Customizable Passports?

Good morning my fellow blackberry lovers. I'm hopeful to discover new apps/apks to bring out the best of my passport and make it one of a kind. I mostly use my unlocked AT&T passport (10.3.3.2) for emails until recently it became my daily driver. Mostly used for emails until recently it became my daily driver replacing my keyone. The call quality and wireless charging makes it a no-brainerz. Even with a heavy duty silicone Body Glove case, wireless charging still syncsz! :)

What's the main purpose of your Passport?
What are some apps/apks you use for wallpapers and ringers?
Can icons be changed? How?
Which browser do you use and why?
How have you made your Passport more efficient?

Please share your experiences opinions and comments below!

Happy Holidays! :)

Posted via CB10

Welcome to the forum and I hope you would find much useful advice and inspiration here!

1. The main purpose of my Passport:
- emails, texts;
- extremely high quality camera, take a look at my topic here:
https://forums.crackberry.com/blackb...amera-1153992/;
- I share my data connection with my laptop via Bluetooth which saves much battery power;
- use its speech to text functionality which works incredibly well and saves lots of time when you got quite much typing;
- edit and create documents on the go with its simplistic office suite;
- browse the web via its stock browser no matter how obsolete it is, it works for me;
- the Passport works incredibly well as a multimedia device, watching videos is a pure joy with the crisp display;
- I take notes frequently;
- I use its USB OTG connectivity to review photos from my DSLR camera directly and make a backup copy of the camera memory card;
- Call sound quality is unparalleled, people say that when talking they hear me incredibly well and the noise attenuation is so good that people sometimes ask if I am still on the line!

2. What are some apps/apks you use for wallpapers and ringers?
Never thought about this, just use the stock stuff it is loaded with, ringers are not so many but do the job. :)

3. Can icons be changed? How?
What do you exactly mean by 'changed'?

4. Which browser do you use and why?
The stock one. Never needed more, it supplies what I need for basic surfing and even completing airline ticket transactions. I frequently use it to stream radio online.

5. How have you made your Passport more efficient?
You must try the app 'Blue Touch Pad', you'll be surprised what this will turn your phone into (with its large 1:1 screen this does not come as a huge surprise).

Enjoy this wonderful phone! I have the regular version, piano black.

Originally Posted by Radoslav Valkov

Welcome to the forum and I hope you would find much useful advice and inspiration here!

1. The main purpose of my Passport:
- emails, texts;
- extremely high quality camera, take a look at my topic here:
https://forums.crackberry.com/blackb...amera-1153992/;
- I share my data connection with my laptop via Bluetooth which saves much battery power;
- use its speech to text functionality which works incredibly well and saves lots of time when you got quite much typing;
- edit and create documents on the go with its simplistic office suite;
- browse the web via its stock browser no matter how obsolete it is, it works for me;
- the Passport works incredibly well as a multimedia device, watching videos is a pure joy with the crisp display;
- I take notes frequently;
- I use its USB OTG connectivity to review photos from my DSLR camera directly and make a backup copy of the camera memory card;
- Call sound quality is unparalleled, people say that when talking they hear me incredibly well and the noise attenuation is so good that people sometimes ask if I am still on the line!

2. What are some apps/apks you use for wallpapers and ringers?
Never thought about this, just use the stock stuff it is loaded with, ringers are not so many but do the job. :)

3. Can icons be changed? How?
What do you exactly mean by 'changed'?

4. Which browser do you use and why?
The stock one. Never needed more, it supplies what I need for basic surfing and even completing airline ticket transactions. I frequently use it to stream radio online.

5. How have you made your Passport more efficient?
You must try the app 'Blue Touch Pad', you'll be surprised what this will turn your phone into (with its large 1:1 screen this does not come as a huge surprise).

Enjoy this wonderful phone! I have the regular version, piano black.

Thank you for all of this great information ! I'm curious to know what BlackBerry apps you use for your photography ?

Posted via CB10

@ truth4u

I mainly use the stock camera app. It somehow manages to deliver accurate white balance and very good burst mode when compared with Camera++. I have also used Camera++ but removed it later as I realised although it is equipped with quite much of manual control over exposure, it does not supply the responsiveness of the native camera app the device comes with by default. If you have a more detailed look at the aforementioned topic, you will find a bit of comparison between these two apps there. You should try Camera++ anyway, it is worth exploring it! Hope this information helps.

Originally Posted by Radoslav Valkov

@ truth4u

I mainly use the stock camera app. It somehow manages to deliver accurate white balance and very good burst mode when compared with Camera++. I have also used Camera++ but removed it later as I realised although it is equipped with quite much of manual control over exposure, it does not supply the responsiveness of the native camera app the device comes with by default. If you have a more detailed look at the aforementioned topic, you will find a bit of comparison between these two apps there. You should try Camera++ anyway, it is worth exploring it! Hope this information helps.

