[cheadley1]

Just curious as to everyone's opinion on if we (once we get it) as BB10 users are really going to be in a better spot than we were before, outside of having a better OS? It seems the apps are good but it seems everyone is still waiting on them. Also, will it ever be to the point where when a local company and even a national/world company offers mobile apps that it will be IPhone/Android & Blackberry? Or just the current Iphone/Android support and then we are left to hope that the Android app will sideload? I am looking long term such as the 2 year contract most will sign when they get a new phone...in those 2 years will anything really be different than it is now?

I know we will all love the BB10 operating system...but after a year will it be like old times where the new apps are not available, or months or years later etc.?

[geoffsdad]

**** yes they are in a better "spot"! You will get Skype and a ton of other apps that you wouldn't have if Blackberry continued on the BBOS path. Not to mention the company as a whole could not survive long term without making the change to QNX. As far a local apps, they will get made by devs if BB10 is able to sell enough units to make it worthwhile. It was a smart play by blackberry to include the Android emulator. Imagine how many fewer apps would be available. Def not an optimal situation, but better than nothing.

[tfp]

Overall, in the big picture of things, I believe yes. Will it happen overnight? Probably not. But with some of the big name app developers already on board to come to BB10, I hate to say it, but its a wait-and-see approach at the moment. I've found that for a lot of the apps that I'm missing on my Z10 that I had on my 9900, the website works fantastic. The browser on the Z10 is by far and away, the best I've seen on a mobile experience.

[sleepngbear]

will it ever be to the point where when a local company and even a national/world company offers mobile apps that it will be IPhone/Android & Blackberry?

This I think is the key question. If/when BB10 reaches the point where these businesses feel it's worth their while to develop apps for it, then I'd have to say that we're there. But that's a big 'if', and it's probably the one question that causes me the biggest concern. I all I know is -- and my wife will verify -- I am sick to death of tv commercials for companies touting an app 'for Apple or Android'. But I digest. This is a big unknown here, and there's really no way of knowing until we get some kind of a feel for how well BB10 will be received in the US.

[desperate4love]

Technology will always be advancing. Americans are lucky you guys only have a 2-year contract, Canadians are stucked with a 3-year contract.

[cheadley1]

I do agree 3 years is way too long for a phone contract... 2 years is bad enough...

[walt63]

The app-for-that model is going to die when companies can develop a Web site that will work on everything instead of writing an app for each device. HTML5 is what will make the change possible.

I've been saying this for about two years now. Its only a matter of time when companies get on board with responsive web development and say by to app development cost. That time is closer than you think.

Sent from Bold 9930 #blackberrybychoice

[richardat]

OP.....you're intuiting something important....good for you. No, you will remain the same in the sense of being marginal users. This is part of what I've been saying for months....and part of why I couldn't recommend a BB10 device to anyone (I've had a lot of people asking me about them).

The app situation is much worse than I anticipated, as it seems a great many of the "apps" are schlocky ports, web launchers, etc. What do you expect when you host "portathons"? They wanted the talking point of "70,000" apps, but to get it, they didn't just accept poor quality, they encouraged it! Moreover, I thought the big names would be there at launch. I thought, knowing how absolutely crucial this is - especially given the criticisms of their old platform - that they would use all their efforts, resources, and all this extra-time, to at least get the current big-name apps in-line. They didn't.

In the future, when other "big" apps come out, BB will be very low on the list - it will have a tiny userbase (not much anyone can do about that), and a small marketshare (now that, they could have done more about). So, I'd say you should expect to be left-behind in future developments as well. As to the local people....well who could expect them to support such a tiny percentage of people?? Many couldn't viably support BB 6/7.....BB10 base will be much, much smaller, and growing at a rate many orders of magnitude below the biggest players.

So this is a real problem, regardless of the "break-even" screaming you hear about lately.....even if you break even, or turn a profit, if your marketshare is that low - compounded by a starting from 0 userbase, then you're going to be climbing up quite a cliff face (at least a 5.13!) in keeping up in apps.

So if you're going to buy, buy with realistic expectations.

[hurds]

Apps apps apps!

I'm finding really annoying how I'm always having to update these apps on my iphone that I never use cause I can do everything in the browser or cuase the apps are useless after one use. Cant get rid of them cause its cool to have apps, haha.

Apps are great, but you'll find more app-loving diehards here than in the real world. Only problem is perception cause its been pounded into people brains you need apps, and that bb doesnt have them even though its far more gray than that.

Doesnt matter though. With time this app-centric thing will die. BB is far more capable than the competing platforms and we'll see this. With the release of other platforms like Mozilla, Tizen and Ubuntu there will be a big push for HTML5. On my iphone Im already impressed with the cross-cut menus that can be used in the browser. 'apps' should be niche. The web does not need to be converted to apps and this is actually a stupid idea, unless you dont like competition and if you like using the exact same phone for hte rest of your life (iphone).

