[Sajan Parikh]

This question might mainly be for developers. I jumped ship to Android for a while given that things were pretty shaky around here. However, I'm really excited to come back with BB 10, but didn't really follow much in terms of the news and updates regarding the OS.

Can someone comment on how apps will be handled between the Q10 and Z10? I mean, as a developer...if you're designing a UI, you can really only do it for one or the other since the screen shapes are so different, else it would look weird I would think.

So do developers have to redo their app UIs for the different phones? If so, what if they decide not to? What I get the Q10, but all the developers don't want to bother making a Q10 friendly version?

Will this fragment the app store?

I just sold my day to day phone and preordered the Z10 from AT&T for this reason. I REALLY want the Q10, but am afraid that nobody will make apps for it seeing as how the Z10 will most likely be the more popular device.

[machoman1337]

Some apps may work fine by simply rendering at 1280x720 and the user would just have to scroll a bit and see only a portion of the app at a time. For apps that already require scrolling on the Z10 anyway, such as social networking, it wouldn't be a problem. But for games it would be terrible.

Other apps are capable of scaling to 4:3 (remember the iPad is 4:3 and it's very popular, also most old BBs were 4:3) which wouldn't be too bad displayed in landscape mode on the Q10 with black bars on the top and bottom. In fact, the black bars could be filled in by useful on-screen button controls as an alternative to using gestures to get out of the app or quickly access the phone or something. Or the black bars could "expand" the bezels to make it easier to apply gestures.

As for apps that actually format properly for a 1:1 aspect ratio - those are pretty rare and devs will need to modify their apps quite a bit for that, especially if they're games. I literally haven't seen any other handset with a 1:1 screen since the old Palm Treos.

I think the best compromise for the most part would be to render 4:3 landscape (720x540) with black bars. I originally suggested rendering at 3:2 (since most low end Androids and the older iPhones have that) with black bars, but someone pointed out how the 3.1" screen size would make the view too small and waste too much space.

The app store cannot afford to be fragmented, at least not when it comes to productive apps. Q10 users might not care much about games, but business usage is essential.

Btw, I actually predict the Q10 will be more popular just because of the qwerty keyboard. While the Z10's a fine device, I have to admit that to a neophyte, it's going to be difficult to point out what makes it worth getting over an Android or iPhone.

[Morten]

This question might mainly be for developers. I jumped ship to Android for a while given that things were pretty shaky around here. However, I'm really excited to come back with BB 10, but didn't really follow much in terms of the news and updates regarding the OS.

Can someone comment on how apps will be handled between the Q10 and Z10? I mean, as a developer...if you're designing a UI, you can really only do it for one or the other since the screen shapes are so different, else it would look weird I would think.

So do developers have to redo their app UIs for the different phones? If so, what if they decide not to? What I get the Q10, but all the developers don't want to bother making a Q10 friendly version?

Will this fragment the app store?

I just sold my day to day phone and preordered the Z10 from AT&T for this reason. I REALLY want the Q10, but am afraid that nobody will make apps for it seeing as how the Z10 will most likely be the more popular device.

BlackBerry has made it really easy to support 720x720, but if an app uses non-default ui elements, they will have to be re-done and added to the package.
Standard native elements such as lists etc will not require any special treatment for the Q10.

Apps will NOT automatically support Q10 for existing Z10

IF the app does not require any special size considerations - the process will be for the developer to go through the apps and enabled the apps for Q10 by ticking it in Vendor portal.

IF the app require new design/UI/elements/graphics/features specific for Q10, the developer must of course add that to a new app build - but the final binary package will be the same for Q10 and Z10.

But the option exist - to enable support ONLY for Z10 - or Q10 if the developer choose to do so - which in many cases makes sense... some games etc will just not be playable on a 720x720 screen, whilst some of the apps for Q10 will not make sense on a Z10 - ex apps for keyboard shortcuts etc...

[vpblaze]

Why would a app with black bars on either side of it be ok though? The Q10 is only going to have a 3.2 inch screen. Having Any amount of black bars are on the side, you will be losing out on some serious screen real estate.
This will have to be something that BBRY tries their hardest to fix. There are several apps I am enjoying on the Z10, and when the Q10 comes out, if I go and download the same app and it has black bars, well sorry, that's not acceptable.
I am not paying to use a 2.7 inch screen or what ever the actual measurement is)
Yes, creating apps is not like making a PB&J. It takes time to recode and such, but from a customers perspective, I hope developers don't take the easy way out and use this black bars thing as a crutch.




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[mikeo007]

You will see less apps on the Q10. At the very least, a developer needs to enable Q10 support in the portal.

The only apps that will work well without modification are app generator-type apps. In other words, RSS feeds.

Anything that uses a UI other than TitleBar-scrollable content-tab bar will need modification to work well on the Q10.

Some Android apps seem to work well, others don't work at all, or are completely unusable.

[Xopher]

I would think that any app that uses lists and scrollable areas should be easily added to the Q10 availability. The developer would need to add the Q10 to the compatibility list. Apps like the CrackBerry app should have access without any problems.

Some games and graphic apps might need modification for the different screen layout. I know I had to add a square layout to RuneCryption so the puzzles wouldn't shrink too much.

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[anon(4044683)]

I am worried Q10 will bring in app fragmentation!

[tbkfan]

I think we're all anxiously waiting to see how this shakes out. Fragmentation is absolutely inevitable. Angry Birds Star Wars on the Q10... I don't think so. and the list will go on and on.

