Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Blackberry convert - what I miss...and love

T

TJAB23

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 24, 2009
6
0
I just made the switch from BB Bold to 3GS.

MISS:
* Docking my BB and the clock (which was also an alarm clock!) would automatically appear. (No app for this - trust me, I have looked)

* GMail push - seriously Apple, what's the deal? :mad:

* MMS photos - seriously AT&T, you weren't "prepared"? Honestly. :confused:

* BB had the ability to merge all mail to one screen. iPhone makes you toggle between accounts - pain in the neck.

* Typing is ridiculously better on BB - this is not up for debate. Oh but we have landscape mode! Whatever - it's still inferior to BB

* Cut and paste is still superior on BB - with BB, you can toggle back in a sentence much easier

* BB weather icon displayed the CURRENT temp and conditions, as opposed to iPhone's 73 and SUNNY display. Apple, we don't all live in California. (There might be an app for this - I admit I haven't looked that much)

* BB had customized ring profiles.

WHAT I LOVE...

* Camera is great - found an app that lets you zoom, and a crazy app that lets you switch faces! Lots of fun. :D

* iLife is great - the sync ability is so much easier and to have iTunes library in the phone makes life so much easier

* Facebook app is much more robust :)

* Internet browsing is not faster (no, it's not) but larger screen is VERY much a PLUS.

* Search function is very nice - much more comprehensive than BB

* Apps - apps - and more apps

* Hopefully I will never have to use the search feature of Mobile Me, but how sweet is that?
 
You'll get used to typing on the iPhone pretty quickly. Also, try the weather channel app, that is my favorite. Although, I haven't looked for any new weather apps lately so it's possible a better one popped up.
 
co.ag.2005 said:
I think this is Google's fault, not Apple's... either way, I want it too!
Click to expand...

Nope, I think it's Apple's. Considering Gmail already has push on their networks (eg. BB).

I agree with you on all the points there OP. That's why I'll probably switch to Android next year. Hopefully get some of the BlackBerry strong points.
 
I type incredibly fast on the touchscreen keyboard. Also, being able to copy and paste graphics, and formatted text is great. Can BB do that?
 
I just came from the BB 8320 Curve on Tmo about a month ago and my worst fear was the non-keyboard keyboard...but after about a month with the landscape keyboard, i actually type faster and am more accurate with it...I am as surprised as the next guy that this is the case....

Gmail does need to go push SOON!!!!

I agree, an option to have all mail in one place would be more conducive to everyday use.....but whatever...iPhone rules....even with the craptastic ATT service....
 
* Docking my BB and the clock (which was also an alarm clock!) would automatically appear. (No app for this - trust me, I have looked)
Have you looked at the kensington app? its quite new

* GMail push - seriously Apple, what's the deal?
yeah, apple need to hurry and implement IMAP IDLE
 
I am coming from the BlackBerry Bold.


The Positives

I have MMS, so no complaints there.

Surfing the internet is much, much easier. No using that silly little trackball to browse a page.

The camera is much better.

I can type just as fast as I could on my Bold.

Now that it's jailbroken, I love how customizeable it is.

The apps!

What I Miss

My LED light. I miss it lots. I miss just glancing at my phone and knowing if I have a message. However, now that I've jailbroken my phone, the status bar is enough when I need to just glance quickly to see if I've missed anything.

I miss docking and seeing the clock as well. But the alarm clock on my iPhone works just fine for me.

Ringer profiles and how easy it was to switch between them.

Getting my email right away instead of every fifteen minutes, but that's slowly becoming not a problem to me anymore. My email's not that important :D
 
TJAB,

I couldn't agree with you more. I switched last month from a longtime BB/VZW customer to the 3GS/AT&T. I love my 3GS, but there is certainly room for improvement & Apple will probably slowly get to some of the great BB features. Look how long it took to address the copy & paste function.
 
