[anon(679606)]

With runtime, no gap really... but when marshmallow outs the gap to jellybean runtime may widen...

Without runtime gap is huge... BlackBerry Passport would be unusable & I might as well get out mu old motorola Razr...a beauty !!

Posted via CB10

[Bbnivende]

Ya, but we all know by now that apps are one of the many reasons BlackBerry has suffered over the years, another being the constant backlash and putdown from tech media. You can have all the apps in the world, but when many of the tech sights say that BlackBerry is stuck in the past, the OS sucks, etc, etc, etc, what do you think's going to happen?



Like what, exactly?

This trend was started by Apple, " I have an App for that". Almost any ad that displays the availability of an app suggests only Google Play and the iTunes app store. Consumers are not blind. They want unfettered access to one of those two stores. The same goes for business users.

BlackBerry has never really succeeded with apps so they should have concentrated on securing Android a long time ago.



Posted via CB10

[anon(679606)]

Wasted spit... BlackBerry doesn't listen to customers or to pundits... they know it all... this has been a never-ending trail of misery, deceit, and superiliousness... I like the passport but now see it as the last in a long line.. the Priv is doomed to the bottom of dresser drawer of the dozens of purchasers who will quickly realize BlackBerry fiddling with android makes for a slow, glitchy beast... there is a learning curve to pairing android. with hardware & firmware... BlackBerry is an epic slow learner...

[newcollector]

Part of the difficulty in developing apps for BlackBerry is the security. At least that is what a developer has told me. The security requirements of BlackBerry make it more difficult for a developer to access to parts of the phone's OS to make the app work like they envision. So on one sense, BlackBerry's security is a blessing but also a bane.

There is an app gap. Dev's develop for the two most popular platforms. It is hard to get them to develop for a perceived also ran OS with a perceived limited return. However, so many android apps do run that the gap is less. There are many android apps that partially run, but then don't perform that it is frustrating.

Case in point is Bitmoji's. You can download the app. It will open. You can design your avatar, select all the package options you want, but they won't attach to our native text app. So close, but no cigar!

For me, I do not use a lot of apps. There are a few I want that don't work as they should, but those apps aren't essential. So for me the app gap is not a big deal. For me it is a matter of needs vs wants. I want an OS that majors in communication, has the hub, is secure, has an awesome capacitive keyboard, has a large screen on which it is easy to read documents. For me, the Passport fulfills my needs. The wants can wait.

Posted via CB10

[Zeratul57]

Snap fixed the four or five android apps I wanted and could even do without. There really is not an app gap! Some will say BS. To that but using short cuts to the Web is nice too. If you can:t side load then you are missing out on five or so apps? Big deal?

Posted from a Passport or Z30. Get one!

[Zeratul57]

Yeah right. I could shortcut all the handful of android apps I use to the net and be satisfied. So even the runtime could go away and I would stay with BB10.

Posted from a Passport or Z30. Get one!

[Zeratul57]

Honestly, I've know a lot of professionals that are not really into 'apps' but still don't use BlackBerry devices...

Posted via CB10

Those professionals just get what the kids get. Tech professionals would be amatures to get android esp without 10 plus droid apps needed.

Posted from a Passport or Z30. Get one!

[Tre Lawrence]

Yeah right. I could shortcut all the handful of android apps I use to the net and be satisfied. So even the runtime could go away and I would stay with BB10.

Posted from a Passport or Z30. Get one!

Ah. Use the browser, eh?

[Bbnivende]

"First, the company will launch a flagship slider device, Priv, which will run on the Android operating system, bringing together the best of BlackBerry security and productivity with the expansive mobile application ecosystem available on the Android platform" - BlackBerry

As opposed to the almost non-existent ecosystem presently. Sure a person can perform basic functions on BBOS or BB10 but 99% of smartphone users want more. You are entitled to like what you like but do not presume that your choice represents a viable business model .

It is sad that BlackBerry wasted so much time and effort on BB10 but in hindsight, I do not see how BlackBerry could have succeeded in breaking the Android /iOS monopoly. Microsoft may fail too. We shall see.

[dale-c]

Basic functions? I can a ton on my passport, including entertainment stuff.

Posted via CB10

[anon(2313227)]

smart watches, amazon video, uber, banks, airline apps to name a few. Website works but is not the same. That's like saying a screw driver and hammer can open a can of tuna, you don't need a can opener.

[anon(679606)]

And all that yap about security. First, security camera visibility & access to IP DVRs non existent on BBW. Second, shoveling off the work to the BlackBerry browser circum-navigates the dedicated banking apps that are dual level protected... BB10 OS has not secured its own security or longevity... why would I trust it?

[sumyong]

It works okay for me, but for a particular Android app, its service always get killed so that I can not receive notification from that app. I ended up wrote another android app to keep the other android app alive :-/

Posted via CB10

[anon(679606)]

It works okay for me, but for a particular Android app, its service always get killed so that I can not receive notification from that app. I ended up wrote another android app to keep the other android app alive :-/

Posted via CB10

Curious, what app??

[sumyong]

Cuious, what app??

LINE messenger, it's an Instant messenger app, so when its service got killed in the background, I will no longer be able to receive any messages until the next time I launch the app.

Posted via CB10

[Steel_Winged Pegasus]

I have a few Android apps, but I really use only one on a regular basis. Most of my apps and games come from the BlackBerry App World, surprisingly, so I guess the app gap isn't that much of a problem for me.

Posted via CB10

[Tre Lawrence]

It goes without saying that anyone with a BB10 device for a daily driver can probably get by without a decent selection of apps. Unfortunately, there are not enough people like that for BBRY.

