devices as real social media powerhouses and yet the Twitter apps on BB10 so far are rather lacking.
I think this is a fallout of the rather manic race to build up a large app portfolio for bragging rights. Most people ported over crapware or brought simplistic apps just to score a free dev device. Quality took a back seat to quantity.
The best YouTube "App" is the DESKTOP version of the site and all the flash content, which, ONLY the Z10 provides out of the box. You don't need an app for YouTube when you've got a browser that rivals desktop browsers that can view all the content the web has to offer. Just saying/d3rd likes this.02-18-13 06:41 AMLike 1 - Im pretty sure Blackberry have nothing to do with app development. They're a software and hardware company. The people to blame are the developers. No Instagram? That's their fault for not developing for BB. They chose to not have an open API which anyone would be able to build an app for.. Same for Skype. Those companies have chosen to retain 'ownership' to their backend and thus ownership of the apps. Unlike Twitter and Facebook which allows ANYONE to build any kind of app for them. Don't like the FB and Twitter apps? Then start developing your own one02-18-13 06:47 AMLike 2
- Even the fb app and many others are rubbish at the mo. If you try to enter into the app settings it takes you to the mobile Web page rather than you having the full app on your device. BBC and the BBC I player apps are just like the YouTube one in that they are mere links to the website. Such a shame if this is what developers are offering and blackberry is accepting them and referring to them as apps. I see no reason why they should exist for downloads from the blackberry world when I could easily. Type in the Web address in my browser.
Posted via CB1002-18-13 06:57 AMLike 0 - Think how loud the complaining would be if apps weren't available through Sideloading.
And think about how few (outside of the True Believers) sideload.
This is eerily similar to the Playbook. Still waiting for apps there. Were told "this is the test version of the OS for BB10" and "wait, it'll get better".
Is it better? Of course it is. The Z10 is usable and is selling (no one has any clue how well or how many). The Playbook died under the weight of no apps and (initially - you know, for a year) no native e-mail. The Z10 is much better.
But BBRY's ability to deliver the apps is still in question.
And March is only 11 days away. Yes, end of March is 6 weeks.02-18-13 07:02 AMLike 0 -
But BBRY's ability to deliver the apps is still in question.
As an aside, you could also email the companies/developers with apps you would like to see on the BBRY and encourage them to build them. It is way too easy to sit somewhere and complain about things that BBRY has no control over.Omnitech likes this.02-18-13 07:27 AMLike 1 - If the developers are to blame, then why did BlackBerry make a big splash about these apps at the launch?
I don't buy from the developers, I buy from BBRY.02-18-13 07:30 AMLike 0 - That'd be almost a tragedy from my perspective if they didn't. BB Traffic is the probably the best app the entity f/k/a RIM ever built. And it's not on the Z10, or has been cannibalized for parts and subsumed within BB Maps? Puh-leeze.02-18-13 07:56 AMLike 0
- Think you're wrong on that. Skype (msft) has a revenue model that depends on broad adoption across many platforms. They want you to use the app to dial out to regular phones in order to get this revenue. If BlackBerry get's their sales numbers up, a port will come...IMO.
Posted via CB1002-18-13 08:21 AMLike 0 - The best YouTube "App" is the DESKTOP version of the site and all the flash content, which, ONLY the Z10 provides out of the box. You don't need an app for YouTube when you've got a browser that rivals desktop browsers that can view all the content the web has to offer. Just saying/
Don't kill my vibe using Tapatalk02-18-13 08:22 AMLike 0 - 02-18-13 08:27 AMLike 0
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