TJAB23 said:
MISS:
* GMail push - seriously Apple, what's the deal? :mad:

* BB had the ability to merge all mail to one screen. iPhone makes you toggle between accounts - pain in the neck.

* Typing is ridiculously better on BB - this is not up for debate. Oh but we have landscape mode! Whatever - it's still inferior to BB
Click to expand...

Push is not apple's fault. The iphone can do push email (see: mobile me). Google is not allowing it (yet).

Agree about the unified inbox. There's no reason not to have the option.

Typing IS up for debate, and as the owner of both, I think you're wrong. Give it some time. Touching a key is much easier than pressing one. I do make more mistakes on the iphone, but unlike BB, it has a very good auto-correct, so I almost never have to go back.
 
Coraline said:
I am coming from the BlackBerry Bold.



What I Miss

My LED light. I miss it lots. I miss just glancing at my phone and knowing if I have a message. However, now that I've jailbroken my phone, the status bar is enough when I need to just glance quickly to see if I've missed anything.

I miss docking and seeing the clock as well. But the alarm clock on my iPhone works just fine for me.

Ringer profiles and how easy it was to switch between them.

Getting my email right away instead of every fifteen minutes, but that's slowly becoming not a problem to me anymore. My email's not that important :D
Click to expand...

I have to 100% agree. The #1 shortcoming of the iPhone to me as a power business user is the mediocre notifications or lack thereof. With the BB, I could customize the color of LED for different alerts as well as the sound. With the iPhone I am forced to constantly check it to make sure I didnt miss anything which of course only makes the already bad battery life worse. Push alerts is a great idea but if I miss an alert and another one comes in, I have no way of knowing. I sure wish there was a way for the iPhone to list all the push alerts as they come in.

Overall I like the iphone but I feel that it is not yet ready for the power business user. Its battery life is too short, notifications need major improvement, and it takes too many clicks to get things done. For now I am keeping my BB for business use and using the iPhone for personal use. If ATT ever gets the Android, I am going to have to try that one out.
 
tboooe said:
The #1 shortcoming of the iPhone to me as a power business user is the mediocre notifications or lack thereof. With the BB, I could customize the color of LED for different alerts as well as the sound. With the iPhone I am forced to constantly check it to make sure I didnt miss anything which of course only makes the already bad battery life worse.
Click to expand...

I'm not a previous BB user, but I must point out that EVEN IF you check the lock screen all the time, it can still leave you hanging.

I've had cases where I'll check the lockscreen all the time, thinking to myself "how the hell has this person not texted me back yet", only to realize there's a txt waiting for me deep in the application from an hour ago.

SO (oh so very) annoying. :mad:
 
vinay427 said:
Nope, I think it's Apple's. Considering Gmail already push on their networks (eg. BB).
Click to expand...

I don't know.. I view it as Google's competition with Apple (e.g. G1, etc. vs. iPhone) as why there is no PUSH GMail on the iPhone... but that is my speculation as I don't have any references to support my claim. Do you?
 
to the OP: If you're willing to jailbreak your phone, you can install WeatherIcon which will animate the weather icon to actual conditions and temperate as opposed to the California ideal of 73 and sunny ;-)

screenie here: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/iE49MVtgz4-myjzs7yIpCw?feat=directlink

Also to ALL: check out www.nuevasync.com Their premium service ($25 a year) offers push gmail, google cal and google contacts to the iPhone. It works by creating an exchange account on your phone to nuevasync's servers, which on the backend are connected to the google's imap servers. The mail is pushed from google's servers to nuevasync using IMAP idle and then pushed from nuevasync to your phone by the activesync protocol.

While Google's sync service only offers calendar and contacts, NuevaSync does all three for what I consider to be a reasonable price. I've been using it for over a week, and have to say it works quite well. I encourage everyone to check it out.
 
Want proof that lack of g-mail push isn't Apple's fault?

Yahoo and Mobile Me and Exchange all push e-mail to the iPhone.

Clearly this is Google's problem.

TJAB23 said:
* Typing is ridiculously better on BB - this is not up for debate.
Click to expand...

