[asiayeah]

Swiftkey has many of the patents on Android. That's why BlackBerry licences most of the core tech from them.

BlackBerry's patents exist in the pkb space.

Apple likes its keyboard, so they would have a different view on it.

Maybe BlackBerry can make a BlackBerry Keyboard Lite version without the SwiftKey technologies. I don't think all users use the swift options. The BlackBerry swipe up prediction already worth it IMHO.

[Troy Tiscareno]

The entire prediction engine is Swiftkey. BB licensed Swiftkey because building a whole prediction engine system would be expensive and time-consuming, and it was much faster and cheaper to license Swiftkey. Why would that be any different today?

[Haivu1945]

Maybe BlackBerry can make a BlackBerry Keyboard Lite version without the SwiftKey technologies. I don't think all users use the swift options. The BlackBerry swipe up prediction already worth it IMHO.

What most people are forgetting here is that BlackBerry Is an Enterprise Software company now. The only interest they have in the consumer smartphone market, other than collecting their licensing fees, are those that they are legally compelled to perform. Most are living in the BB world of 2010.

Build a keyboard lite? Petition? Hardly..

TCL is in charge of all things Blackberry now on the phone side. It's simply one of their brands in their portfolio. Alcatel, OEM and other consumer electronics are their prime focus. BB is a niche. And if they decide to put any resources behind Palm then I would expect even less from BB Mobile.

IMO



Send from my Blackberry Passport somewhere in space.

[asiayeah]

What most people are forgetting here is that BlackBerry Is an Enterprise Software company now. The only interest they have in the consumer smartphone market, other than collecting their licensing fees, are those that they are legally compelled to perform. Most are living in the BB world of 2010.

Build a keyboard lite? Petition? Hardly..

TCL is in charge of all things Blackberry now on the phone side. It's simply one of their brands in their portfolio. Alcatel, OEM and other consumer electronics are their prime focus. BB is a niche. And if they decide to put any resources behind Palm then I would expect even less from BB Mobile.

IMO



Send from my Blackberry Passport somewhere in space.

Very true.

However, I would think it shouldn't take BlackBerry a significant effort to push their virtual keyboards offerings more. After all, it is one of their major icons. A good image will certainly help their other enterprise offerings.

And of course this is mostly a user oriented forum. This is just one of the many wishlists people have.

[anon(10268214)]

Very true.

However, I would think it shouldn't take BlackBerry a significant effort to push their virtual keyboards offerings more. After all, it is one of their major icons. A good image will certainly help their other enterprise offerings.

And of course this is mostly a user oriented forums. This is just one of the many wishlists people have.

I would also like to see this happen. I really don't think their licensing obligations, even insofar as Swiftkey (Microsoft) is concerned, have all that much to do with them not releasing it to a wider Android audience. If BlackBerry were to offer their VKB app up on Playstore it would do quite well.

Of course, I also understand BlackBerry's logic of not offering it up: differentiation from its competitors. After all, this is Android. Without differentiation, you have nothing.

[Haivu1945]

I would also like to see this happen. I really don't think their licensing obligations, even insofar as Swiftkey (Microsoft) is concerned, have all that much to do with them not releasing it to a wider Android audience. If BlackBerry were to offer their VKB app up on Playstore it would do quite well.

Of course, I also understand BlackBerry's logic of not offering it up: differentiation from its competitors. After all, this is Android. Without differentiation, you have nothing.

Agreed.

My thoughts about the state of BB Mobile in 2018 are simply the realities of the smartphone market. I too would welcome the BB keyboard in the Google Play store.

I think BB has missed many opportunities to diversify via offering some of thier core software apps to other platforms, Android, iOS, Wn10, ect. Yes, the hub and other apps are now available but don't forget, their not free. After 30 days you have to pay for them. There are MANY great, free altenatives..Swiftkey, Swipe, custom launchers. I'm afraid BB doesn't have the cashe' anymore to charge a premium for what should, in 2018, be free. If BB core apps, Hub, and launcher were truely free it might get others to purchase a BBAndroid phone.

Microsoft, another big and slow to act on company finally gets it:. They have pulled back on their own mobile OS to focus on MS core apps on Android and iOS. Outlook is actually quite good.

Send from my Blackberry Passport somewhere in space.

[the_boon]

Agreed.

My thoughts about the state of BB Mobile in 2018 are simply the realities of the smartphone market. I too would welcome the BB keyboard in the Google Play store.

I think BB has missed many opportunities to diversify via offering some of thier core software apps to other platforms, Android, iOS, Wn10, ect. Yes, the hub and other apps are now available but don't forget, their not free. After 30 days you have to pay for them. There are MANY great, free altenatives..Swiftkey, Swipe, custom launchers. I'm afraid BB doesn't have the cashe' anymore to charge a premium for what should, in 2018, be free. If BB core apps, Hub, and launcher were truely free it might get others to purchase a BBAndroid phone.

Microsoft, another big and slow to act on company finally gets it:. They have pulled back on their own mobile OS to focus on MS core apps on Android and iOS. Outlook is actually quite good.

Send from my Blackberry Passport somewhere in space.

Andddd if all those BB apps were free on the play store, how exactly would that push people into abandoning their slab for a KEY2?

[Haivu1945]

Andddd if all those BB apps were free on the play store, how exactly would that push people into abandoning their slab for a KEY2?

Using myself as an example, I have installed BB Android Suite a few times only to uninstall them simply because they are too slow, laggy and overall don't work very well on a lot of different hardware.

I know I can have a better experience and additional features (productivity tab, KB, password keeper ect) on a true BB phone. But with only two phones to offer at such a high price its not worth it to me. I imagine I am not unique.

To answer your question more directly, free BB Android apps wont get people to come to BB with only two $500-600 phones (upper-mid range market) to offer. BB is playing in the wrong sandbox. To sell any significant number of multiple phones they need to be in the low and mid market and compete with Xiaomi, Huawei, OPPO, Vivo, Oneplus, ect.. Those brands offer exception smartphones starting at $200..

I don't see this happening though.

[MichealHeitz]

On a Google Pixel you might find that you cannot change the default keyboard to the BlackBerry one. To change the cobalt blackberry manager keyboard enable it in system-language settings, then disable all the other keyboards.

Typically most androids let you change the default.

Sums it all up

[the_boon]

Using myself as an example, I have installed BB Android Suite a few times only to uninstall them simply because they are too slow, laggy and overall don't work very well on a lot of different hardware.

I know I can have a better experience and additional features (productivity tab, KB, password keeper ect) on a true BB phone. But with only two phones to offer at such a high price its not worth it to me. I imagine I am not unique.

To answer your question more directly, free BB Android apps wont get people to come to BB with only two $500-600 phones (upper-mid range market) to offer. BB is playing in the wrong sandbox. To sell any significant number of multiple phones they need to be in the low and mid market and compete with Xiaomi, Huawei, OPPO, Vivo, Oneplus, ect.. Those brands offer exception smartphones starting at $200..

I don't see this happening though.

They can't play in the lower range because of the BlackBerry tax