[srinarah]

To: [email protected]
Subject: Please Don't Discontinue Support for BlackBerry OS

Hi WhatsApp support team,

I hope you are doing well. Thanks for taking the time to read this message.

I would like to make a request. I understand your reasons for wanting to discontinuing WhatsApp support for BlackBerry OS. But please reconsider, or at least help me.

I am typing this email on my BlackBerry Passport Silver Edition. I wish you could understand how comfortable I feel on this keyboard. For me, not only is it the phone-land equivalent to the finest mechanical keyboard you can find, half the time, I'm just swiping up and letting recommendations automatically get filled in. In fact, if I wanted to retype this email verbatim for some reason, I could probably do it with 90% up-swipes.

I knew I loved this phone, but until I tried switching to something else, I hadn't realized how much I depend on it, from the keyboard with gestures and all to BlackBerry Hub to the clean user interface to supreme build quality and durability and beautiful matte finish, and I haven't even tried BlackBerry Blend yet.

I tried BlackBerry KeyOne (Android) and tried very hard to like it but just couldn't. I felt very squirmish about the glossy body, and the keyboard felt flimsy (the entire phone did, really). The Android version of BlackBerry Hub is just an inferior namesake of the real thing. I received the phone on a Friday and returned it the very next Monday.

I know many people who have Apple phones. I know iPhones tend to have very good build quality and ‎a very clean, nice user interface. If iPhone had at least BlackBerry Hub and a nice typing system, I would have strongly considered it so I could use WhatsApp, but as it stands, it would be a distasteful compromise for me.

Please help me find a way to continue using WhatsApp beyond this year‎ without cutting off a part of my very existence. That is how much this phone means to me.

Thanks again for your time.

Srikanth
Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone.

[lolo9269]

Great mail. If we can have one or two more year ssupport it's will be fine

Love Peace and share

[Muruganberry]

+1

Posted via CB10

[conite]

OP, you understand that the reason they aren't offering it anymore is that they are making server-side changes that aren't supported on BB10?

I would also add that you should give the KEYᵒⁿᵉ another chance. Hands down it's the best BlackBerry-branded device ever made. The keyboard is second to none, and it's built strong as a tank. Once you get the HUB configured to your liking, you'll never want to go back.

[Gokulraj gr]

Yeah going to other brand is also an strange thing.

[anon(5597702)]

OP, you understand that the reason they aren't offering it anymore is that they are making server-side changes that aren't supported on BB10?

I would also add that you should give the KEYᵒⁿᵉ another chance. Hands down it's the best BlackBerry-branded device ever made. The keyboard is second to none, and it's built strong as a tank. Once you get the HUB configured to your liking, you'll never want to go back.

Not everyone likes Android. From the OP's letter, it sounds to me like he/she gave it a fair chance.

Posted via CB10

[conite]

Not everyone likes Android. From the OP's letter, it sounds to me like he/she gave it a fair chance.

Posted via CB10

Actually the OP mainly focuses on the hardware, and then a specific note regarding the HUB app.

Either way, having to move from BB10 is ultimately inevitable and unavoidable.

[TheBirdDog]

While there are many people here that share your sentiments and wish that things would have played out differently, it has to be accepted that the direction of BlackBerry smartphones is now within the Android ecosystem.

Their exact reason for this move was so that they have less responsibility when it comes to app support for these exact scenarios. It's not Whatsapp's responsibility to continue to support an OS that is sadly obsolete. And, BlackBerry has already addressed the issue (and solved it) by making the move to Android.

I'm still on the Passport myself. I have the Android apk of Whatsapp installed and so far so good... I will hope that it continues to work for a while yet. However, I really don't expect that these solutions will last forever. There are going to be more and more pieces falling off of this OS and app support will keep dwindling until I decide it's no longer appropriate to use. It can't be expected that other companies will continue to support it just because a few of us still prefer it.

I also have a VCR being used in my basement because I find it great that the tapes are so tough that my daughter can handle them without any worry of her damaging them. And I can pick up used Disney movies for $0.50 to $1.00 at thrift stores. It works for me and I plan to keep using it until it doesn't anymore. And although it'd be sweet if movie studios were still releasing copies of their films on VHS for weirdos like myself, it is ridiculous for me to think that they might. Continuing to use BB10 is starting to feel very similar...