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[Morten]

I think we're all anxiously waiting to see how this shakes out. Fragmentation is absolutely inevitable. Angry Birds Star Wars on the Q10... I don't think so. and the list will go on and on.

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but I'm sure that someone will start crying about "must have" Netflix also on the Q10 - supporting widescreen mode...
:-)

[skibnik]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I always thought the Q10 was targeting the serious business user? They aren't interested in playing games on their devices. It's business oriented apps that they want. So more than likely most games won't be compatible with the Q.

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[BB.David]

I am worried Q10 will bring in app fragmentation!

There's already fragmentation between the PlayBook and BlackBerry Z10 and more with the upcoming Q10. For example Angry Birds will not work on the Q10 unless its completely redone which will not happen.

So this idea of BlackBerry 10 fixing this problem is far from over.

[Caulibeam]

This topic is why I decided not to risk it and jump to full touch.

my guess is that both phones will end up being marketed for different uses, the q10 for hardcore communication and the z10 more as an all rounder.

Apps wise id expect the q10 to support much less apps


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[Saberhagen]

This is one of the main questions I have as well. I want the Q10 because of the keyboard since I am tired of the touchscreen-experience, but apps are important to me as well. I have searched a lot on the web and found this one page from BBRY.. BlackBerry Q10: Top 5 Things You Should Know �Inside BlackBerry - The Official BlackBerry Blog

The stuff that caught my eye was this:

"The BlackBerry Q10 is a BlackBerry 10 device, and it performs like one. The BlackBerry Q10 was designed to offer amazing performance available on BlackBerry 10 devices like the BlackBerry Z10. In terms of features and functionality, it runs on the same BlackBerry 10 platform, it can run the same apps, and has a removable back plate for easily replacing the battery or swapping your SIM card."

So for me it seems like that the apps from Z10 will in fact work on the Q10. I dont know how, but it seems like that...

[mikeo007]

This is one of the main questions I have as well. I want the Q10 because of the keyboard since I am tired of the touchscreen-experience, but apps are important to me as well. I have searched a lot on the web and found this one page from BBRY.. BlackBerry Q10: Top 5 Things You Should Know �Inside BlackBerry - The Official BlackBerry Blog

The stuff that caught my eye was this:

"The BlackBerry Q10 is a BlackBerry 10 device, and it performs like one. The BlackBerry Q10 was designed to offer amazing performance available on BlackBerry 10 devices like the BlackBerry Z10. In terms of features and functionality, it runs on the same BlackBerry 10 platform, it can run the same apps, and has a removable back plate for easily replacing the battery or swapping your SIM card."

So for me it seems like that the apps from Z10 will in fact work on the Q10. I dont know how, but it seems like that...

They won't. The wording in that quote is weird. They're basically saying that if has the same application framework as The Z10, meaning it has the same potential.

[peter9477]

Sometimes examples help. With Battery Guru (screenshots visible here: https://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/35712/) some of the pages already will work fine as-is on the Q10. I've made them scrollable so they work in landscape mode on the Z10, and that will cover off the 1:1 screen just fine. (That should include all pages except the main one, actually.)

With the main page, however, it's currently designed for a situation where the screen is either much taller than it is wide, or much wider than it is tall. On the Q10, it's unlikely that will come out looking very good. Technically it might be "usable", but hardly in a nice way. And as someone said above, if I don't submit the app again and tick off the "runs on Q10" box, Q10 owners won't even see it.

I'm expecting to receive a Dev Alpha C, and once I have that I'll spend some time exploring my options and pick an approach that I think will give users a pleasant experience. It might end up with the main page graph just getting squished (flattened) vertically, still taking up half the screen. Not sure yet, but if it looks best that way I guess I won't have much to do. The point is, with parts of some apps, just letting them scale/stretch/scroll automatically, may not be sufficient.

Developers will in some cases need to spend time actually dealing with this, so the conclusion someone made above that the Q10 will have fewer apps is definitely correct... but will it be lacking any key apps for long? Not likely. If enough people have Q10s (and predictions seem to range between 1/5 and 1/2 of the user base, from what I've seen), then developers will support it if it's at all possible for their app.

And yes, the "hardcore business types" who may insist on a Q10 definitely DO sometimes want to play games or consume media. Not all of them... but anyone looking for a bit of balance in their lives is definitely going to do that.

[Saberhagen]

They won't. The wording in that quote is weird. They're basically saying that if has the same application framework as The Z10, meaning it has the same potential.

Yeah I noticed the wording as well.. Just hope WhatsApp, Viber, Instagram and some of the "popular" games arrive on the Q10. Even tho its probably meant as a "business phone", younger people will still buy it. I am no business person, but I still want the Q10!!

[Sajan Parikh]

Well...I'm getting the Z10 this morning. So we'll see about the Q10 when it comes out though. Really would be a shame if BBRY screws this up. 2 app stores would kill this thing before it even gets a chance.

[anon(2729369)]

A quick way to find out how the app would look on the Q10 is to use the phone in landscape mode. The UI should adapt and you'll end up with the right height. For devs, that's a good starting point. Of course there is more to it when it comes to truly building an app for the Q10 and a few devs will make sure their app follows all the guidelines and will build a dark theme.

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[Xopher]

From the developer's side, there is a check box for both the Z10 and the Q10. The developer states which devices the app will work on, and BlackBerry tests it across those devices. An app can be made to work on both form factors, or they can submit separate binaries for each model.

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