1st BB: a Priv! Advice welcome...

Hi all!

I just got a Priv! It's awesome! I'm so glad I could finally afford one.

It's got a fresh upgrade to marshmallow, so now it wants to update just about everything. Does everything like the BB hub still work? Should I bother to upgrade these apps? Or does everyone just use the Google apps?
Is there anything critical I need to know using this device in 2018? Any tips that will save me some trouble are very much appreciated

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I'm getting my thumbs freshly acquainted with this very new-to-me keyboard. Compared to the Palm devices I've had, It's a little bit slippery and the gaps between the keys are not strongly defined, but I'm looking forward to mastering it and not having to look down at it in due time.

I'm already excited with how much fewer typos I've had to correct vs using Skype for the last year, which I hated and what made me crave a Priv since release

One weird thing I'm experiencing, is that during pauses when I do look down, somehow I'm sliding my fingers in a way that seems to be triggering shortcuts. It just asked me if I wanted to change to a different kb.

Any links to helpful info are also very much appreciated. I'm going to go look around a bit.

Here are tips and tricks to maximize battery life on the Priv

-Lower the resolution with adb to 1080x1920 (see here /blackberry-priv-f440/howto-reduce-screen-resolution-preserve-battery-life-enhance-framrate-1093326/ )

-Keep Bluetooth/WiFi and scanning OFF unless in use

-Disable all BB Hub+ and related apps

-Disable as many Google Apps as possible and their syncing

-Don't use Google Maps or do any navigation

-Don't play any game that requires more GPU power than a simple 2D game like candy crush

-Don't use the Full Facebook app

-Keep the brightness under 50% all the time

-Enable power saving mode all day

-Use the phone on WiFi especially when signal is weak

Thanks for these tips! All advice on using BlackBerry in 2018 are welcome. I'm very happy w the device so far, going on day 3 I guess.

Welcome to the black side dear palm-veteran.

You will miss some gestures, fast-app-switching (aka full-swipe) and OS-app-integration (aka synergy) but you will win app-availability.

Sadly your device is already post-EOL but you know the feeling of that ;) but here on the dark side there's no homebrew. BB-developers are active in this forum and they really try to fix stuff and even sometimes implement user-feature requests.

As for the apps try to stay on Google play as android is a good target for malware apps. As this is Android not BlackBerry no special advise needed for 2018. Well perhaps some special apps need higher OS version you will only get by the KEYᵒⁿᵉ, Key2...

I'm also still on PRIV as only device, for 2 years now but still have those "where this webOS feature" moments and always try to convince BlackBerry devs in several threads that those are needed.

In my experience with the Priv, I didn't do some of the tweaks on that list, I think it's not necessary to cripple the device that much.

Just my 2 cents on the topic:

Originally Posted by the_boon

Here are tips and tricks to maximize battery life on the Priv

-Lower the resolution with adb to 1080x1920 (see here https://forums.crackberry.com/blackb...mrate-1093326/ )

-Keep Bluetooth/WiFi and scanning OFF unless in use

-Disable all BB Hub+ and related apps

-Disable as many Google Apps as possible and their syncing

-Don't use Google Maps or do any navigation

-Don't play any game that requires more GPU power than a simple 2D game like candy crush

-Don't use the Full Facebook app

-Keep the brightness under 50% all the time

-Enable power saving mode all day

-Use the phone on WiFi especially when signal is weak

Just use a good app killer after most sessions and you should get on fine.plug in if possible for long term GPS.
keep wi fi off when out and about unless wanted.
that is all I have done..my stv 4 works great.
earlier runs may require more ref all comments.

Originally Posted by G_Unit MVP

In my experience with the Priv, I didn't do some of the tweaks on that list, I think it's not necessary to cripple the device that much.

Just my 2 cents on the topic:

I agree with this. There are a few things to try to avoid but I for one use the Hub constantly and it gives me no problems. GPS (Google Maps) is one of the apps that has been temperamental on my Priv.

Originally Posted by TJs11thPre

Hi all!

I just got a Priv! It's awesome! I'm so glad I could finally afford one.

It's got a fresh upgrade to marshmallow, so now it wants to update just about everything. Does everything like the BB hub still work? Should I bother to upgrade these apps? Or does everyone just use the Google apps?
Is there anything critical I need to know using this device in 2018? Any tips that will save me some trouble are very much appreciated

----

I'm getting my thumbs freshly acquainted with this very new-to-me keyboard. Compared to the Palm devices I've had, It's a little bit slippery and the gaps between the keys are not strongly defined, but I'm looking forward to mastering it and not having to look down at it in due time.

