1. Joseph Santostefano's Avatar
    Hey Everyone,

    I'm a bit frustrated. I've been looking forward to this phone before this was even a real phone. I had so many Blackberrys throughout college and eventually change to iPhone because of the app situation.

    Full disclosure - I am a millennial but I am also an executive. (What a paradox!) About 70% of my time is spent on a phone is on email and on my outlook calendar, setting up meetings, outlining project milestones, communicating next steps, etc. The other 30% is on Instagram, listening to music, and playing some games.

    I was finally able to grab a KeyOne today and love the phone and the build quality but the transition from iOS has been frustrating and the camera quality seems subpar (unless I am doing something wrong). My daily driver is an iPhone SE but I was hoping me and the Keyone could live happily ever after.

    Any pro-tips for getting started? I just wiped the phone and am contemplating returning but I also really, really want to love this phone. Switching to an iPhone was done with reluctance and I would love to have my Blackberry back.
    Last edited by Joseph Santostefano; 06-24-17 at 10:35 PM.
    06-24-17 11:46 AM
  2. Mercuryuser's Avatar
    My tips would be.

    Delete apps you're not going to use.
    Silence most notifications to keep things tidy
    Arrange app icons in iPhone iphone style
    Delete Gmail and utilise the bb hub
    Download keyboard browser. Snappier and smoother than chrome
    Adjust animations for slightly better performance.
    Accept that a new phone will take getting used to. Took me three days to realise this is the best phone iv ever used .
    When u settle in the customise as u see fit .
    06-24-17 12:05 PM
  3. anon(5364777)'s Avatar
    I also had the se for work. Replaced it with the k1, was a fresh change and long time waiting. I pretty much was in the same as boat aa you with the transition.

    Will try and avoid becoming a "troll". Th SE for me was a better quality device-minus the .5", blackberry feel and keyboard. But this is all subjective, give it time and look out for the return cut off.

    This will depend how bad you need the keyboard.
    06-24-17 01:17 PM
  4. Denise in Los Angeles's Avatar
    My protip is to decide what icons (apps) you use the most, and put them on your home screen. Then push all the other icons to the next screen. I turned off almost all sounds as I don't like hearing them, but that is a personal preference.

    Use the right square key to toggle to all of your open apps, and use the home circle key to get back to homescreen. That is my way of quickly navigating.

    Hope that these tips help you to familiarize yourself with your KEYone.
    06-24-17 01:25 PM
  5. donnation's Avatar
    Well outside of the camera (which there isn't much to say there), you didn't really elaborate on what your frustrations are. Android is different than iOS and takes some time to adjust to. Its much more customizable, but some of the apps (at least in my opinion) are poorer quality. What exactly are you frustrated with?
    06-24-17 01:36 PM
  6. SK122387's Avatar
    I have an iPhone too (though had to used BlackBerry phones before), and what got me used to the KEYone is just using it and trying not using my iPhone unless I had to.

    Within days, I was using my KEYone like I'd been using android for years. it's a perfect blend of BlackBerry and android. you just need to give it time
    06-24-17 02:06 PM
  7. Denise in Los Angeles's Avatar
    I would suggest adjust to your mindset (in a positive way) that you feel accomplished every time you learn a new thing, instead of feeling frustrated by not knowing it all at first. In a few days, you will learn a lot about android.
    AnimalPak200 and super_rigel like this.
    06-24-17 02:32 PM
  8. Joseph Santostefano's Avatar
    Thanks for getting back to me with your suggestions!

    I spent time customizing the phone to my liking and finally figured out how to link my iCloud email with two-factor authorization.

    The cameras are still not to my liking but I can also just use my SE for weekends and personal outings. There's a lot to like about the phone. It's comfortable to use and the keyboard is amazing.

    Two Questions:
    - How do you indent in an email? I send a ton of bulleted recaps.
    - This was my favorite feature of my old Blackberrys so I hope this still remains: if I shut off my phone at night, will my alarm still go off in the morning?