[Invictus0]

If you need WhatsApp and want to stay on BB10, why not sideload the Android version? There's no guarantee it will continue working but at the very least it could prolong the use you get out of your Passport.

https://www.whatsapp.com/android/

After installing WhatsApp download and run this once (you can delete it after that),

https://appworld.blackberry.com/webs...tent/60005088/

[ray689]

OP, you understand that the reason they aren't offering it anymore is that they are making server-side changes that aren't supported on BB10?

I would also add that you should give the KEYᵒⁿᵉ another chance. Hands down it's the best BlackBerry-branded device ever made. The keyboard is second to none, and it's built strong as a tank. Once you get the HUB configured to your liking, you'll never want to go back.

Agree with this 100%.

[elfabio80]

[QUOTE=conite;13057691]OP, you understand that the reason they aren't offering it anymore is that they are making server-side changes that aren't supported on BB10?

I would also add that you should give the KEYᵒⁿᵉ another chance. Hands down it's the best BlackBerry-branded device ever made.

Colite but are you getting paid to write down such ridiculous statement? I wish so....



Posted via CB10

[conite]

Colite but are you getting paid to write down such ridiculous statement? I wish so....

What part?

Incidentally, I am a volunteer and all my opinions are my own.

I have also owned and used almost every BlackBerry device ever made - all the way back to the 7100i.

[Ajith Raveendran]

what kind of server side changes, that bb not capable of.......?




Any one know...?

Posted via CB10

[AmritD]

what kind of server side changes, that bb not capable of.......?




Any one know...?

Posted via CB10

API capabilities that BB10 does not offer since they never updated their APIs after 10.3.1. Which was in 2014.

Posted via CB10

[Chuck Finley69]

[QUOTE=elfabio80;13057823]

OP, you understand that the reason they aren't offering it anymore is that they are making server-side changes that aren't supported on BB10?

I would also add that you should give the KEYᵒⁿᵉ another chance. Hands down it's the best BlackBerry-branded device ever made.

Colite but are you getting paid to write down such ridiculous statement? I wish so....



Posted via CB10

Why do you think it's any different if somebody the same comment about 3-4 year old EOL BB10 devices? If people are looking for solutions to use WhatsApp, it won't be on BB10 devices much longer as the ART continues to age. Time only moves forward.

[Ajith Raveendran]

API capabilities that BB10 does not offer since they never updated their APIs after 10.3.1. Which was in 2014.

Posted via CB10

What an irony, 2010 version Android 2.3.3 (GINGERBREAD) is capable but 2014 BB10 IS not

Posted via CB10

[conite]

What an irony, 2010 version Android 2.3.3 (GINGERBREAD) is capable but 2014 BB10 IS not

Posted via CB10

Isn't it though.

[butterbean1983]

Either way, having to move from BB10 is ultimately inevitable and unavoidable.

THIS. I had a Q10 back in 2013. Loved it. At the time, best phone I had ever owned. A few months ago, I got sick of android and traded an LG phone for a Q10. At first, I defended BB10 saying it's still a relevant OS but the truth is, it's just not. The browser doesn't load a lot of pages anymore and the list is growing, no more native facebook, android apps consume resources at an alarming rate (the ones that still work, the list is shrinking as most developers update their API's), I could go on but the point is I have decided to switch to an iPhone when I can afford it because I'm still sick of android and sadly there aren't any other stable platforms coming to market. I've been a diehard BlackBerry fan for a long time. My first BlackBerry was a 7290 I bought used in 2008, I also had an 8300 (?) an OG pearl, a 3g curve, another curve might have been a 3g not sure, and of course the q10. When I first got the Q that I'm currently using, I considered eventually getting a passport but after using the phone awhile I've realized it's time for me to move on, not just from BB10 but from BlackBerry altogether because I really don't like android I know the phones may perform well and have enhanced security but no matter what version of Android or how good the specs are, it's still android. So iphone it is for me. Perhaps a 6 or 6+.

[butterbean1983]

My bad when I said 8300 I meant 8700

[Chuck Finley69]

My bad when I said 8300 I meant 8700

Close enough. The 8300s were the Curves which you had anyways.

Those were the days. If you had an 8700, it meant you were a "biznessman" to people. LOL

8700s and their predecessors could be used as deadly weapons if necessary. I dropped on my barefoot once it hurt for a few days...