[RichardHBB]

Absolutely love my Z30!!!
Only sad now that my PlayBook (yes I can admit to owning one) charger is not working effectively anymore so I cannot 'rapid charge ' the phone

Also if any tips how to download Google Play on the device would be much appreciated.

Peace.

Posted via CB10

You should be able to find a new Playbook style charger, OEM, very cheaply on eBay with a little hunting. They've really been blowing them out. I bought several for practically nothing; love 'em!

Here's how to get Google Play loaded, please read the very first post: http://forums.crackberry.com/android...ctions-985344/

Richard

[Ksoma]

Hi to all members, this is my first post and would like to share my experience with BlackBerry, it is a bit long but the only way to explain why I bought the Z30.

I was out to buy a new phone in March after having the HTC One X+ for two years, still works but the battery and cosmetic was over and just use it now for downloading .apk files to transfer to my Z30. I found BlackBerry interesting ever since I seen the Pearl model back a few years but never got a chance to buy one in Europe where I lived, I always bought premium phones but keept them for two years before buying a new one from the old Ericsson, Motorola StarTac, Sony Z5, HTC Diamond Touch, Toshiba G900, Nokia N8 to the HTC One X+, I loved the Nokia N8 and still do today. I never liked Apple and the iPhone, it is a fast phone as we all know but I just do not like the products and as for Android phones I hated the fact that Google installs all kind of apps in the back that cant be removed that I never use and also tracks everything you do and you are always required to have a account for many apps. I was looking for the Sony Z3 even if it was an older model it was close to the newer Z series but much lower priced but again it was an Android. I looked at many phones, the Sony Z5, Samsungs, Motoroals but nothing attracted me to them, honestly the new Marshmallow interface was so annoying to me that it looked like a kids phone with all the bubble menus and icons and every camera was almost the same, from the 12 mpx to the 21 mpx, we all know that there is no perfect camera on any phone so I recommend anyone that is looking to make professional pictures to go and buy a DSLR camera instead and make great pictures. I liked the Lumigon as it was priced down and was made in steel but again the interface was not nothing spectacular and one again another Android. I decided to take a look at the BlackBerry Leap and got it but the sharp edges where a problem and the built was somewhat cheap and went to look for the Z30 after reading many reviews and watching videos where I had to buy a phone from 2013 in 2016, this is how it attracted me and after seeing the price I went and got one and feel in love with the device, I liked the device so much that when it dropped by accident I had to get a new one before they were sold out. I feel sorry for the company, I always read how people love the devices by BlackBerry and I experienced it myself, the seriouse of the whole interface, the hub, the built in security and hardware, this phone is a winner still in 2016 and they should make a newer model but with Corning Glass and premium materials like on the Porsche models but not priced so much instead of going with the Android. The BB store and Amazon are not that great but 80% of the Apple and Android apps are garbage and we all know that, I installed every app I needed that was missing from the BB store and Amazon with the old HTC, installed a Astro Backup, made the apps backup on the desktop and just copied them in my Download Folder in the Z30, everything works fantastic except Google apps as the Google Service is needed but honestly I could not care less and that goes for Facebook also, I use it in the browser and have a icon and the G+ also, they will not stop me from using this sleek device by removing a few apps that can be used in the browser, the hub is missing the FB notifications but you can use them to come in the email. This is a great phone, the sound of the call is so clear, the speakers are amazing and I think they are second to none even today with newer models, people always look at the phone and look at me different in some way, I just reject to have a phone like every second person next to me and I am glad I bought my second Z30 and still have the first one in the box that I need a new glass and housing and will use it also for sure. I hope the company will clear its head and see how many people support the company and I never seen a community that cares for a phone brand like BlackBerry, they love them so much that they buy a older phone like me that had funds to choose a phone but I bout the Z30 and not one but two, that shows how good the company is doing its job and I hope they will make a comeback for users like we are, others looking to install 50 games and 50 crappy apps can stick with the iPhone and Android. They can remove more apps fro the BB10 but I love the device and will stick with it, the build, quality, sound, 3 day battery, hardware, gestures and software are what a smartphone should be and please do not make it go away like Symbian did with Nokia, BlackBerry, Palm, Ericsson and Nokia should have been the leaders today. The experience was a bit long but this shows how much I love the Z30 and hope we get many developers to make newer apps and have more people discover these great devices.All the best and keep them in the elegant leather cases, they deserve it!