    Thank you!
    06-25-17 09:01 AM
  9. Smokeaire's Avatar
    Keep in mind that you can create keyboard shortcuts to your most used apps, assign keys to call a specific person. By creating app shortcuts you don't need apps crowding you home screen.
    Another suggestion when scrolling through CB I subscribe to any thread that that might provide useful info in the future. I did that when I was just thinking about getting a Passport, and am now doing that for my K1 knowledge base for when the phone arrives tomorrow. I already have a self created trouble shooting and tip knowledge base all setup.
    BigBadWulf likes this.
    06-25-17 09:30 AM
  10. WT44's Avatar
    The cameras are still not to my liking but I can also just use my SE for weekends and personal outings. There's a lot to like about the phone. It's comfortable to use and the keyboard is amazing.
    Like donnation said, you didn't specify what you are frustrated about (in bulleted form) But if you can't cope with the change of platform, I would suggest to send it back after a 1 week break-in period in stead of really trying to love another platform which for you isn't as productive as iOs. It's hard to change to another platform when you're used to one. BB OS7/10/Android/iOs/Windows it's a totally different ball game. Maybe you've just moved on like many did. No need to coerce yourself to come back to BB.
    TBH, In this day, I think it's just stupid to have to rely on two phones / or carry two phones with you because of the camera. Under which circumstance do you find that the cam is under performing? Both front and back side? Conceivably, it's the best cam ever on a BB.
    Two Questions:
    - How do you indent in an email? I send a ton of bulleted recaps.
    - This was my favorite feature of my old Blackberrys so I hope this still remains: if I shut off my phone at night, will my alarm still go off in the morning?

    Thank you!
    I thought you had a KeyOne. Surely you can just test your last question yourself? Just pick an alarm time in the afternoon.
    BTW, what do you mean, completely power off or just screen off? I don't think the first was possible ever. The second is possible on a Droidberry.
    Last edited by WT44; 06-25-17 at 02:04 PM.
    06-25-17 09:37 AM
  11. Joseph Santostefano's Avatar
    The old Blackberrys actually did this - I stopped using BB right around the time BB10 launched, so I'm unsure if that feature carried onward. On the old OS, I was able to power down completely at night and in the morning it would power on for the alarm - I'll just test it myself. Thank you!
    06-25-17 10:01 AM
  12. Smokeaire's Avatar
    06-25-17 10:04 AM
  13. daynebca's Avatar
    The old Blackberrys actually did this - I stopped using BB right around the time BB10 launched, so I'm unsure if that feature carried onward. On the old OS, I was able to power down completely at night and in the morning it would power on for the alarm - I'll just test it myself. Thank you!
    Don't believe this function carried forward. I used to use it as well.

    However, with the ability to silence notifications and quick charging, why would you need to completely power down overnight?
    06-25-17 11:03 AM
  14. Denise in Los Angeles's Avatar
    For your bullet lists, you can add a new entry in your personal dictionary.
    Click four spaces, then paste ⋅, and name your short cut "bp". So when you want an indent with the bullet, you type bp and the personal dictionary will do it for you.
    DolemiteDONS likes this.
    06-25-17 11:57 AM
  15. DolemiteDONS's Avatar
    Keep in mind that you can create keyboard shortcuts to your most used apps, assign keys to call a specific person. By creating app shortcuts you don't need apps crowding you home screen.
    Agree! Keyboard shortcuts is an awesome perk. Set your App and function shortcuts that you use regularly, keep the little-used app in the drawer, and you will enjoy having a screen without all the clutter.
    06-25-17 01:11 PM
  16. tnewton3's Avatar
    If 70% of your time is spend sending emails and setting calendar invites I would recommend getting familiar with the hub (I tried 3rd party email clients and didn't like) and giving it a solid 2 weeks as your daily driver. Once you get used to the PKB and how accurately you can compose and respond to emails you won't think about going back to the iPhone.

    The camera has a mode where you can modify settings and when you close and open the camera again your settings will be saved. This feature is for me pro camera users but I bet you could find a forum with good settings suggestions.

    I would try a text app such as Textra or Yatta (sp?) Which allow you to press enter to send the text. If you are really using your device mostly for emails and calendar there isn't a better phone on the market.

    Please keep us posted on what you decide to do.
    DolemiteDONS and super_rigel like this.
    06-25-17 01:15 PM
  17. Joseph Santostefano's Avatar
    Hi Everyone!

    Thank you for all of your help! I was able to find apps to alleviate nearly all of my concerns. My Blackberry is now syncing to my iCloud calendar and iTunes library so it's now essentially behaving as my iPhone would with my Macbook. Visually, with Evie launcher and the Rifon icon pack, the UI feels very familiar now. Best of all, the keyboard is amazing and I was able to find a great emulator that makes use of it to play NDS games.

    This is the longest that I've ever spent setting up a phone but I suppose the great thing about Android is that you can make the device operate in the way you'd like best.

    I'm assuming that my battery is awful because I've been tweaking settings and downloading new programs all day. Excited for the work day tomorrow to test it out. All of my personal and work accounts now sync with the Hub and Calendar so I anticipate this will work very well for me.
    Last edited by Joseph Santostefano; 06-25-17 at 06:30 PM.
    06-25-17 06:10 PM
  18. Denise in Los Angeles's Avatar
    I also had to spend an entire day to set up my KEYone to my liking. Now, its all good for me.
    06-25-17 08:44 PM
  19. Chuck Finley69's Avatar
    Hi Everyone!