I'm already excited with how much fewer typos I've had to correct vs using Skype for the last year, which I hated and what made me crave a Priv since release

One weird thing I'm experiencing, is that during pauses when I do look down, somehow I'm sliding my fingers in a way that seems to be triggering shortcuts. It just asked me if I wanted to change to a different kb.

Any links to helpful info are also very much appreciated. I'm going to go look around a bit.

Welcome, new Priv owner! I love my Priv and have had it since Nov 24, 2015--exactly 3 years. I also have a KEYone, but love to use the Priv too (I have a plan with T-Mobile that syncs them together). If you got your Priv new then there are likely a lot of updates, as you did mention, that improve it from how it was when released. Since I have had mine since close to release, I experienced all the changes it got. Marshmallow was the biggest update. Besides the security updates, there have been software updates along the way that improved several things, for example, the camera. There are also some BB apps that were introduced and improved. One of them is the Notable app. I hope you enjoy your new Priv as much as I have enjoyed mine. It took me a little while to get used to the physical keyboard but once I did, I found it quite natural to balance and use. (I almost exclusively use the PKB). My Priv struggles with Google Maps so I usually don't use it for long periods of time on my Priv. I use the Hub constantly on my Priv. That is another app that has seen much development after the Priv was released in 2015. As a productivity app it is a life saver for me.
PS: There was one update that was a little tricky to implement. As I remember, it was the one that came after the regular updates were ended. (BlackBerry issued it as a critical security patch). If you have trouble, there are instructions available for getting it downloaded and installed.

I will add that disabling background data for those apps that do not really need it can help a lot. I routinely get 11+ hours from my Priv, and 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 hours of screen on time. Yes, someone will pipe in and say they get well over 5 hours of scree time by lowering the screen resolution, but that has its drawbacks with some apps. I prefer mine set to the standard resolution.

Enjoy your Priv.

as you suspect, the battery drain is possibly the biggest short coming if you are not a heavy app user. Priv got "feature" to heat up as hand warmer - good for winter time... Let it cool down if you use Youtube too much. Careful to up date apps - some may not compatible to Priv old droid version. Assume you get an old (resale) one instead of new (not as new - "you never had before"), the battery might gets old. save some money for near future battery replacement (and search local repair house if you are not the DIY type). IMHO. Enjoy your NEW phone.

Originally Posted by stlabrat

as you suspect, the battery drain is possibly the biggest short coming if you are not a heavy app user. Priv got "feature" to heat up as hand warmer - good for winter time... Let it cool down if you use Youtube too much. Careful to up date apps - some may not compatible to Priv old droid version. Assume you get an old (resale) one instead of new (not as new - "you never had before"), the battery might gets old. save some money for near future battery replacement (and search local repair house if you are not the DIY type). IMHO. Enjoy your NEW phone.

As much as you have to treat the Priv with light tasks to avoid excessive battery drain and heating, I never found YouTube to be a problem on it.
It's more like streaming a TV show/movie that would warm it up.

Originally Posted by the_boon

As much as you have to treat the Priv with light tasks to avoid excessive battery drain and heating, I never found YouTube to be a problem on it.
It's more like streaming a TV show/movie that would warm it up.

more or less on the same page: watch Youtube for full length piano concerto - even it break few sections, you really want watch for all the sections together...

OK, based on the feedback I guess I'll. Trying downgrading the res tonite

Originally Posted by TJs11thPre

OK, based on the feedback I guess I'll. Trying downgrading the res tonite

The resolution downgrade is what made this phone an enjoyable daily driver for me.

https://forums.crackberry.com/showthread.php?t=1093326
This is the thread that guided me through it.

Two things to help maximize battery life without compromising basic smartphone features:
-Replacing the full Google Maps with the lighter Maps Go helps quite a bit.
-Turn off Bluetooth if you're not using it. It passively drains the battery quite efficiently.

My daily usage looks like Spotify, Telegram, Hub, Feedly, Imgur, DuckDuckGo web browsing, and Bluetooth syncing with a Nokia Steel HR watch.

Good luck! You'll enjoy the Priv if you know its limitations.