[RichardHBB]

The experience was a bit long but this shows how much I love the Z30 and hope we get many developers to make newer apps and have more people discover these great devices.All the best and keep them in the elegant leather cases, they deserve it!

Those last 2 sentences...

You won't be seeing many developers; they've mostly gone away and what we have is what we have. A few people are still developing and if their efforts are good we should support them, but beyond that, don't expect much. BB10 is dead and there's a multitude of threads arguing the pros and cons to the bitter end, no sense rehashing all that; I'll keep using and enjoying my Z30 for as long as humanly possible.

If you mean the BB-brand leather flip case, I'd avoid it. It offers very little protection to the phone, other than from things rubbing against the screen or back while it's closed. My wife had one and we noticed when the phone gets dropped, the case tends to fly open. She didn't have hers long before a drop to the kitchen floor broke the screen.

Richard

[Ksoma]

Hi Richard,

The case is the leather pouch style, I got on Amazon for 5$ but was 45$ and also have the silicon case when in the house. The case is great, it holds the phone despite the weight of it very tight. I understand that the developers are gone and probably making Android apps but I hope there are some left that will see the potential of all the BlackBerry fans and see financial gain here also, if paid then let it be paid apps. BlackBerry should have stuck with the current market and not even look at the other two OS companies, they could have made a small market and offer devices that carry the same quality, Lumigon from Denmark is smaller and still in business, Vertu has a market even being a luxury product in the thousands and many more higher end phone brands. I know they are Android but believe me the owners do not care and they pay a few thousand dollars for the phone and carry it a few years, app junkies can go buy Android phones, more than 80% of the apps are junk, I got every single important app on my Z30 and disabled the Background run and have a 2+ battery life, there should be a way to keep this alive, its as someone is shutting it down on purpose for some reason. As every BB user I cant explain why I bought it to friends, they have to use it to know and then read what makes a BlakBerry a BlackBerry and why people like we get hooked to the devices.

Anyone know how many BB users are in numbers worldwide?

[Apple Aya]

I got a black BlackBerry Passport more than a year ago, then bought a white Passport and sold the black one. Then I also got a blue BlackBerry Classic. But, despite liking BB10, it seemed that BB10 devices were on the downturn and a couple of weeks ago decided to sell both the white Passport and blue Classic while they still had value. I didn't lose any money on either device so that was good.

But I did want to stick to BB10 devices and was thinking of what affordable BlackBerry device I could get. I'm not a fan of physical keyboards so the Q5, Q10 or Classic were immediately disqualified in my mind. I did want a modern capable device so essentially it came down to the Leap or Z30. The Z10 just isn't very good in this day and age so I never seriously considered it unless I somehow got it for almost free.

And since my wife already has a Leap, I decided to try the other beast, the Z30. Great little phone. It has a couple of glitches...but works very nice otherwise. Love the amoled display for its black blacks and strong contrast. The brightness is a bit odd. Not very bright at maximum (in bright sunlight very hard to see) and still very bright at minimum brightness (at night it is blinding). Strange how little difference there is between minimum and maximum brightness.

But other than that, it's a great device. Especially for the money...you can get mint ones for $150 or less these days. Same with the Leap. The Passport and Classic are great devices too but pricey in comparison. Especially the blue Classic, it costs a ton of money for very subpar performance. The Passport performs much better but I got tired of the novelty of the odd shape and all the jokes resulting from it. Sometimes you just wanna blend in and still have the best OS.

