Tried to switch to Passport
So...after reading/watching countless reviews and studying forums i've honestly tried to switch to Passport...but after one day of heavy use i have to admit that iPhone 6 is still with me and here is why (below are things you won't read in any of the reviews)
- The native browser does not play flash-based videos on many sites (in 10.3.1 flash will be obsolete). On the contrary everything plays just fine on iPhone. I assume it's a matter of browser identification by the website and delivering content in right format. (there is an option to get around this by downloading evolution browser, but I do not like such "workarounds", also evolution browser is quite ugly in terms of the interface)
- Not found a way to stop whatsapp from automatically saving photos / videos to the gallery. On the iPhone it is possible - all uploaded photos / videos are stored within the application without cluttering gallery
- Camera clearly worse than the 6.
- I've clearly felt the "disconnection" from apple services, for example, itunes match. Yes, you can go and transfer all the music from the cloud to your phone, but it's a step back (for me, a significant one). Inability to easily buy and download music is too critical for me.
- Despite the fact that the BBOS is a delight for the eyes (qnx, of course, is much more pleasing to the eye than a "toy-ish" iOS) at iOS I'm doing the same thing, but much faster and efficient (even notorious typing with two hands is possible at the same rate, if not faster)
- The lack of native applications, of course, adds to the "karma". It is clear that you can put Snap / Play store, but it is not the same thing as having native app...needless to say android apps don't pair well with with the overall design of the supernice qnx. Also, i am afraid that Android applications strress the battery (it is understandable, the degree of optimization are no match for the native apps) + overall impression of the energy optimization is "so-so" (in sleep mode, the battery gets faster compared to 6), which is strange considering the large battery capacity compared with 6. Perhaps one should blame quad-core snapdragon and 3 gig of RAM.
The rest of the device is great for me so i am afraid the problem is that blackberry entered the market too late - qnx has huge potential and it is clearly felt across the OS, but the significant advantage is in the number of applications / services from Apple just kills all the advantages of the Blackberry. In fact, the only advantage of the passport is its gorgeous display, but Apple has better fonts in browsing, so the web text is more readable with the iPhone. But i am nitpicking.
What matters is that I've finally tried something new and different, not a stupid copy of ios like android and imo qnx has much more potential than either ios or android.
Nevertheless, I am very interested in the fate of future smarts from Blackberry and the general development of qnx, which, with proper polishing and adding services will be able to make a worthy alternative to ios. I would be happy if this happens as soon as possible.