[hurds]

OP.....you're intuiting something important....good for you. No, you will remain the same in the sense of being marginal users. This is part of what I've been saying for months....and part of why I couldn't recommend a BB10 device to anyone (I've had a lot of people asking me about them).

The app situation is much worse than I anticipated, as it seems a great many of the "apps" are schlocky ports, web launchers, etc. What do you expect when you host "portathons"? They wanted the talking point of "70,000" apps, but to get it, they didn't just accept poor quality, they encouraged it! Moreover, I thought the big names would be there at launch. I thought, knowing how absolutely crucial this is - especially given the criticisms of their old platform - that they would use all their efforts, resources, and all this extra-time, to at least get the current big-name apps in-line. They didn't.

In the future, when other "big" apps come out, BB will be very low on the list - it will have a tiny userbase (not much anyone can do about that), and a small marketshare (now that, they could have done more about). So, I'd say you should expect to be left-behind in future developments as well. As to the local people....well who could expect them to support such a tiny percentage of people?? Many couldn't viably support BB 6/7.....BB10 base will be much, much smaller, and growing at a rate many orders of magnitude below the biggest players.

So this is a real problem, regardless of the "break-even" screaming you hear about lately.....even if you break even, or turn a profit, if your marketshare is that low - compounded by a starting from 0 userbase, then you're going to be climbing up quite a cliff face (at least a 5.13!) in keeping up in apps.

So if you're going to buy, buy with realistic expectations.

if you dislike BB so much why are you here? What was your fav bb? and why? What are your to-die-for apps that you just can't live without? what device do you currently use?

[cheadley1]

I have very few apps on my phone now...I am not worried about having tons of apps...just the top apps...and if the websites work that is great..

I know that in the future most apps will actually be websites...but that does nothing for now....also, was a little suprised the the apps that were supposedly coming at launch were actually just announced as coming soon...not actually available...

I am really trying to convince myself that BB10 and the Z10 are the way to go but its getting harder and harder...HTC 1....Samsung Galaxy s4 etc...

[web99]

Overall, my BB Z10 is a big improvement over my BB 9800 Torch. I love the browser, camera, BBM video and other stuff. I used to have lots of freezes/hourglass and a very short battery life on my Torch, but it does not happen with my Z10. So overall, I am happy with my new phone. It would definitely be better if some of the big named apps, WhatsApp, skype, Instagram, etc were available, so I am hoping for them to be made available in the near future.

[texazzpete]

Let me ask you this; Would you prefer to load your phone with 150 apps for for your local bank, dry cleaner, drug store, local news station, coffee shop, bicycle shop...? Or, would you rather use a very functional browser with shortcuts on your desktop (or in a group on your desktop) to a great Web app for those companies? It is those devices that need an app because their to simplistic browser can't offer a great Web page which are going to fail.

The app-for-that model is going to die when companies can develop a Web site that will work on everything instead of writing an app for each device. HTML5 is what will make the change possible.

It actually does seem you're insinuating that BB10 is the first to bring HTML5 to the masses. And that's just plain hilarious.
Off the top of my head, I can't think of any mobile device or OS that lacks a modern, powerful and fast Web browser.
Companies have had the capabilities and the platforms to develop those websites for years... They just haven't. Not sure why you think BB10 will change anything in that regard.

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2

[richardat]

I have very few apps on my phone now...I am not worried about having tons of apps...just the top apps...and if the websites work that is great..

I know that in the future most apps will actually be websites...but that does nothing for now....also, was a little suprised the the apps that were supposedly coming at launch were actually just announced as coming soon...not actually available...

I am really trying to convince myself that BB10 and the Z10 are the way to go but its getting harder and harder...HTC 1....Samsung Galaxy s4 etc...

That's exactly right. That may well be the future of "apps", but it isn't coming within this generation....a lot of conversion, and there are still some problems that need to be ironed out - so it would be very unwise to start talking about that, when you're talking about near-term purchases.

Since you know what you're worried about: top apps. Well, that's what you should consider of course! You know the situation: some are coming, some will probably never be. You seem like an intelligent person, you'll have to weigh the pros and cons for your individual situation. :-)

[Thunderbuck]

It's the chicken-and-egg thing. Developers won't develop without customers. Customers won't buy without apps.

BB has done the best it can to short-circuit this vicious cycle with developer incentives. It's brought a lot of developers on board. Richardat is correct in noting that a lot of what has been produced isn't top-notch, though I'd suggest that Google Play isn't much better on a percentage basis. What might be most important here is that BB provides an easy way for developers to distribute in BB World.

For a few years there you'd see badges for the iTunes App Store and BlackBerry App World. Now Google Play has supplanted App World, but if there's any kind of decent market response for BB10, then publishers will create apps for it. Simple as that.