[qimhotep]

Hey guys, i just want to tellyou that my Z30 speakers started working again!!! Maybe it was the update maybe something else but i am so happy now can enjoythe full sound again

[UnderBerry]

Just had my z30 repaired, new sim card chasis and new screen. I broke the sim card pins after trying to get out a too small sim card.. silly me, actually completely broke 2 pins... that was over one year ago so couldn't use radio/call/sms for a long time until now so happy to have the radio working as of right now. I did use it as mainly a media player while it was not useable as a phone.

The screen, well I dropped it and it got a crack in upper corner, lucky it had screen protector otherwise would have shattered.

Been using another phone which I'm really happy to drop as the z30 is a little beast and perfect for calls/sms and minimal app stuff. Had it for over 2 years now, first year done its job well not too dated tech, second year was broke, I'm confident it will do swift justice for another year at least!

[UnderBerry]

How I've longed for your return z30..there for art thou beautiful productive siren you

[KevinGrenier1]

Love my Z30, bought an Android as needed an app for work that runs Android 4.4 or better. I have to say my experience with Android has been frustrating and disjointed. Trying to get it to run smoothly and easily like the Z30 is proving to be very difficult. Thank goodness for the Blackberry hub for Android. I miss being able to access Blackberry assistant via handsfree in my car. Can't do that with an Android unless you have a new car or one running Android Auto. Checking messages and texting all handsfree is not going to happen for me with my current car and Android. Trust me spent hours looking for a solution. No simple 555-1234 solution in Android.

[SeaVipe]

I too love my Z30! But...
Mine started flickering some months ago and I was prepared to wait out the next OS10 update but that obviously hasn't happened. I have the latest OS installed. My Z30 flickers "off" when the screen times out, also "phases" (for lack of a better word) when in Bedside mode - sort of like an old fashioned TV with a vertical hold issue. The most notable is when Bedside mode has been running for 4 or 5 hours, the screen starts to blink or flicker to the lock screen which is fairly bright and lights up the whole room - almost stroboscopic.

I replaced the battery a few months ago and that made no differrence.

Could this be anything to do with the digitizer assembly?

[Mayur498]

Is th

[Mayur498]

How to downgrade my bb z30?

[zx9r170]

I have an unlocked Z30 purchased from B&H Photo running on AT&T. It replaced a still fully functional Z10 in near perfect condition and was purchased in 2014 and used for two years. I wanted a larger screen so since the Priv was an android phone I opted for the Z30 and I haven't been dissatisfied or disappointed in the least, although I do have a few questions that I've never been able to sort out. When I open the Amazon Appstore it usually gives the notice "Unfortunately, Appstore has stopped" and it closes the app or else I just get a black screen with the back arrow in the bottom left corner which does nothing when touched. The Amazon app itself works fine and I can then view all of the apps available there. Since I can't get rid of the Appstore icon I'd like to have the it working properly.. My next issue involves Google Play Store which I downloaded against my better judgement to get the few apps that I would like to have but aren't in BBW. I downloaded all of the necessary files and then installed the few apps I wanted, but some of them, (like Fuel Rewards), are not fully functional. When I open them I am informed that the app won't run without Google Play services and gives me a link to get Google Play services. Been there done that and it won't install. I looked for info on how to fix the issue of not being able to install Google Play services on CrackBerry and found what I needed, but after downloading the file and attempting to repair the apps that needed to be repaired I got lost and couldn't figure out how to do what I was supposed to do. I didn't know whether I was doing something wrong or what so I deleted the downloaded file and gave up. I would rather not use android apps because they all require permissions that cannot be turned off and in most cases those permissions are not needed for the app to work properly. Whether those apps actually gain access to those areas of the phone where it has permission to is irrelevant, the fact that it CAN is what bothers me. But I digress. If anyone knows of a solution to either of my issues I would appreciate it. Thanks in advance.

