[i_plod_an_dr_void]

The OS in the iPhone was very similar to MacOS and shared a lot of code with MacOS. The OS in the iPod (before the Touch) was something totally totally different. The iPhone had virtually nothing in common with the iPod at that time.

Of course the iPod touch came later and was basically the iPhone minus the cell radio. That thing ran iOS.

For developers the OS and SDK really did feel like we were programming for a real computer finally instead of the nonsense we were having to use on other phones in 2007. So yeah, to say it was like putting laptop computer in a phone is fair. The GPU alone was way beyond what we were expecting. Who else had OpenGL available to developers on a phone? I can’t think of any at the time.

Oh come on, Blackberry was using JAVA for mobile back then, so yes it was a real SDK (open standard as well!). The processing units of the pre bb10 phones were comparable to the original iphone (there was no order of magnitude of differentiation in the tech specs of these phones blackberry vs. iphone). There's just too much religious fervour over the cute icons that apple produced vs the down to business phones that blackberry produced.
Though agreed Blackberry at times was months to over a year behind some aspects of the iphones that apple had produced (including but not limited to cute icons, total onboard memory) and apple was behind blackberry in other features (including but not limited to:video capture,capacitive touch, sd-card slots), but that should have been competitively manageable given that cellphone turnover was well over 2 years at the time, its even longer now.

[app_Developer]

Oh come on, Blackberry was using JAVA for mobile back then, so yes it was a real SDK (open standard as well!). The processing units of the pre bb10 phones were comparable to the original iphone (there was no order of magnitude of differentiation in the tech specs of these phones blackberry vs. iphone). There's just too much religious fervour over the cute icons that apple produced vs the down to business phones that blackberry produced.
Though agreed Blackberry at times was months to over a year behind some aspects of the iphones that apple had produced (including but not limited to cute icons, total onboard memory) and apple was behind blackberry in other features (including but not limited to:video capture,capacitive touch, sd-card slots), but that should have been competitively manageable given that cellphone turnover was well over 2 years at the time, its even longer now.

Why is Java something of which to be proud?! Ugh.

But, leaving that aside, it’s not the language that you’re forced to use which matters, it’s what APIs and frameworks you have to work with. The APIs available to use in BBOS were nothing compared to what we had in iPhone and then Android.

Did you ever write anything for BBOS? It was so, so basic and so limited. BB10 was much better, of course. And on BB10 we didn’t have to suffer through Java

Oh, remind me what GPU we had access to in BBOS days?

I don’t even know where to find BBOS developer docs anymore. But the APIs available to use were like J2ME level stuff (plus only a little more). It was very primitive stuff back then.

[gruv4u]

Let me start by wiping the tears off of my screen. I'm missing my BB10 device while I'm typing. For the record. There is nothing old or outdated about these devices (yet).

This OS as well as the hardware (Q10, Z10, Z30, Passport) is premium. I'm gonna gonna miss it when it's gone. Until then, I'll be the only cool person I know with a...

 AT&T Passport SQW100-3 with vitamin (SR) 10.3.3.2129 (OS version 10.3.3.3204) on AT&T

[Zidentia]

IOS needed a GPU because the code was terribly inefficient in the early builds and slowed down. Numerous crashes and imcomplete calls and bad library builds. We built apps for IOS and it was about the same as Java in this time period, buggy and full of rabbit holes. Apple, as this time, had not figured out how to clean up the XNU structure for mobile interface yet.

Do not misunderstand me, Java, is a big old mess and it leads to lazy and bad programming. That is why BBOS always crashed but its saving grace is the footprint. IOS is a good structure now that they have built everything but they are going to need to rebuild it because the limits of the current build are showing.

APIs are important if they are structured right but the "framework" is the "language" so what you are saying really makes no sense.

[ppeters914]

And BlackBerry isn't going to do it or isn't interested? They just sent out a survey seeing what BlackBerry users want. I think they do care. In my experience through correspondence and beta testing, they are listening but maybe that's just me being optimistic.