I appreciate your quick feedback ! Another thing to consider is the security on the BlackBerry Passport. It's unbeatable.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/marcweb.../#52b8b64687f2

Posted via CB10

Originally Posted by truth4u

I appreciate your quick feedback ! Another thing to consider is the security on the BlackBerry Passport. It's unbeatable.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/marcweb.../#52b8b64687f2

Posted via CB10

It depends on what your understanding, perception and expectations about security are. In real world BB Passport offers nothing more than any other wireless device if not used under strict VPN rules, with all forcible interception risks and the inherent weaknesses 4G is associated with that date back to the 2G era. During a regular day of using the Passport, it just does what it does with transparent and controllable application permissions (a good asset imo). In terms of jailbreaking the hardware or theft, sure it would provide sufficient protection for the average (and corporate user in the recent past). Having a completely secured device is something that I presume would never be publicly available. The Librem phone seems intriguing if you are after more security and control over applications. In a nutshell, for an EOL obsolete equipment the Passport is still a functional (to some extent) legend! :) There is an interesting (and well-deserved) appraisal of this phone because it is an incredible mixture of design uniqueness and reliability, at least to me.

Originally Posted by BadgerBoy77

Good morning my fellow blackberry lovers. I'm hopeful to discover new apps/apks to bring out the best of my passport and make it one of a kind. I mostly use my unlocked AT&T passport (10.3.3.2) for emails until recently it became my daily driver. Mostly used for emails until recently it became my daily driver replacing my keyone. The call quality and wireless charging makes it a no-brainerz. Even with a heavy duty silicone Body Glove case, wireless charging still syncsz! :)

What's the main purpose of your Passport?
What are some apps/apks you use for wallpapers and ringers?
Can icons be changed? How?
Which browser do you use and why?
How have you made your Passport more efficient?

Please share your experiences opinions and comments below!

Happy Holidays! :)

Posted via CB10

I would also advise you to charge your phone frequently - never let it completely drain and charge to maximum 80%. Charge fully only when you are pretty certain you won't be able to access any place to charge / do not have the time and opportunity to do so. When bought mine in Feb 2018 I showed a colleague the jaw-dropping graph for battery usage and it showed the phone lasted 4 days with a single charge form 10% to 100%. Don't let data being enabled if you do not really need it. Doublecheck your sync interval setting for email accounts as there is significant difference between battery consumption when using the "push" option with a Google account, for instance. Furthermore, consider what signal quality your area offers. If you get 4G with 2 bars, you are not likely to experience its full potential. Just experiment and compare. For me 3G/HSPA is the best option as I get very good UMTS coverage in my area. Don't be misled to use 2G if your data consumption is low and you do not need data frequently but your coverage is weak. Similarly, a weak UMTS signal will be much more battery draining than good 4G coverage. If there is no urge to charge quickly, you can charge your phone through USB and just set up your PC to automatically power off and disconnect charging. In my experience 80 minutes of USB charging deliver nearly half of the battery capacity. This also prevents the battery from getting a bit warm during charging. These are small tricks in order to have your phone for longer without replacing its original battery. :)

Originally Posted by Radoslav Valkov

I would also advise you to charge your phone frequently - never let it completely drain and charge to maximum 80%. Charge fully only when you are pretty certain you won't be able to access any place to charge / do not have the time and opportunity to do so. When bought mine in Feb 2018 I showed a colleague the jaw-dropping graph for battery usage and it showed the phone lasted 4 days with a single charge form 10% to 100%. Don't let data being enabled if you do not really need it. Doublecheck your sync interval setting for email accounts as there is significant difference between battery consumption when using the "push" option with a Google account, for instance. Furthermore, consider what signal quality your area offers. If you get 4G with 2 bars, you are not likely to experience its full potential. Just experiment and compare. For me 3G/HSPA is the best option as I get very good UMTS coverage in my area. Don't be misled to use 2G if your data consumption is low and you do not need data frequently but your coverage is weak. Similarly, a weak UMTS signal will be much more battery draining than good 4G coverage. If there is no urge to charge quickly, you can charge your phone through USB and just set up your PC to automatically power off and disconnect charging. In my experience 80 minutes of USB charging deliver nearly half of the battery capacity. This also prevents the battery from getting a bit warm during charging. These are small tricks in order to have your phone for longer without replacing its original battery. :)

I really appreciate your time and advise. Interesting enough, I had my battery replaced earlier this year. Your absolutely correct about the fantastic battery life.

For phone calls, I normally like to talk with the speaker on and I have yet to hear of anyone complain that they cannot hear me well unlike other non BlackBerry phones that I've had.

4G LTE comes in great in my area but strange enough, on my Iphone, if I turn off the LTE, I get more signal bars. :(

Posted via CB10

@ BadgerBoy77

Another pieces of advice I can provide that might make your Passport usage better:

- if you tether your data connection over Bluetooth and you have stable 3G signal, you do not need more speed over 4G LTE as Bluetooth limits data transfer speed, so you can save a bit of juice when tethered over 3G and Bluetooth;

- don't use your device for battery-hungry tasks while charging, battery will run warmer than usual which degrades its life over time. I presume you have recently purchased the Passport so its battery has already degraded even it might have been stored under strict conditions and been charged from time to time prior to your happy purchase.