[RyanGermann]

Yes! BB10 UI needs a complete overhaul just like iOS 7 to iPhone and Android Lollipop.

They have greatly closed the gap between them and BB10.

Android and iOS needed overhauls in ways that BB10 does not... but if you compare the iconography of BB10.1 to that of BB10.3, you'll see a much more "flat" design, which was already a hallmark of BB10 outside of homescreen / app icons. If anything BB10 was ahead of iOS and Android on that.. and Windows Phone 7+ had that baked right in.

[diehardbbuser]

To be fair, your friend was using the Z10 (I had it since launch until I got my Passport, and I'm not putting BlackBerry down).

At this point, it's a 2-year old device that when it launched it was already running 2-year old hardware. No wonder it felt old and didn't run smoothly. . .

Praise be unto our Lord, Squircle | Passport SQW100-1/10.3.2.2204

So if the z10 is not snappy and old,what full touch would you recommend in canada or the us from blackberry? She looked at passport but hated the width, was looking at classic but just forget it.. Android is better.. Looks modern,

[D3C0D3R]

So if the z10 is not snappy and old,what full touch would you recommend in canada or the us from blackberry? She looked at passport but hated the width, was looking at classic but just forget it.. Android is better.. Looks modern,

Either Z10 or Leap seeing as they have similar specs and at this point are actually 2 years old :P

If you can wait a few months, the Slider is the device I'd recommend to everyone and I've already got a few friends willing to come back to BlackBerry because of how awesome their experience with the Torch was!

Also depending on the person, you may want to show them how to load The Cobalt Collection as I've started calling it to my friends and coworkers. Install the play store and background stuff, show them how to patch an app or make a homescreen shortcut for his Post#1 so they can get to it. This way if they need certain apps that haven't been made proper for BlackBerry10, they've still got them and Google Play Services so they can keep their game progress!


Praise be unto our Lord, Squircle | Passport SQW100-1/10.3.2.2204

[RyanGermann]

The Cancel and Post buttons are way up there precisely because your thumbs generally can't reach them easily. If it is, it'd be somewhere where you can easily accidentally press Post before you're finished.

In general use case, user will spend their time editing the text and looking at it. The whole screen real estate is used to allow you to tap on a text and have the cursor move there immediately. Only in the final seconds will you actually have any use for the Cancel and Post button.

But if you are typing and the post and cancel buttons are where they will be accidentally pressed, they don't need to even be on screen then. a button labeled "Actions..." that shows post and cancel on a fly out menu would be better. Anything used infrequently and possibly erroneously doesn't have to be far away to avoid erroneous use. There are other ways to prevent user error besides this:

Attachment 358284

[tayl0rd]

I haven't read all the comments to know if anyone touched on it, but I don't think the OP knows/understands what [the premise of] Flow is. It has nothing to do with the UI. "Flow" refers to how the apps integrate with the core OS and each other. If you don't like Flow, then it looks like you don't really interact with your phone/apps that much. I love Flow and hope it never goes away because it makes things so much more simple and convenient.

[RyanGermann]

There are actually a lot of Android and I think windows phone devices without any physical home button...

Yes, that's true: notably HTC and LG flagships... but most Samsung devices and all iOS devices do have a home button... but devices that don't have a home button, like BB10 devices, all don't sell as well as devices that have home buttons... hmmmm... there's a correlation equals causation "proof" in there somewhere... but I'm not up to the job.

Posted via CB10

[BobRubus]

Actually that's not true for Android. Since 4.4 apps may hide both the bottom virtual buttons and the top status bar and take up the whole screen. To make them re-appear, you need to swipe from the bottom or the top; they will stay active for about 5 seconds (time in which you can do whatever you want with them) and then they disappear again. This is implemented by devs in their apps if they want it (or not).

Which means an annoying two gestures to get back to home. The BB10 'swipe up' is both hidden and immediately available... which I think is a usability advantage and an aesthetic design winner.

All Hail Thorsten. Mother and Father of my Beloved Z10.

[BobRubus]

Yes, that's true: notably HTC and LG flagships... but most Samsung devices and all iOS devices do have a home button... but devices that don't have a home button, like BB10 devices, all don't sell as well as devices that have home buttons... hmmmm... there's a correlation equals causation "proof" in there somewhere... but I'm not up to the job.

Posted via CB10

Crikey! Hope I misunderstood you... correlation never means causation...

All Hail Thorsten. Mother and Father of my Beloved Z10.

[RyanGermann]

Crikey! Hope I misunderstood you... correlation never means causation...

But it does if like many "correlation equals causation" CB members one thinks that because iPhones and Samsung Android devices are most popular it is evidence of the wholesale rejection of physical keyboard devices by such a significant majority of smartphone users that BlackBerry should discontinue development of physical keyboard devices, despite the fact that the reasons for the appeal of Apple and Samsung devices go far beyond the fact that they don't have a physical keyboard.

In short, I was being sarcastic and I'm glad there is one more CB member who knows how to 'think straight'.

...and while I personally respect the BB10 UX design, I can't help but wonder if consumers at large would have taken to BB10 in February 2013 if one of the device's had a home button: clearly consumers love their home buttons, if the comparative success of Android devices made by Samsung (most of which have Home buttons, including their best selling and most expensive devices) vs LG and HTC and Motorola and Sony (whose flagship devices are excellent but do NOT have home buttons) is any proof of the consumer market's affinity for home buttons.