Just for clarification, the survey was from BlackBerry Mobile, not BlackBerry Ltd.

Posted via CB10 / AT&T /Z10 STL100-3 /10.3.3.3216

[ppeters914]

Actually I think all phones should be designed to require two hands to operate, to further discourage anyone from using it while driving.

Course I realize that their will still be idiots steering with their knees.

I drive with my knees so I can hold my beer in one hand, and text with the other.

Posted via CB10 / AT&T /Z10 STL100-3 /10.3.3.3216

[app_Developer]

IOS needed a GPU because the code was terribly inefficient in the early builds and slowed down. Numerous crashes and imcomplete calls and bad library builds.

1. Please explain how throwing a GPU in there solves inefficiencies in the OS or kernel??
2. Doesn't every BlackBerry since the Z10 have a GPU in it? Why is that? What made BB decide to start including them in every device?
3. Do you have an example of "incomplete call" in the early iPhone SDK that you can point to?

APIs are important if they are structured right but the "framework" is the "language" so what you are saying really makes no sense.

Programming languages, libraries, and frameworks are all different things. Writing java for a phone is totally different from writing java for Hadoop, for example. The language itself is just a language. It's the stuff to which you have access on a particular system that matters. J2ME and BBOS gave us so little to work with. The point is that iOS and Android and BB10 were all leaps and bounds beyond BBOS and J2ME and Brew in terms of what apps we could imagine. Even just adding OpenGL alone was a huge step forward for all 3.

[Troy Tiscareno]

If you were to go back and read posts here on CB from 2006-2012, you will find all kinds of posts from developers and techies talk about the limitations of BBOS (and Symbian, etc.) and talking about BB needing a modern mobile OS that supports modern (at the time) hardware, sensors, and development. You will find posts from BB developers who were blown away by the APIs that were available on iOS in 2008, even though plenty of things were still missing then.

iOS was the start of the second generation of mobile OSs, with Android, BB10, WinPhone 7-10, and others that followed all being a huge leap forward from the first generation OSs - BBOS, Symbian, Palm, and others from the late 90s/early 2000s.

I'm not sure how that is in any way controversial - the tech press spent a decade talking about it.

[blackbp]

100%

Posted via CB10

[bb10adopter111]

If you were to go back and read posts here on CB from 2006-2012, you will find all kinds of posts from developers and techies talk about the limitations of BBOS (and Symbian, etc.) and talking about BB needing a modern mobile OS that supports modern (at the time) hardware, sensors, and development. You will find posts from BB developers who were blown away by the APIs that were available on iOS in 2008, even though plenty of things were still missing then.

iOS was the start of the second generation of mobile OSs, with Android, BB10, WinPhone 7-10, and others that followed all being a huge leap forward from the first generation OSs - BBOS, Symbian, Palm, and others from the late 90s/early 2000s.

I'm not sure how that is in any way controversial - the tech press spent a decade talking about it.

Agree. It's not controversial. It's just history. The controversial issues are about the way the technology has been used, not the tech itself.

Posted with my trusty Z10

[Zidentia]

1. Please explain how throwing a GPU in there solves inefficiencies in the OS or kernel??
2. Doesn't every BlackBerry since the Z10 have a GPU in it? Why is that? What made BB decide to start including them in every device?
3. Do you have an example of "incomplete call" in the early iPhone SDK that you can point to?



Programming languages, libraries, and frameworks are all different things. Writing java for a phone is totally different from writing java for Hadoop, for example. The language itself is just a language. It's the stuff to which you have access on a particular system that matters. J2ME and BBOS gave us so little to work with. The point is that iOS and Android and BB10 were all leaps and bounds beyond BBOS and J2ME and Brew in terms of what apps we could imagine. Even just adding OpenGL alone was a huge step forward for all 3.

It is really precious you are trying to "school" me.
I started programming with assembly and have literally used or created in most languages. Libraries, frameworks and api's are different parts of the language not different things entirely.
All modern languages are interpretive. So they are dependent on well written and compact code. In addition I never praised or complimented Java. I said it had a small footprint and it is the darling of lazy programmers due to the way it lends itself to quick updating. Then they complains about how buggy java is.