[todd2013xb]

I love my Z30. It is an upgrade from a Z10. Trying to win a Silver Edition Passport for my next upgrade.

[Mayur498]

How to install playstore on bb 10 os

[zx9r170]

Mayur498, If you're asking how to install google play store on your BB10 phone here is a link for you. Some apps don't work properly because they won't run without google play services. A download is available to patch those apps but I couldn't get it to work. I'm sure it was because I didn't know what I was doing.

http://forums.crackberry.com/android...ctions-985344/


Here is a link to the page to download the patch for those apps that depend on google maps and google play services.

http://forums.crackberry.com/android...rvices-914930/

I hope you have better luck than I did.

[todd2013xb]

I LOVE my black Z30. When we signed up with T-Mobile, my wife picked a Samsung Galaxy S4, my daughters both picked iPhone 5S's and I picked a Blackberry Z10. Even then my phone was superior to theirs. Since then I have upgraded to a Z30 and this is the best phone. I love everything about it. Now, I am really wanting to upgrade to a SE Passport, keep trying to win one on Crackberry but not having any luck.

[Tim5985]

Love my Z30. My first smartphone ever was a Motorola Droid something; which I had for 14 months. Then tried BlackBerry for the first time in January 2014, which was a Z30 ...never looked back after that. It's still my daily driver. The BlackBerry 10 OS is fast and fluid. I especially like the Hub and the way it manages and displays email. I really like the Paratek antenna, which helps in fringe signal areas. There's this weak signal spot between home and work, where my old Droid would always drop a call. But my Z30 would stay connected all the way through it. Even my wife and daughter's LG and Samsung phones would fail in that spot.
I'm on my 2nd Z30 now, and will probably stay with it until my carrier stops supporting it. Not ready to jump to a BlackBerry Android phone yet. (Such an odd marriage that is)

Posted via CB10

[bournZ10]

Getting my 2nd Z30 today. I have had 3 Z10s, 1 q10, 1 9930. I might have to change my user name because of evolution, but not getting rid of Z10. My S7 is sitting in a drawer.

[rui3012]

I got a Z30 for 2 weeks, before I had a Z10 that was left for my wife. So far I love the Z30, spectacular display, good autonomy, very beautiful and with good specifications

[J English Smith]

Z10 user for past two years, just got a refurbished Z30 in great condition for $38 shipped. Love it. I may go back and forth a bit between both as the Z10 is just so perfect for a pants pocket carry. The battery life is a very nice upgrade and it's a little faster. Am NOT upgrading to 10.3.3, the 10.3.2 is fine and works well. I got an Amzer case and tempered glass screen protector for a total of $12 extra, had all the right chargers etc. I wish more people knew how good OS 10 is, even in its current state. My wife's Android phone is a hot mess. I could live with iOS if I had to, but I really like OS 10 better. For now, it's good, and you sure can't beat the price!

[cb4chris]

Can't tell to much yet. Seems a dream come true. Such a nice phone and OS. Fantastic! Lovin' it

[sparrow300]

Still watching Netflix and Prime on this phone. Or casting. Not bad for a many years old OS, that no one's any longer developing, and phone. If I had the cash, I'd restart and start selling, and continue developing, this OS. We're certainly living in a world these days that may need alternatives.

Just ignore the Google Services warning for a bit and it goes away.

[kbrant64]

hello everyone. i still have 4 z30 phones, 3 are the 1005 unlocked and 1 is an unlocked verizon unit. i love my z30 but now i cant update blackberry world so ill be working on that issue soon. im happy to see many of us are still here for the z30 and as for replacing the battery its very easy to open the phone to replace the battery ive done it a few times. ill try my best to answer any questions or try to help anyone just ask.

[Tutur]

I still have and I still love my Z30.
@kbrant64 : you can find solutions for the missing BB World update within this forum, as well as on some other places like YouTube.

Tutur