[JG_Agustin]

As much as I enjoy the BlackBerry experience on Android (with the occasional hiccup), there's some features which I definitely prefer/miss from BB10.

As a personal test, and also derived from a couple of recent issues I've had with BBM and WhatsApp on my PRIV, I've decided to switch back to my Passport as main device for an undetermined time.

My idea is to eventually share my views, specially aimed at users asking for pros and cons of switching from BB10 to Android.

Likewise, as I'd eventually like to get a KeyOne (the 4GB RAM version) whenever it's finally available in Mexico, I find the Passport is closer in feel and looks hardware wise to it, than the PRIV.

I will post my findings on this thread and if anyone else is up for the test / challenge, feel free to share your experience.

 Passport (10.3.3.2163) /  PRIV (6.0.1)

[YesAndNo]

The Passport SE is awesome because is a true BlackBerry 10.

Posted via CB10

[markmall]

As much as I enjoy the BlackBerry experience on Android (with the occasional hiccup), there's some features which I definitely prefer/miss from BB10.

As a personal test, and also derived from a couple of recent issues I've had with BBM and WhatsApp on my PRIV, I've decided to switch back to my Passport as main device for an undetermined time.

My idea is to eventually share my views, specially aimed at users asking for pros and cons of switching from BB10 to Android.

Likewise, as I'd eventually like to get a KeyOne (the 4GB RAM version) whenever it's finally available in Mexico, I find the Passport is closer in feel and looks hardware wise to it, than the PRIV.

I will post my findings on this thread and if anyone else is up for the test / challenge, feel free to share your experience.

 Passport (10.3.3.2163) /  PRIV (6.0.1)

You can't do this! Blackberry's last proprietary OS is dead! Doesn't matter how good it is! Dead, dead, dead! Pathetic to even think about using it. The world has forgotten it and the last developer has abandoned it and has even lobotomized the portion of his brain that held BB10 programming knowledge. It's so dead that you're not even using it but having a flashback of using it while you're lying on your deathbed hallucinating. Let go! Let go! Walk towards the light... the light, the light.

Love, Crackberry, a website devoted to Blackberry enthusiasts

Posted via CB10

[pavlos46]

Oh my God, let the man do his thing, what you got BB shares and feel cheated or are you on Google's payroll.

After two years on an iPhone and Samsung devices I am back on a Z30 and loving it.

Pavlos

[kvndoom]

Oh my God, let the man do his thing, what you got BB shares and feel cheated or are you on Google's payroll.

After two years on an iPhone and Samsung devices I am back on a Z30 and loving it.

Pavlos

It was a failed attempt at sarcasm.

[pavlos46]

OK, in that case please do accept my sincere apology.

Pavlks

[JG_Agustin]

Back to the original post, after some unwanted sidetracking.

I've been using the Passport since last Friday and at least during the weekend was generally fine.

Camera wise, pictures are much better on the PRIV than on the Passport, however, I find the in-built editing features less clunky on the later.

Using the native Dropbox app on BB10 is OK, but slower than the one on Android, and there's nowhere to clear cache, so it starts growing in size after some use.

For Facebook, I've kept the native unsupported one for notifications, while using the browser and Android Messenger Lite for chats. The calling option is shown but doesn't seem to work on BB10. Something strange I've noticed with the native unsupported Facebook app is that while using my phone's data, images will not display, and only appear when connected on certain Wi-Fi networks. This is probably due to my carrier's free Facebook browsing offering.

The Browser is OK, but feels sluggish when compared to say, Keyboard Browser on Android, and even Chrome. It still renders most pages, but struggles with some and even Facebook begins to clutter it, to the point it freezes and needs to be closed and reopened.

For LinkedIn, the latest Android version from apkmirror works OK, if a bit slow on the Passport. Ditch the native one which doesn't work.

Typing experience is miles ahead on the Passport... I can only wonder how the KeyOne would compare.

Email using the Hub on BB10 is also a far better experience. For some odd reasons and even after reporting it to BlackBerry, certain emails still cannot be rendered on my PRIV's Hub.