The solution is to write better code in a better language not complain how different it seems to be depending on application.


Posted via CB10

[app_Developer]

It is really precious you are trying to "school" me.
I started programming with assembly

I was one of those folks who worked on a compiler (gcc) so that others would be spared from writing assembly.

But again, with your experience, can you explain again how throwing on a GPU on the board was Apple's solution to inefficiencies in iPhoneOS (or their dev stack)? And why did Blackberry themselves follow suit with multiple phones after that?

All modern languages are interpretive.

Do you mean interpreted? Golang, Swift, and Rust are 3 very modern languages which are not interpreted.

As for the difference between frameworks and languages, here are a couple examples:

(1) .Net framework supports multiple languages. Microsoft doesn't produce a different .Net for C# vs VB for example. It's the same framework (same exact builds), with support for multiple languages (from multiple companies)

(2) iOS and Mac frameworks also support 3 different programming languages.

I said it had a small footprint and it is the darling of lazy programmers due to the way it lends itself to quick updating.

Small footprint compared to what exactly?

The solution is to write better code in a better language not complain how different it seems to be depending on application.

So to bring this back to what I was saying earlier.. I was responding to the assertion that because BBOS used Java this somehow meant BBOS was competitive with WebOS, iOS, Android, Windows, etc. It wasn't. It wasn't even close to competitive. Because the APIs were so painfully limited.

It didn't matter that you coded in Java in BBOS and in Java on Android. Android allowed for much more sophisticated and interesting apps.

[co4nd]

It is really precious you are trying to "school" me.
I started programming with assembly and have literally used or created in most languages. Libraries, frameworks and api's are different parts of the language not different things entirely.
All modern languages are interpretive. So they are dependent on well written and compact code. In addition I never praised or complimented Java. I said it had a small footprint and it is the darling of lazy programmers due to the way it lends itself to quick updating. Then they complains about how buggy java is.

The solution is to write better code in a better language not complain how different it seems to be depending on application.


Posted via CB10

C#, C++. and VB are all languages NO? Yet I use the same libraries, frameworks, and API's with each of them. So it would appear to me that these are indeed separate from the language.

Also I can write C# indepenadnt of .Net or Windows on a Linux machine, so it would appear that the Framework is not a part of the language.

[Zidentia]

I was one of those folks who worked on a compiler (gcc) so that others would be spared from writing assembly.

But again, with your experience, can you explain again how throwing on a GPU on the board was Apple's solution to inefficiencies in iPhoneOS (or their dev stack)? And why did Blackberry themselves follow suit with multiple phones after that?



Do you mean interpreted? Golang, Swift, and Rust are 3 very modern languages which are not interpreted.

As for the difference between frameworks and languages, here are a couple examples:

(1) .Net framework supports multiple languages. Microsoft doesn't produce a different .Net for C# vs VB for example. It's the same framework (same exact builds), with support for multiple languages (from multiple companies)

(2) iOS and Mac frameworks also support 3 different programming languages.




Small footprint compared to what exactly?



So to bring this back to what I was saying earlier.. I was responding to the assertion that because BBOS used Java this somehow meant BBOS was competitive with WebOS, iOS, Android, Windows, etc. It wasn't. It wasn't even close to competitive. Because the APIs were so painfully limited.

It didn't matter that you coded in Java in BBOS and in Java on Android. Android allowed for much more sophisticated and interesting apps.

LOL
If you do not know what a GPU does then I do not have time to explain the need for it.

Rust is an interpretive language since it uses C syntax.

Libraries are part of the framework and they use code to be able to interact with different languages. Clearly the only way to do that is to use code that the language understands, hence the the use use of underlying language runs. I clearly said they were not completely different things as you stated earlier.

[Zidentia]

C#, C++. and VB are all languages NO? Yet I use the same libraries, frameworks, and API's with each of them. So it would appear to me that these are indeed separate from the language.