Couple points...

First, few people need scores upon scores upon scores of apps. The app gap is mostly different for most people. My 5 "anchor" apps differ from my neighbor's. Some of these apps may be used once every blue moon. Most have no browser equivalent. That is why choice is so important. Remember, folks on other platforms can create browser shortcuts too. Give people a huge selection, and let them customize. Simple. Even BBRY gets this.

Secondly, the app gap exists. Ask JC.

[snowsquirrel]

Camera companion apps have been noted. The android versions don't work because they require WiFi direct, which BB10 supports, but the Android RT in BB10 doesn't.

I don't use, but a deal breaker for a lot, SnapChat.

MLB.TV, NHL apps have had their BlackBerry versions pulled, and video doesn't work on the Android versions.

Those are just ones I can think of for now.

For the most part, I have been able to find BB10 apps that fit my needs. Some are not as good as the options found in the other stores, but I use them anyway just because android apps run slower than the native ones. I used to buy any app I remotely liked, just to support the BB10 developers.

But the but ultimately the reason I have decided to embrace Android is that the BB10 developers have basically left; no new apps, and existing ones not getting updates. So things aren't going to get better.

Posted via CB10

[anon(2325196)]

I couldn't care any less about whatever the 'app gap' is because I don't use very many apps and the ones I do use are all available and work perfectly on BlackBerry 10. So, for me it doesn't exist. Depends who you ask, everybody has their own perception about what they 'need'.

Posted via CB10

[playfoot]

Hmmm. I am in the minority.

I find no App Gap at all. All I need is on the phone. From travel apps to news, it is there. Granted, I am miffed at some of my long time favourites, such as FT for no longer investing in Blackberry. As a Canadian, albeit long removed, I am upset CBC and NHL no longer support BB. However, these are not things I wake up every day missing. In fact, it is only polls like this that I take a fleeting second to consider what I slightly, sort of miss in an offhand, oh yeah, once in a blue moon sort of way . . .

So, nope. No gap.

[Poi25]

A big factor falls in the general trends of smartphone users. I share common ground with other users here involving willingness to adapt to not only to a new OS (those of us coming from (iPhone/Android), but also to new apps to fulfill a need, or work-arounds like webapps, or installing Cobalt's services, etc, etc. You get the point.

Most people just want to be spoon fed. It's "Me wants Facebook." Click, click, done.

Or they want that one app that does X, Y, and Z, and if they can't get that app, then the sky is falling. Learn a different app? "No! Too much worky for me thumbs."

They don't want to spend time troubleshooting, sideloading a lower version that works within the constraints of a Jellybean runtime, etc, etc.

I like tinkering and I like figuring stuff out. So naturally, there is no app gap for me.

Posted via CB10 // Passport SQW100-1 // 10.3.2.2339 // Cricket Wireless

[Bbnivende]

Hmmm. I am in the minority.

I find no App Gap at all. All I need is on the phone. From travel apps to news, it is there. Granted, I am miffed at some of my long time favourites, such as FT for no longer investing in Blackberry. As a Canadian, albeit long removed, I am upset CBC and NHL no longer support BB. However, these are not things I wake up every day missing. In fact, it is only polls like this that I take a fleeting second to consider what I slightly, sort of miss in an offhand, oh yeah, once in a blue moon sort of way . . .

So, nope. No gap.

It is not that you are in the minority of BB10 users. You are in the minority of potential buyers of a smartphone. They want a working app store and Google play features. The Amazon phone and website for their phone was a failed idea. Few if any want a forked Android. BB10 was DOA .

Posted via CB10

[n9qzd]

The Tivo app will let me set recordings, but I can't stream.
The Pioneer control app for my AV Receiver is a no go.
Amazon instant Video does not work.
The SlingTV app wasn't working, it does now, but for how long?
The Facebook app is awful, the Android app does not work.
That leaves the mobile Web version as a stop gap solution.

I'm a Google Voice user , now Project Fi, which does not work at all with the exception that I receive Calls and SMS to my Blackberry.
I can't make Calls using my number (Project Fi) you need the Hangouts app for that which requires Google Services.

With Google Voice all that was possible, if a bit kludgey.
I switched to Project Fi to try out their Cell Service, but that's another subject.

So it's becoming a problem.
In spite of all that, I still use the BlackBerry a lot.




Posted via CB10

[nuff_said]

How big is the app gap really?

Big enough that JC is willing to bet the hardware business succeeding on the Priv.

Let's call a spade a spade: BlackBerry 10 is a fail for majority of smartphone users. The fact that some people don't seem to get it because for them the app gap doesn't exist means you represent 1% of BlackBerry current <1% market share. They only moved 800K units in the last quarter. That's a flop and not having apps is one of many reasons why they can't sell phones.
I read an earlier post about one person needing maybe 5 apps but their neighbour may have a different 5 apps, and that makes sense. Now multiply that by the entire neighbourhood and you've got an app gap in the area. Now what about globally? Yes, certain apps like FB, snapchat, or IG overlap but the gap is still there.
If the gap doesn't exist for you great! Keep using your phones, and I hope the gap never comes up for you. But for the rest of the smartphone market, and the potential smartphone users in emerging markets, the gap needs to be solved.

They laugh at me because I'm different; I laugh at them because they're all the same. 

[ameet das]

Taxi apps like Ola and Uber don't work with BlackBerry 10.3. Also some shopping apps like jabong and myntra. Life would have been a lot easier with these apps working

Posted via CB10