BBM and WhatsApp, for whatever reason feel more intuitive on BB10. Not only that, but I've been facing issues with these two apps on Android:

WhatsApp: When typing a lot with the physical keyboard on the PRIV, it will eventually malfunction and crash. First, the editing option goes crazy until the app force closes. I've reported the issue numerous times, uninstalled and reinstalled the app without restoring history and it still happens.

BBM: Stickers and images within chats will stop displaying after a while. BBM Emetek is aware of the issue and only suggested that it was a problem of my BlackBerry ID connecting to their infrastructure or a RAM issue. I can't figure out how, since the ID has only been used on this device and regarding RAM, I still see the issue after rebooting, clearing cache and even erasing data and starting from scratch.

These last two situations prompted me to fire up my Passport. Surprisingly, none of these issues are present. So with the appropriate caveats, including the coming EOL for WhatsApp on BB10 and all the recent changes on the BBM infrastructure, both apps work better on BB10. Noted, WhatsApp lacks video calling, several of the new stickers and quoting, but it's usable at least until December.

A strange thing has happened, socially wise. Several people have noticed my Passport and it's caught their attention, mentioning it's cooler than the PRIV. An odd thing, since one of them didn't give much notice to my Passport when I was originally using it in 2014-2015-2016 (he's an Apple diehard fan).

On another note, I find it easier to post with the Passport than with the PRIV on CrackBerry. The posting box on Android is not only tiny, but hard to move around and edit the text in it.

 Passport (10.3.3.2163) /  PRIV (6.0.1)

[xhead75]

OK, in that case please do accept my sincere apology.

Pavlks

His signature was the only thing that gave it away so don't be too sorry.

Posted via CB10

[Kryngle]

You can't do this! Blackberry's last proprietary OS is dead! Doesn't matter how good it is! Dead, dead, dead! Pathetic to even think about using it. The world has forgotten it and the last developer has abandoned it and has even lobotomized the portion of his brain that held BB10 programming knowledge. It's so dead that you're not even using it but having a flashback of using it while you're lying on your deathbed hallucinating. Let go! Let go! Walk towards the light... the light, the light.

Love, Crackberry, a website devoted to Blackberry enthusiasts

Posted via CB10

Speak for yourself. I'm still using my Z30 and just last week two of my friends purchased a Passport and Z30 so it's not "dead". Only dead to the Android D'ryders


Da Reepah

[JG_Agustin]

Speak for yourself. I'm still using my Z30 and just last week two of my friends purchased a Passport and Z30 so it's not "dead". Only dead to the Android D'ryders


Da Reepah

It could be somewhat considered dead with regards to further development, but not usability. For several users, it still does a fine job and there are even things where it excels beyond what I've seen on Android and iOS.

While I'm not a heavy app user, there are some which are essential to me, and at least at the moment are running fine on my Passport. Most importantly, the way the native Hub handles emails simply invites me to use it. On Android, I get way less of that feeling.

I haven't seen or tested a KeyOne in person yet, but at least comparing the Passport and PRIV hardware wise, the BB10 device is number one.

If you absolutely need full featured social apps, BB10 is not an option. Yes, some may have workarounds, but there's no real discussion there, go BB Android.

WhatsApp has become an important app and kind of an unfortunate must on my phone (namely for work). If EOL finally comes next December, I will switch back to my PRIV without looking back, regardless of all the BB10 advantages.

But today, the Passport is working practically as the first day. And for the first time, I'm rocking it without a case and feels awesome!


 Passport (10.3.3.2163) /  PRIV (6.0.1)

[chpapa]

Interesting. I just start using passport again (alongside) with my keyone this week. I also like the passport keyboard much better, the only things annoying me is I still can't get Google doc and sheets working, and some apps I use at work regularly like Quip just not available...

Other than that, very solid device. I wish there will be a passport 2 running bb10 with updated android runtime (unfortunately....)