Also I can write C# indepenadnt of .Net or Windows on a Linux machine, so it would appear that the Framework is not a part of the language.

Again, I never said it was an integral part of the code I said it uses the language to communicate. It is not completely different but frameworks use libraries that interact with code routines and calls.

[app_Developer]

LOL
If you do not know what a GPU does then I do not have time to explain the need for it.

Rust is an interpretive language since it uses C syntax.

Libraries are part of the framework and they use code to be able to interact with different languages. Clearly the only way to do that is to use code that the language understands, hence the the use use of underlying language runs. I clearly said they were not completely different things as you stated earlier.

I do know what a GPU is. So do a bunch of people on this site. So I think we all know that the idea that Apple engineers threw a GPU in there to make up for performance issues in their SDK or in the kernel is a bit like saying someone added a hybrid power unit to their car to fix their flat tire.

Many languages have used c-like syntax. Are you saying any language that uses c style syntax is interpreted? Seriously?

Rust is a compiled language. They use LLVM as the backend of their compiler.

And no, libraries and client code do not need to be written in the same language. Nor do libraries need to be written in a language that the client code “understands” (whatever that means in your sentence). That’s what calling conventions were invented for. Or why JNI exists for example.

[co4nd]

Again, I never said it was an integral part of the code I said it uses the language to communicate. It is not completely different but frameworks use libraries that interact with code routines and calls.

I would still say they are entirely separate things, though they may not always appear so. Many modern SDKs for specifc OSs or Hardware seem to package the Language with the Framework, Libraries and API's with the correct interfaces needed giving the appearance of it all being the same thing.

[YesAndNo]

This is going to be a very long-winded post, some of which has already been discussed at length within these forums.

I guess the inspiration for writing this comes from the fact I recently read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance for the third time and have been ruminating a lot on (the loss of) quality and what it means in today’s society. I’ve recently been asking myself why it bothers me so much that BB10 lost out to Android and iOS, when in many respects it was – and still is, a superior operating system. I think the answer is that society has in some ways, willingly shunned quality in favor of quantity and “newness.” It seems to me today the average consumer does not ask the question he or she used to ask, the quintessential question: how well does it work? But instead asks, what can it do that’s “new”, where new is a very relative term, as Apple continues to take from BB10 and call it innovation (timeshift, up-swipe gesture on the iPhoneX).

I know, I know. I’m supposed to just get over it. Things change. Superior, well-designed, quality products often lose the market to their inferior counterparts and for a variety of reasons – some of them rather intangible and having nothing to do with the product itself. While the fall of Blackberry could be discussed at length, I’ll still provide my personal view on why my much loved BB10 is now in its death throes, while Android and iOS continue to chug along nicely.

While I often blame the consumer and its mind boggling habits (mind boggling to me, at least), much of the fault lies with Blackberry. They didn’t take Steve Jobs and the iPhone seriously when it was first introduced. It didn’t light the proverbial fire under them, and as a result they were too late to the party in introducing BB10; for even thought it was the best designed operating system, the app ecosystems of Android and iOS were already in full swing while Blackberry was desperately trying to catch up by the time they introduced those ported Android apps that ran oh so poorly.

Sure, there are still very few quality apps on Android and iOS in my opinion, still miles away from what was on Blackberry devices circa 2014. Google can’t even get a calculator app right! What, no unit converter?? And before you say, oh but there are so many calculator apps available on Android, trust me, I’ve plied through the Play Store to find a good calculator that isn’t load with adverts. Guess what? Nothing as good as the simple, functional, quality calculator app on BB10! Same with Google’s half-baked take on a Calendar, Gmail, etc, etc. But I’ll get into that later.

The point is that it doesn’t matter to me how many. I don’t care about the options. I care about the quality of what’s there. And as is evidenced on the Play Store, you can have a thousand calculator apps, and they can all be ad-filled garbage.