It boils down to a simple question: is it possible to compete with Apple's and Google's app portfolios? If that answer is "no", is that a good thing?

[richardat]

It's the chicken-and-egg thing. Developers won't develop without customers. Customers won't buy without apps.

It is indeed. Many industries/markets have this sort of situation of course, and the mobile industry has factors like this in other areas besides apps, but the apps are surely the most high-profile, user-affecting, example of this I would think. In any case, it's quite a conundrum for the "newb", even when the "newbs" have names like blackberry or microsoft!!!

For me personally, I use only a few apps, but I use those apps heavily, and they are fairly critical to me. So, I need those ones in place....the rest....I don't care much about...nice to have, if some need/desire pops up....but I dont go around trying new apps all that much, so I don't need a lot of variety. Each person, must decide for themselves, what is important to them in terms of apps, and realistically weight that, along with all the other considerations regarding their phone choice, and decide what is best for them.

[katesbb]

I know we will all love the BB10 operating system...but after a year will it be like old times where the new apps are not available, or months or years later etc.?

No one really knows, so I'd think that when making a purchase decision, the safest assumption is that it would as it was with BBOS: you'll see a few companies releasing BB versions of their apps, but not many, and it's not something you can count on in any case. Expect to not have the apps, and rejoice if you do

[hurds]

I'm sure BB knows what apps are used most wisely. They run a very prudent analytical business. That is also representative of the historical clients they tailor to.

There is only so much they can do if the odd company blocks their browser or is uncooperative in developing an app for them. This to me is the only argument for a high marketshare as it is an incentive to be on a platform.

But people should know from BBs history that some apps havent been there. Even ones that there were a glimpse of in an advertisement. For most people globally many of these to-die-for apps are a non-issue. Depending on how sales are we should see this. If you are one of these people who live night and day thinking about apps and dwells over their availability its my recommendation to go 'droid and put yourself out of the misery.

[kill_9]

While fully functional websites are nice let me point to an example where the application (app) produces a better user experience. Visitors to crackberry.com have two options with the BlackBerry Z10 - use the web browser or use the app CB10. The CB10 app is much easier to use hands down. Banking apps are another example of the potential for better user experiences via a dedicated app; my own bank has an excellent app for BBOS5/6 but none yet for BBOS10; I miss it.

[Bold_until_Hybrid_Comes]

While fully functional websites are nice let me point to an example where the application (app) produces a better user experience. Visitors to crackberry.com have two options with the BlackBerry Z10 - use the web browser or use the app CB10. The CB10 app is much easier to use hands down. Banking apps are another example of the potential for better user experiences via a dedicated app; my own bank has an excellent app for BBOS5/6 but none yet for BBOS10; I miss it.

I downloaded the port of CB10 and also the CB10 app in blackberry world. Since deleted both. I truly like the full browser experience best. Get to see everything. Same goes for other apps vs Web for me as well. Its not just an excuse for something that does not have an app. There IS an app and I like using the browser. I realize this is personal preference. For me personally a few, specific apps are better then the site though when there is not much other content, like twitter.

[Emu the Foo]

I think so what about you Mr thorstein?

[HedoBum]

I hear too often of how everyone needs these apps. There are only a small few that I use. I'll try out other apps for the same utilization from time to time to see what I like better but it's best to keep your app count to a dull roar. Your phone will love you.
I have been in contact with a number of app providers that I used before the switch to BB10 and some have actually gotten back to me with slightly bigger than ballpark ETA figures. The usual reply has been to the effect of:
"We're working on implementing BB10 versions of our app. BlackBerry has just newly launched the BB10 OS so implementation may take a number of weeks."

I'm optimistic that the apps people need (or have just fallen in love with), will soon be available widely for BB10. If you haven't noticed, Z10 sales have been stunning. Every mobile store I've been to in the last 2 weeks has been selling these things like crazy. Explosive, I think, is one word I've heard to describe it. App providers aren't stupid. They see this and the swing people are making over to BB10 from other vendors. Mob rules.

I think we'll also be ahead in terms of having a quality phone that other phones are compared to. There are some awesome phones out there with some ϋber cool features but my experience so far with the Z10 has eclipsed them all. It took me some time to get used to the user input of a true touch phone but it's coming along pretty nicely now. I added an external battery and an Otterbox�, so I never have to turn it off and it's well protected. The OS is great...easy to get around and runs very smoothly. There's also a big difference between 4G LTE and 3G from what I've seen. There is not much bad I can say about this phone. I think it was a good thing for the Z10 to be "polished" before they released it into the world. People said it was foolish to come out (no pun intended) more than a month after Christmas, but I believe BlackBerry was smart to make sure it was ready to be released so they were positive they were releasing a proper beast.

Well...just my 2�
My apologies for the bit of a rant...insomnia rears its ugly head and no amount of Bubba Kush is working to let me get some Zs.