Posted via CB10

[Praganad]

You can't do this! Blackberry's last proprietary OS is dead! Doesn't matter how good it is! Dead, dead, dead! Pathetic to even think about using it. The world has forgotten it and the last developer has abandoned it and has even lobotomized the portion of his brain that held BB10 programming knowledge. It's so dead that you're not even using it but having a flashback of using it while you're lying on your deathbed hallucinating. Let go! Let go! Walk towards the light... the light, the light.

Love, Crackberry, a website devoted to Blackberry enthusiasts

Posted via CB10

You mad bro?

Posted via CB10

[Praganad]

It could be somewhat considered dead with regards to further development, but not usability. For several users, it still does a fine job and there are even things where it excels beyond what I've seen on Android and iOS.

While I'm not a heavy app user, there are some which are essential to me, and at least at the moment are running fine on my Passport. Most importantly, the way the native Hub handles emails simply invites me to use it. On Android, I get way less of that feeling.

I haven't seen or tested a KeyOne in person yet, but at least comparing the Passport and PRIV hardware wise, the BB10 device is number one.

If you absolutely need full featured social apps, BB10 is not an option. Yes, some may have workarounds, but there's no real discussion there, go BB Android.

WhatsApp has become an important app and kind of an unfortunate must on my phone (namely for work). If EOL finally comes next December, I will switch back to my PRIV without looking back, regardless of all the BB10 advantages.

But today, the Passport is working practically as the first day. And for the first time, I'm rocking it without a case and feels awesome!


 Passport (10.3.3.2163) /  PRIV (6.0.1)

OP thanks for sharing your experiences, I came from using bbos to android to apple back to bbos and then bb10. At first I would dual carry my lgv10 and BlackBerry curve(later on BlackBerry Q10) and would use apps that I was not able to on my BlackBerry. But I started to realize that those apps that everyone claims they "need" I rarely used and the most used app I did use was youtube, a complete time waster app. So I eventually just started using my Q10 as my solo daily driver . I've found that I don't need apps and even though the browser is slow for bb10 even browsie browser, it still meets my needs for browsing and finance and entertainment (youtube). Bb10 still has a lot to offer out of the box, android is good and not hard to learn but BlackBerry really made something good in bb10 and bbos!

Posted via CB10

[blackbp]

...I have a Dtek 60 but my main phone is still Passport SE...because I'm dead too

[markmall]

His signature was the only thing that gave it away so don't be too sorry.

Posted via CB10

Yeah, it was sarcasm which is maybe not everyone's cup of tea. I just find it galling that the last viable fan refuge for this wonderful piece of software engineering and hardware design gets trolled mercilessly by people that frequent who are even then encouraged by some moderating the site. (I think upper management has asked everyone to cool it.)

I really don't think BB10's slow fade will hurt BBMobile's attempts to sell devices. If anything, it keeps up brand awareness for the millions that used BBOS and might, might be tempted by KEYone.

[markmall]

Thanks so much to the OP JG_Agustin!

I dabble in Android for the dating apps and for Lyft. This makes me leery again of the whole Hub-to-Android project. I really don't like Android generally. My phone is a communications device -- not an app device. I STILL think BB10 could be marketed and with much more potential success than the BB Android project. I don't think this will ever happen though.

I confess I have had to my Android device recently also because my Passport camera can't focus or focus on the correct object. I think this is a manufacturing defect and a software defect in these. Focusing on text on a page or object is especially a problem. I once chased down a car that cut me off and was trying to photograph the license plate. My adrenaline was so high I couldn't memorize it and I kept photographing this car in front of me and coming up with nothing but blur. I got one shot out of 10 that I could read, but I was so angry at BB for not getting the focus right.

[gruv4u]

Looks like someone has learned a lesson about coming to CB and trashing BlackBerry devices. It will not end up like you think. Not even in jest.

 Passport SE SQW100-4 with Vitamin (SR) 10.3.2.2836 (OS Version) 10.3.2.2876 on AT&T

[markmall]

Looks like someone has learned a lesson about coming to CB and trashing BlackBerry devices. It will not end up like you think. Not even in jest.