I also know that with what I look for in a phone, I am in the minority. I still use a phone for work. I still depend on it to manage emergencies and primarily be a communication tool or aid. I don’t give a flaming Charizard about chasing Pokemon. I couldn’t care less about gaming on a phone.

The purpose of a phone has fundamentally changed from the early days of Blackberry. The mobile phone is now primarily a media consumption device rather than a productivity aid, and I’m fine with that. Pokemon to your heart’s content. Just don’t forget about little old me, sitting here asking: why can’t there still be room in the smartphone market for the business oriented – why is this niche being neglected, and neglected…bigly (sorry, couldn’t help myself)?

While I believe the KeyOne, with its battery performance and some vastly improved Blackberry on Android software, has now actually started hitting upon that niche, and if all goes well has a chance to really corner this small section of the market, they just aren’t there yet (I don’t have much faith in this happening, they seem to have one and a half feet out of the smart phone game at this point). But why is Blackberry just not there yet? Well, the devil is in the details, and if you thought this post was going to be nothing but waxing poetic and old man nostalgia, I’m about to hit you with the deets like it’s 2011.

First, a little background on the Blackberry devices I have owned and used:

Z10

Z30

Passport (still have)

Classic (still have)

PRIV

KeyOne (current daily driver)

I’ve also had:

Samsung S7

Sony Xperia Z3

IPhone 5

Now the fun part. Explaining why Android and iOS suck, why BB10 is better, and of course, why I’m smarter than most people. Actually, the reason I’m doing this is because I hope somebody who develops software or works on mobile operating systems sees this, and starts integrating (re-integrating) some design features I’m really struggling to live without. And maybe, just maybe, starts putting a little quality back into their work.

First, the obvious. What is a mobile phone? First and foremost it is a handheld device. So let me ask you then, Android or iOS users, (and please feel free to pull out your iPhone or S8 and play along!) why, if you try to use your phone with one hand, you are always stretching and then giving up and using two hands? Is it because (and now you can open an app – any app!), all of your settings, options nav buttons, URL bar are situated at the top of the screen and thus the top of your device? Well, “I never!,” you say. “What’s wrong with using two hands?” To which I answer, why use two when you can use one? Why get carpal tunnel when you don’t have to. And yes in the big picture of life and the world and the universe, it’s an infinitesimally small thing. A small detail of design that when you use a Blackberry on BB10, you realize is actually important, or at least makes a difference. It makes it easier to use your phone.

On BB10, all of your options and settings could usually be accessed at the bottom of the screen, no stretching, no bringing in your other hand in. It was just there, within comfortable thumb range. The software was designed for being on a handheld, mobile device, instead of merely being ported or copied from computers, where menus and options are typically on top. See, Android and Google and iOS didn’t bother changing that, because they likely assumed that you as the consumer were too stupid to adjust to these things now being comfortably on the bottom of your phone. Whereas Blackberry said, it’s better at the bottom. And people are smart. They will adjust quickly, and realize that it just makes more sense.

How about that lovely Google Assistant? Nice voice, funny, can sing a little. Can keep you entertained with trivia games on long family trips so that you don’t have to actually talk to your annoying offspring Jimmy about his boring middle school soccer team. All great. But one thing it still can’t do that Blackberry Assistant was capable of in, oh I don’t know, 2015? 2016? Read me my damn emails. Google Assistant won’t read me my emails. I used Blackberry Assistant all the time while driving for work to listen to my emails, and dictate a response to them, and then send said email, all without ever having to pick up my phone. It was safe, convenient, and in my job (dealing with emergencies, many of which are now communicated via email rather than phone calls) a necessity. I’m still waiting for Google to figure it out, but as they can’t even put together a decent calculator or functional auto mode (oh look! things on screen are bigger now!), I don’t have a lot of hope.

Now lets talk about browsers! Oh we’re having fun now aren’t we? Most of you are probably using Chrome, Safari, Firefox, maybe Samsung Internet. Actually I like Samsung Internet. In fact, a lot of Samsung apps seem to incorporate old BB10 bits and pieces, almost like some people who worked on BB10 are now working for Samsung….I digress. You’re probably thinking, what could possibly be his problem with Google Chrome?