    Thank you for all of your help! I was able to find apps to alleviate nearly all of my concerns. My Blackberry is now syncing to my iCloud calendar and iTunes library so it's now essentially behaving as my iPhone would with my Macbook. Visually, with Evie launcher and the Rifon icon pack, the UI feels very familiar now. Best of all, the keyboard is amazing and I was able to find a great emulator that makes use of it to play NDS games.

    This is the longest that I've ever spent setting up a phone but I suppose the great thing about Android is that you can make the device operate in the way you'd like best.

    I'm assuming that my battery is awful because I've been tweaking settings and downloading new programs all day. Excited for the work day tomorrow to test it out. All of my personal and work accounts now sync with the Hub and Calendar so I anticipate this will work very well for me.
    Good luck and wishes. It will be good with time..
    06-25-17 08:50 PM
  20. TSY-CB's Avatar
    Silence most notifications to keep things tidy
    This is one thing that's driving me a little nuts - customizing LED colors, vibrate counts, ringtones for the different accounts - seems to be all over the place - from the HUB+, to Settings/Notifications (which text messaging has no options in).........

    Delete Gmail and utilise the bb hub
    Can you please elaborate - I just started a thread about this......also relates to above

    Download keyboard browser. Snappier and smoother than chrome
    Again, clarification & recommendations?

    Adjust animations for slightly better
    How? Is there a settings tab for this?

    Accept that a new phone will take getting used to. Took me three days to realise this is the best phone iv ever used .
    When u settle in the customise as u see fit .
    +10E6 - it's an amazing device.....just needs these "teething issues" and some less solvable ones dealt with.
    06-25-17 09:22 PM
  21. Uzi's Avatar
    This is one thing that's driving me a little nuts - customizing LED colors, vibrate counts, ringtones for the different accounts - seems to be all over the place - from the HUB+, to Settings/Notifications (which text messaging has no options in).........


    Can you please elaborate - I just started a thread about this......also relates to above


    Again, clarification & recommendations?


    How? Is there a settings tab for this?


    +10E6 - it's an amazing device.....just needs these "teething issues" and some less solvable ones dealt with.
    Check your pm
    06-25-17 09:49 PM
  22. bluesqueen23's Avatar
    Hi Everyone!

    Thank you for all of your help! I was able to find apps to alleviate nearly all of my concerns. My Blackberry is now syncing to my iCloud calendar and iTunes library so it's now essentially behaving as my iPhone would with my Macbook. Visually, with Evie launcher and the Rifon icon pack, the UI feels very familiar now. Best of all, the keyboard is amazing and I was able to find a great emulator that makes use of it to play NDS games.

    This is the longest that I've ever spent setting up a phone but I suppose the great thing about Android is that you can make the device operate in the way you'd like best.

    I'm assuming that my battery is awful because I've been tweaking settings and downloading new programs all day. Excited for the work day tomorrow to test it out. All of my personal and work accounts now sync with the Hub and Calendar so I anticipate this will work very well for me.
    How did you get it to sync to iTunes & iCloud?
    06-25-17 11:39 PM
  23. Mercuryuser's Avatar
    This is one thing that's driving me a little nuts - customizing LED colors, vibrate counts, ringtones for the different accounts - seems to be all over the place - from the HUB+, to Settings/Notifications (which text messaging has no options in).........


    Can you please elaborate - I just started a thread about this......also relates to above


    Again, clarification & recommendations?


    How? Is there a settings tab for this?


    +10E6 - it's an amazing device.....just needs these "teething issues" and some less solvable ones dealt with.
    Looks like uzi has provided info via pm. Let me know if u need more assistance
    06-26-17 01:33 AM
  24. Mercuryuser's Avatar
    I have to be honest though, reading through the thread it seems your very invested in the ios ecosystem. It seems you're going to a lot of trouble to try to get the phone to behave like an iPhone as much as possible. Perhaps an iPhone would be your best bet. Not trying to put you off in any way.
    06-26-17 01:53 AM
  25. Joseph Santostefano's Avatar
    I have to be honest though, reading through the thread it seems your very invested in the ios ecosystem. It seems you're going to a lot of trouble to try to get the phone to behave like an iPhone as much as possible. Perhaps an iPhone would be your best bet. Not trying to put you off in any way.
    This is the thing - I'm very invested in Apple's ecosystem at this point. Of course, there are things about the iPhone that aren't quite working for me either or I wouldn't have been waiting for this phone in the first place. We'll see how it goes.

    They should make it a bit easier to integrate Apple's services but it is what it is. I've always used iTunes for instance but last time I had a BB, I also had an iPod. In 2017, I'm not willing to carry a device just for music though.
    06-26-17 04:42 AM
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