 Passport SE SQW100-4 with Vitamin (SR) 10.3.2.2836 (OS Version) 10.3.2.2876 on AT&T

I have no idea what you mean. Is this directed at me? Trashing BB10 or Android?

[conite]

@JG_Agustin, the DropBox cache is cleared if you sign out and back in again. The bigger worry is that the v1 API cutoff date is Sep 28th of this year. Unless there is an update, BB10 will lose access.

As much as I like my Passport SE keyboard, I find the thumb travel too tiring after a lot of typing. The KEYᵒⁿᵉ may seem cramped at first, but it makes for a more comfortable experience. The keys just melt under the thumbs when you fly.

I have a Priv too, and the KEYᵒⁿᵉ is better in almost every respect. I have a hard time putting it down.

[JG_Agustin]

@JG_Agustin, the DropBox cache is cleared if you sign out and back in again. The bigger worry is that the v1 API cutoff date is Sep 28th of this year. Unless there is an update, BB10 will lose access.

As much as I like my Passport SE keyboard, I find the thumb travel too tiring after a lot of typing. The KEYᵒⁿᵉ may seem cramped at first, but it makes for a more comfortable experience. The keys just melt under the thumbs when you fly.

I have a Priv too, and the KEYᵒⁿᵉ is better in almost every respect. I have a hard time putting it down.

Thanks for the tip @conite, I used to uninstall and then reinstall Dropbox to clear cache, but what you mention is simpler and quicker. Do you know if it also works for OneDrive?

Likewise, do you think this cutoff date will affect Dropbox when using Playcloud?

If the KeyOne is at least between the Passport and the PRIV, perhaps similar to the Classic, in typing experience, I will definitely be satisfied.

Lately, I've also suffered from my PRIV's battery running out quicker. Mainly due to my new office having weak 4G cellular network; not to mention the occasional trip to the labour courthouse or the local prosecutor's office (known as "The Bunker"), where signal just dies.

The Passport seems to handle the above better and hopefully the KeyOne will at least match it. Now if only BlackBerry Mobile / TCL would start selling it officially in Mexico...

[conite]

Do you know if it also works for OneDrive?

Likewise, do you think this cutoff date will affect Dropbox when using Playcloud?

I never seemed to have the problem with OneDrive, but I assume the app is similar.

I'm not sure about PlayCloud, but it hasn't been updated in a long time, so I would think it's the same as the DropBox app.

[JG_Agustin]

I never seemed to have the problem with OneDrive, but I assume the app is similar.

I'm not sure about PlayCloud, but it hasn't been updated in a long time, so I would think it's the same as the DropBox app.

Thanks for the info, it's something to take into account.

I have no clue if the Android version or the browser would do the job, but if someone has tried it, please feel free to share your experience.

[markmall]

@JG_Agustin, the DropBox cache is cleared if you sign out and back in again. The bigger worry is that the v1 API cutoff date is Sep 28th of this year. Unless there is an update, BB10 will lose access.

As much as I like my Passport SE keyboard, I find the thumb travel too tiring after a lot of typing. The KEYᵒⁿᵉ may seem cramped at first, but it makes for a more comfortable experience. The keys just melt under the thumbs when you fly.

I have a Priv too, and the KEYᵒⁿᵉ is better in almost every respect. I have a hard time putting it down.

conite, can you please explain what you mean about Dropbox losing access? This would be the first big hit for me. We could use our browser, right?

Posted via CB10

[conite]

conite, can you please explain what you mean about Dropbox losing access? This would be the first big hit for me. We could use our browser, right?

Posted via CB10

DropBox has switched to a new API level, and is discontinuing access from those apps using the old one.

As of Sep 28, the BB10 app and file manager will no longer function with DropBox.

Your browser should be fine though.

[markmall]

DropBox has switched to a new API level, and is discontinuing access from those apps using the old one.

As of Sep 28, the BB10 app and file manager will no longer function with DropBox.

Your browser should be fine though.

I can afford to lose WhatsApp but this will impact me. Do you know if there are alternative to Dropbox that use the old API level that's compatible? Like Microsoft's cloud setup?

Posted via CB10