Games are great but useful apps would be nice too

I'm a happy Z10 owner since they became available in the US. Love my BlackBerry even before then. I have for a long time. I also love that there are some great games on BB10. But am I the only one thinking there are too many games and not enough "Real" apps? Don't get me wrong. The games are great and I've bought my share. I just wonder if anyone else feels like me about this.

I am a writer and composer and on other OS devices I can do both of those with a whole host of apps that help make my life easier. I'd love to get rid of the other devices and work with Blackberry devices exclusively. Is blackberry going after those real work developers too? Not putting the game developers down. As I said I love my Z10 and all that is available on it now. I guess I just really love my BlackBerry so much that I don't want to use any other devices cause BB10 rocks.

What work apps would folks like to see on BB10? Here are a few of mine.

Cubase (a light midi version)
Blogsy
Final Draft
Soundcloud
Paper (53)

Posted via CB10

I think there is a soundcloud app made called soundnine. I haven't checked it out yet but its not directly from soundcloud. The reviews looked okay though.

I'm a project manager and I'd like to see:

Microsoft Project
WBS Chart Pro
MindManager
SharePoint

Of course, none of the other platforms have any apps/software that can match those so I stick with BlackBerry for the communication power. After all, "communication takes 90% of the project manager's time".

So who are you asking BlackBerry or the developers of those apps??

Sent from my BB10 smartphone.

I 100% agree! Many people still buy Blackberries because they are business oriented and capable. But without apps that add that little bit of value, just a little more usefulness, people can be drawn away to other platforms. If someone needs to be able to edit and annotate PDFs, chances are you're more likely to get an android or iPhone, simply because the apps are there to support that need. Even though you need the phone for BUSINESS, if the apps aren't there to complement the OS, people will leave out of necessity. I have been seriously considering getting into coding and developing simply due to the need for quality apps. Not that i could necessarily produce quality apps, but you know what i mean :P

I guess I'm asking both and then some. BlackBerry to go after them like they did the games. The developers to make their apps available for BB10. Or even new developers to make more "Work" tools for BB10. I'll be happy to get on it, if someone would like to support me by funding. :-)

Seriously though, I think it takes all the stakeholders. Not just one or the other.

Posted via CB10

PlayBook owners have been dealing with this for a while and it appears to be the same story with the Z10. To much focus on games and entertainment, and not enough on productivity apps, even their own like Docs2Go. They let the pendulum swing from the extreme of BBOS with basically no games or focus on games, to the opposite of focusing almost myopically on games. Where is the Cisco AnyConnect app they said was coming on January 30th launch event? Seams like all we are getting is games, cheap Android knockoffs, and whatever the minimum is to get a developer a development device.

Thanks for the Soundcloud app mention. It only allows for listening, not posting of sound. So not very helpful for me. Or I should say it this way, doesn't allow for all of the features I would need in working with Soundcloud. Thanks though. Good soghting.

Posted via CB10

True. But when developers completely deny the potential of bb10 ex: Netflix, Shazam etc. It's difficult to sway people to get on board... users don't want to come because of missing apps and devs don't want to come because they believe there isn't enough users to profit off of.

Sent from my BB10 smartphone.

I'm a PlayBook owner as well and feel ya on that statement, my friend.

Posted via CB10

I agree, Dave. It's the catch 22. But BlackBerry could pay established developers just as they did for new developers. Didn't they do a whole 10k for the best apps that could be made in one day? They did that all over the world. Why not subsidize established developers with apps that are already proven to make profits and say, "We want your app on our platform and here is 10k to show that we are confident that you'll make it back and them some?" I realize how simplistic that sounds. But if they are going to dish out money to new developers, why not do it for established ones that have a product that people are using now, who may also be looking for the great plethora of other things that BlackBerry offers.

Posted via CB10

Originally Posted by jeffojeda

I agree, Dave. It's the catch 22. But BlackBerry could pay established developers just as they did for new developers. Didn't they do a whole 10k for the best apps that could be made in one day? They did that all over the world. Why not subsidize established developers with apps that are already proven to make profits and say, "We want your app on our platform and here is 10k to show that we are confident that you'll make it back and them some?" I realize how simplistic that sounds. But if they are going to dish out money to new developers, why not do it for established ones that have a product that people are using now, who may also be looking for the great plethora of other things that BlackBerry offers.

Posted via CB10

You understand they actually HAVE been doing this, right?

The overwhelming majority of developers out there see BB10 as a marginal platform right now, and are afraid any effort they spend would be wasted. Others (I suspect, anyway) are subject to some quiet diplomatic pressure from "others" that's persuaded them to stay away from "marginal platforms".

A recent sales estimate has pegged BB10 sales at about 1.5 million a month, which sounds reasonable to me. That figure would put about 5 million handsets out there so far. That compares to userbases in the hundreds of millions for Android and iOS, and even 60+ million BBOS users. If the userbase is limited, so is the appeal for developers.

It's the whole chicken/egg thing, and while throwing money at it can help, it's not going to convince everyone. BB could offer Google $1bln and I doubt that would be enough to convince them to provide their apps. And from the developer point of view, developing a native BB10 app would be at least as much effort as creating a new Android or iOS app from scratch, for maybe 3% of the same users. The economics just aren't there.

Not all users need the apps you listed, and for those users the platform is great right now. For you? Maybe not so much and it might be worth your while to adopt later on.

Originally Posted by diegonei

I'm a project manager and I'd like to see:

Microsoft Project
WBS Chart Pro
MindManager
SharePoint

Of course, none of the other platforms have any apps/software that can match those so I stick with BlackBerry for the communication power. After all, "communication takes 90% of the project manager's time".

There ARE a couple of pretty decent SharePoint clients out there already, even if MS doesn't support the platform directly. As for the others, while there isn't an actual app, Print to Go does a great job of sending data to your phone from the app as a PDF.

The trick to bb10 if you can't find the apps you want find a alternative app. At a individual level this is all we can do. Group wise we start a massive petition with enough followers to persuade them or get an answer.

Sent from my BB10 smartphone.

agreed this is a difficult situation and the masses speak louder than a lone voice. Shame there isn't some platform to capture apps and the number of requests (assuming no one votes multiple times).

Must have- as a frequent traveler i really miss Telenav - when combined with Poynt i never got lost.

Nice to have- Flipboard (i'm a news junkie) and any half decent replacement for Bloomberg would also be nice

Originally Posted by Thunderbuck

There ARE a couple of pretty decent SharePoint clients out there already, even if MS doesn't support the platform directly. As for the others, while there isn't an actual app, Print to Go does a great job of sending data to your phone from the app as a PDF.

Lol yes, I was aware of that. But nothing of that matters if I can't do MS Project and WBS on the go. SharePoint is just a means to get that around.