[Soulstream]

Which means an annoying two gestures to get back to home. The BB10 'swipe up' is both hidden and immediately available... which I think is a usability advantage and an aesthetic design winner.

All Hail Thorsten. Mother and Father of my Beloved Z10.

I wasn't saying it is an efficient design, I was just stating some facts. Considering Android is designed around the 3 navigation buttons, I consider it an elegant implementation to maximize screen space.

[markus2107]

...and while I personally respect the BB10 UX design, I can't help but wonder if consumers at large would have taken to BB10 in February 2013 if one of the device's had a home button

Well, I think bad marketing and the fact, that BB was late to bring out a device that can be seen as a "smartphone" for consumers.
First no one (here in Europe) noticed the start of BB 10 devices and then they already had an Android / IPhone. They already spent
lots of money in the app markets. They were happy with their devices (probably because they didn't know about the difference), so they didn't see why they should switch. BB should have made a big event, like Aplles keynotes to draw attention.

Then there were former BB users. They loved these oldschool kind of devices. They stick to them till all of em are gone or there's no provider for BIS anymore. For them there were also no need to switch. No matter if there were devices with or without homebuttons. Maybe the Z10 would have sold better to former BB users if it had some physical keys, but I'm rather happy it does not. I think the swipe solution is best!

I think the home button is barely a important. Samsung is just too dominant. It's the marketing of the flagship devices + those bon march� phones placed in the entry level. Imho Samsung is crappy. Late (flagships) or no OS upgrades at all (entry market).... This sick TouchWiz bloatware... And now even a glued battery and no sdcard slot...

[Raestloz]

But if you are typing and the post and cancel buttons are where they will be accidentally pressed, they don't need to even be on screen then. a button labeled "Actions..." that shows post and cancel on a fly out menu would be better. Anything used infrequently and possibly erroneously doesn't have to be far away to avoid erroneous use. There are other ways to prevent user error besides this:

Attachment 358284

Your image doesn't appear here, but have a look at what's between the Cancel and Post

That's right, it's the page title, currently on my screen it's "Reply". It already takes a certain amount of screen, putting the buttons there doesn't remove much from the screen. Also, you can see the context of your actions at a glance: for example, you're going to Post a Reply, or you're going to Cancel your Reply.

The buttons are also not actually THAT far. The buttons are located directly below the top bezel, which you'd use often to access Quick Settings. It's not a torture to get there.

Finally, putting it there makes it immediately obvious what exactly you can do, much like the actions you put on the action bar, only less accessible

Z10 STL100-1/10.3.1.2576

[Superfly_FR]

I think you're projecting your own opinions of BB10 onto the market at large, and not considering the real reasons why BB10 devices don't sell very well:
1) apps: enough has been said about that.
2) HOME BUTTON. The top selling devices worldwide have physical buttons and don't just rely on gestures or soft buttons. If BB would just put out ONE full slab device with a home button on it, a home button that acted just like a "swipe up", I bet a lot of people who casually pick up a BB10 device would be able to at least intuitively navigate around the device. Without it, many are lost and (you can sit here all day and say how easy BB10 is) confused.

A BB device running Android WITHOUT A HOME BUTTON will have the same problems.

Hurray BlackBerry fans. Apple to the rescue ! Will be in no time the "coolest thing ever designed - a re-vo-lu-tion.".
Home button, no thanks.

Apple Rumored To Eliminate Home Button On Future iPhones | Ubergizmo

[RyanGermann]

Hurray BlackBerry fans. Apple to the rescue ! Will be in no time the "coolest thing ever designed - a re-vo-lu-tion.".
Home button, no thanks.

Apple Rumored To Eliminate Home Button On Future iPhones | Ubergizmo

If Apple does this, they'll probably lose market share to Samsung (assuming Samsung doesn't eliminate the home button). Don't misunderestimate the ability of the consumer to just turn their back on something if (as Anna Nicole Smith "allegedly" said about some food at a party, according to Kathy Griffin) "I don't like it."

http://www.youtube.com/v/g66eoq3eX7g...hl=en_US&rel=0

I believe consumers at large react to devices without Home buttons the way Anna Nicole reacted to that... whateveritwas. Sure, offer devices without the Home button, but then accept that you are putting your device into the niche market of "users who don't mind not having a home button"

[kalphreef]

It's been changed dramatically since the vanilla OS, I don't see how it didn't.

Posted via CB10

[Superfly_FR]

If Apple does this

They set the rules. I hate it. But that's how it is as I write.
So I'll take it Sun Tzu style and rejoice.

[Sir Reaper]

And yet the continue to lose market share and realistically will be under 1% soon... Yup, nothing to fix, nothing needs to be done to make it better.. Isn't that the mind set that people internally complained about the bbos vs bb10 era before launch, at least I can see the argument bb10 wasn't great and not good enough so let's make it better then the argument of holding course with os7...like so many are now with bb10.

Sorry, what you say doesn't hold an ounce of validity. Ask all the share holders, ask all the employees that lost their jobs as a result of bb10 not being good enough to attract more buyers of it, all all the pos people how impossible it is for them to make a commission of a bb device, ask all the carriers who much effort for so little return bb10 is for them..

The OS is fine and just as capable as any of the Android nonsense, what BlackBerry needs is better marketing and app support. I came BACK TO BLACKBERRY because Android was crap and is crap. And before you fanny wobble I use numerous devices daily.

Why Blackberry? Because I can!