No. Reader. Mode. I mean yes, there is a “reader mode” in beta, but it’s been in beta for years and Google obviously has no interest in making it a real feature, because if you choose to strip the ads out of web page to just read the content, you aren’t viewing the ads and thus old Google isn’t making their railroad money on you. And the beta reader mode is garbage on Chrome. Doesn’t work 90 percent of the time and is accessed via an annoying pop up at the bottom of your page. Same goes for Safari, Samsung, every browser I’ve ever used - if they have a reader mode, it either doesn’t work, or it is VERY selective on which web pages it works on (gotta have dat ad revenue babayyy$$$$).

Blackberry didn’t have a stake in the ad game so they made a browser with a great reader mode that also happened to read aloud the web page to you if you wanted. All content. No annoying ads. No reading an article and halfway through the rest of the ads loaded and bumped you from your place in the article, causing you to throw your phone to the ground in frustration! Oh wait, you don’t do that. You accept the ads. Or you pay for ad blockers. You are probably also the kind of person who says “I don’t have anything to hide” when you learn all the different ways Google is mining your data to sell to others, thus missing the entire point that they have made one of the MOST LUCRATIVE INDUSTRIES ON EARTH by collecting YOUR data and selling it. And instead of a royalty check every month like you should be getting, you’re content to get a Pixel that will be bricked in two years and access to Chrome! Ugh, society. If you are going to make money off of me, I’d like a chunk of the change. Even if it’s only 8 bucks a year. It's the principle, people. And web pages, like hockey arenas and downtown common areas, are only getting uglier and more ad filled.

I’ve actually remedied the problem on KeyOne with Keyboard Browser, which is almost a straight port of the BB10 browser minus the private browsing. But it has an extremely reliable reader mode. Can’t recommend it enough and if this guy (Alain Grainger?) could do it, why didn’t Blackberry? It should come stock on all Blackberry phones.

Even just navigating BB10 with gestures (one move to get access to all of your messages and notifications) through peek and flow was better than anything that exists right now. And the look, that simple white on black design, just cannot be beat by anything Google or Apple have going, including Google’s fresh new material redesign. Not to mention, BB10 was smoother – no stutter, no lag, very much unlike Android Nougat Oreo Peanut Butter Barfait Whatever.

Moving on to Blackberry Blend. Something that was so simple, yet so useful. Wirelessly tether your phone to your computer and have access to your texts, emails, calendar, messages, files, etc. on your computer screen without having to keep picking up your phone. I used this at work all the time. You could talk to your buddy about fantasy hockey and people just thought you were typing an important work email. Just kidding I never did that….yes I did. But seriously, it was a nicer interface than the version of Outlook my employer was using. Granted, it wasn’t as fully functional but it was all I needed. Anything like that on iOS? I honestly don’t know, I’m really asking. Because it’s not on Android. As Samsung farts around with an overly complicated DEX, and Samsung Sidesync resorts to a laggy emulation of your phone screen onto your computer, good old Blend is an unsupported and forgotten relic. Among myself and my Blackberry friends – ok, one Blackberry friend (but we are BEST friends) – this is probably the feature we are missing most. And it really was a perfect example of how Blackberry gave you what you needed; nothing more, nothing less. It was software that I just couldn’t find anything to complain about with. And as you can likely already see, that’s actually a very difficult accomplishment.

And what about file management? Yes I realize Blackberry has a stock files app on Android now, and it’s decent. But my Apple loving nephew is going on about Apple now having a file manager like its some brand new idea. Listen here kid, gramps is gonna give it to you straight, we actually had that back in MY day.

Meanwhile Android backers say, hey there are tons of file managers available. Yeah sure. And they are all full of ads, or you have to pay for them. So you buy a $800 phone and now you need to pay to have access to your own files. Again, you’re missing the point. It’s akin to buying a brand new car but if you want to get under the hood you have to take it to a 3rd party mechanic and pay him to unlock it. BB10 always had great, easy, simple, intuitive file management. Can’t be said for the others.