Yes, it is up for debate. Trying to push one physical key without pushing 2 at once is a pain in the neck. I never bought a smart phone before the iPhone for that reason alone. Using a physical keyboard is pure hell.
 
I've now been a convert from a BB Curve since 3GS launch day

I have adjusted to the differences pretty well and can now type quicker than I thought I would be able to on the iPhone. I vowed to never give up my tactile keyboard. But am now glad I gave it a chance. I do miss being able to add my own abbreviations and words to quick type/auto correct but not a big deal.

I thought I'd miss gmail push more - but right now I have a jury-rigged solution using me.com where I get my email pushed and I can respond as if it's coming from my corporate hosted gmail account. But honestly - I am thinking I might cancel and be very OK with just getting email every 15 min.

I do miss multiple email inboxes (and sms) all going into one folder. Made it easy and quick to see what was incoming. Having SMS as a different app has taken a bit of an adjustment but it's not horrible.

I miss profiles and being able to have my "full", "Office" and "sleep" profiles where ringers/notifications were set accordingly. But overall - still not a deal breaker

The thing I think I *STILL* miss the very most is no indicator light like others have mentioned. I don't need a blinking light to tell me it's "on the network" - but an indicator to let me know there's a new msg (voice, txt or email) would be nice. Still not a deal breaker and glad I made the switch.
 
if Apple implemented the IDLE command for IMAP, then we'd have push gmail.
That's how gmail is pushed to android phones, for example.

exchange and mobileme use different protocols (proprietary) that were built with push in mind.
 
co.ag.2005 said:
I don't know.. I view it as Google's competition with Apple (e.g. G1, etc. vs. iPhone) as why there is no PUSH GMail on the iPhone... but that is my speculation as I don't have any references to support my claim. Do you?
Click to expand...

I personally don't view it as competition because every web app they made for Android was also made for the iPhone. Before and after Android was made they were making stuff for the iPhone. Like Latitude yesterday.

EDIT:
jmmo20 said:
if Apple implemented the IDLE command for IMAP, then we'd have push gmail.
That's how gmail is pushed to android phones, for example.

exchange and mobileme use different protocols (proprietary) that were built with push in mind.
Click to expand...

Here's my proof. Thanks jmmo20!

Small White Car said:
Want proof that lack of g-mail push isn't Apple's fault?

Yahoo and Mobile Me and Exchange all push e-mail to the iPhone.

Clearly this is Google's problem.
Click to expand...

Conversely, Google pushes to BlackBerry and Android. Clearly this is Apple's problem. :p
 
for weather i use The Weather Channel app. it's free unlike the $30 blackberry price.

SMS and MMS check out Textfree and the MMS app from the same company. no need to pay AT&T

i carry a Curve 8330 as well and typing is about the same

for the BB mail merge feature it's nice, but a PITA at the same time if you get a lot of IT system alerts like I do. a lot of them are BS and i've had it where i missed something important because my BB had 1000 useless alerts from the night before
 
TJAB23 said:
* BB weather icon displayed the CURRENT temp and conditions, as opposed to iPhone's 73 and SUNNY display. Apple, we don't all live in California. (There might be an app for this - I admit I haven't looked that much)
Click to expand...
You don't need a separate app. Just create a Safari shortcut on your desktop to a weather website that provides the info you want.
Small White Car said:
Yes, it is up for debate. Trying to push one physical key without pushing 2 at once is a pain in the neck. I never bought a smart phone before the iPhone for that reason alone. Using a physical keyboard is pure hell.
Click to expand...
I'm so with you on this, though I think we're in the minority.
 
alent1234 said:
for the BB mail merge feature it's nice, but a PITA at the same time if you get a lot of IT system alerts like I do. a lot of them are BS and i've had it where i missed something important because my BB had 1000 useless alerts from the night before
Click to expand...

Oh, I agree, I actually like having separate inboxes... but why not offer the option?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back