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I am a die hard Blackberry fan because of its efficiency! Moreover I don't trust android. But with BB OS 10 exiting I will barely get any good choice. The droids aren't secure. Windows Phones are laggy and the iPhones are so inefficient. The iPhone irritates me a lot while typing even through swiftkey. I thought of getting a Passport, but now some people have started saying that the BB OS 10 will last just a year or two! In great confusion! Please help!!
Depends on your definition of 'last' I suppose, but you gave no inkling of how you use your device. If you just want it for email, texting and web browsing, it'll be fine for the most part. If you're expecting a full, rich ecosystem with extensive updates and new features, that time is long gone.
It'll work. In this respect, BlackBerry 10 is more accessible than Legacy OS and peeps over here still using that years after development stopped. You'll be able to use it for years to come probably, don't worry. Unless you want apps.
As for Android security: those phones are as secure as you want them to be. If you were to go the AndroidBerry road, you'll have the most secure offering in the Android realm. It depends on you how secure the phone stays.
Installing Android apps on BlackBerry 10 is actually less secure without permission control. Let alone when downloading them from whatever source one can find. It's all relative man. The same discussions arose about BlackBerry 10 when it got introduced. Change isn't always a bad thing.
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What's phone do you use now? If bb10 then passport is no different than your bb10 device
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WhatsApp have stated that they will support Android 4.0 users 'for years to come'. To give you some perspective, the four year old Android Runtime in BB10 is 4.3.
It's a more-than-capable OS, it's just it has been completely abandoned by its creator, which in the meantime is happy to continue selling new units.
Apparently becoming a 'software company' involves abandoning your own software!
Becoming a "software company" means investing in software that earns a profit. If you look at BlackBerry finical statements.... there wasn't much surplus cash flow there. Not sure how you expect BlackBerry to pay for BB10 development (or support). It's more like customers abandoned BlackBerry, and they were forced to stop dumping money into that hole.
Yes they should have been up front with their plans back in late 2014 when the move to Android was most likely made.... but they are a BUSINESS first and they needed revenues, more than they needed to connect the dots for the stubborn Fans that didn't want to believe that BB10 had no future.
There are still phones out there running BBOS 4-7. (Part of the problem BB can't sell new phones.)
I think BB10 can last you a good 10 yrs as long as you use it as is and do not expect more.
BB10 is a finished product, but they could have done something about the Android Runtime.
A few people are still interested in buying Bolds, even although almost all apps have stopped working on that platform.
Let's see a new production run ! :D
Even with BluRay, PS series and Xbox, I am still holding out for BetaMax to come back and Sega to bring back a Dreamcast 2.
Most of those BBOS phones were bought for a purpose... BIS. Which in some markets is still financially advantageous for the user. Even if the Browser is way too slow or the phone doesn't have more modern features... the lower monthly operation cost has a value.
BB10 won't have the extended life that BBOS had... HUB is great (it's on Android now), Gestures are terrific (some made it to Android), and BB10 is secure (will it be for 10 years?). Once BlackBerry "officially" ends support, you'll find some apps that BlackBerry has to PAY to licenses "like BlackBerry Assistant" probably won't work for too much longer (two years past the last "official" sold BlackBerry maybe). BlackBerry Travel has already bit the dust, but that was licensors decision to pull the plug. What if email providers change their security requirements... might not even be able to do email? Little doubt that the browser won't last that long.... And while BBOS had a number of developers that stuck with the platform... that was because of how many users there were. Even now they outnumber BB10 users.
I can see BB10 being usable for a few years.... but I think 5 would be a stretch at this point.
My guess is that it will work fine with its native apps for another 1-2 years, and possibly longer.
Android apps will be hit and miss, as will other third party apps that rely on APIs from platforms that change frequently (Facebook, WhatsApp, Salesforce.com, etc.)
The first thing to underperform will likely be the native browser, as it will become more and more obsolete.
So long as I have full Exchange integration for email, notes, contacts, calendar and tasks, with access to Box, DropBox, and OneDrive, I won't be switching. I may add a Surface device (Surface Pro or Surface Phone) at some point, but I'll likely keep my BB10 phone as my only mobile number until I can simply use a soft phone over WiFi 90% of the time. Then I'll transition to a softphone on a Surface-type device.
Unlike a lot of people, I have never found a pressing need for any iOS or Android apps. I will likely always have an old iPad and Android tablet lying around for my kid to use, and for testing Web dev stuff, but no apps for personal use, thanks.
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