Blackberry still has the best virtual keyboard in the biz. While all those other keyboards can only ever give you three predictions at one time, Blackberry can offer you many more. And they have the best prediction I’ve ever seen, literally taking the words out of my mouth when I’m composing work related emails, in that banal, there’s no way you can misinterpret THIS one Sally, email tone.

Anyway, this post has become longer than most of my University essays. Rest assured I could go on and on about all of the different ways BB10 was better.

Speaking of University, you know what was great? Opening a document on a BBM video chat and then seamlessly switching to sharing your screen, so you and your study group could comment on how the Powerpoint was coming along. No laptop or computer needed. And then when it came time to view the presentation on the big screen or share it, MIRACAST. Or DLNA. Or NFC. Alas, I can’t find a mobile app that does that (screen sharing within a video call) anymore. At least since the last time I checked. But in a few years Skype mobile or Facetime will come up with it and tout it as a brand new, super innovative feature!!! You just watch. And all of us Blackberry people will be bringing up the latest “I’m confused” meme and laughing amongst each other like schoolgirls at a slumber party.

And now, as I’m losing some major steam on writing this, I would like to switch over to some constructive criticism and mention some things that I would like Blackberry to incorporate on Android to improve the user experience. Sadly, most of it is just asking them to do what they used to do. And I get it, Android is a different platform. It requires different programming and development and it doesn’t happen overnight, but I’m patient. It requires money and resources and investment in an area the company doesn’t seem to have interest in investing in these days. But if they make a few of these moves, they will continue to have a customer who writes 3000 word posts glorifying them as the upper echelon of the smartphone world, and waves his KeyOne in strangers’ faces until they ask him, “hey what kind of phone is that?”

I admit, my facts may not be completely straight here. And I can’t be aware of every app in existence so please enlighten me if I’m missing something or have been inaccurate. And yes, I think about my phone too much. I use it way more than I should. But that only means I probably have a couple of points here worth noting.

Also, I realize I’ve done a lot of iOS and Android bashing; but I don’t want them to crash and burn. My wife uses an iPhone, it just suits her needs and I don’t bust her balls about it. Personally, I use some Android apps frequently and that’s the reason I’m on the KeyOne and not my Passport. I’m just trying to say that we lost a lot when we lost BB10, and we need to get it back. So if anyone at Blackberry is listening, here’s how you can revive a bit of that BB10 magic on Android:

Bring back Blend. No tweaks needed. Just like she was.

Launcher – put the “clear all” at the bottom of the screen.

Do your own take on Android pie gestures, because Google is botching it. Another example of how they patronize people is the ugly little pill button on the screen. If they made the gestures as intuitive as they were on BB10, you wouldn't need an on-screen pill and back button.

Hub

move attachments and options to bottom of screen or make keyboard shortcuts for attachments and options. Many apps have already migrated these to the bottom of the screen in preparation for Android Pie.

Give more options on a swipe right on email (Snooze, Mark Read, File, etc.) Samsung email does a good job of this, but otherwise does not compare to Hub in functionality.

BBM notifications (of all things, guys!) are not well integrated into the Hub or integrated at all into the Productivity Tab (which should have been called the Peek Tab, if you wanted to hit us BB fanboys in the feels.

I’d also like to be able to send an email directly to Tasks/make a task out of it with one touch, kind of like how you used to be able to do it on BB10 with the Remember app. In fact, just bring back Remember. It was perfect.

Calendar

Local calendar needed

Integrated tasks as on BB10

BBM – not your problem anymore I guess, but I sure do miss the way it was. Especially that screen sharing option.

If you’ve read this to the end, thank you. If you skipped to the end, it’s ok. I forgive you. You probably have Pokemon to catch.

I that is why I love BB10! . I bought 2 new extra BB10 PP SEs as backup and i will use them until they all die...