Over a month with my @BBMobile #KEYone. My thoughts on #Blackdroid.
The KEYone is my first ever Android phone. I am closing in on 2 months since i got it and i figured it was time to give my impressions on Android. Going in i had some high expectations. Android, is some 8-9 years old (if not more) and one would assume “mature”. Thus far, i have been disappointed. Look, some (if not all) of what i will write will come across as petty but at the end of the day this OS has been embraced by a huge portion of the world and hoopla’d all over the place as a godsend and well i don’t see it (so far).
In less than 2 months i have had to reboot the phone 5 times already for various reasons. i know what you’re thinking. Jesus, take a pill dude. A whole 5 times! Well you know what? I don’t remember having to do that with my first BB10 phone. That often, that soon after getting it.
Some of the reasons i have had to reboot so far:
I tried to download an update for an app while on LTE and after waiting 30 MINUTES (yes, i timed it) staring at a spinning donut, i aborted the “downloading…”, rebooted and then boom download/install went through quickly. Never happened with BB10.
i tap an app icon and instead of launching the actual app, i am presented with the last app i minimized to the recents list. Never happened with BB10.
i tried to move apps from one page to another and it wouldn’t allow it. Never happened with BB10
My wife also has a KEYone and typically works off Wifi while keeping data off (don’t ask). The other day during her daily walk she noticed she was receiving emails and was able to surf the net so she called me on it wondering how that was possible. When i got home i checked her phone and data was off yet she received the email i sent her. i proceeded to turn off Wifi as well and again still able to receive and send email. I also surfed the net. To solve the issue i turned on data then turned it off. Never happened with BB10.
I always put my phone on silent mode while at work and sometimes (and actually often) it somehow sets itself to vibrate seemingly on its own. i know. It sounds crazy. And no, i am not inadvertently touching any buttons. i mean it is sitting on my desk i wake it up and it’s in vibrate mode. Still haven’t figured this one out.
There are inconsistencies when i watch a YouTube video and i minimize the app to the recents. There are times when i return to it and the video picks up where it left off and times when it starts over. why? Haven’t found anything on the internet that has shed some light.
Speaking of recents.. i usually never have more than 4-5 apps open at any given time.. sometimes i will go to my recents and some apps are gone. I’m not sure why. how could it not handle 4 apps being open? Maybe this is a KEYone thing, i don’t know.
The one area i thought for sure would be better on Android, isn’t. Notifications. They are just as inconsistent as they are on BB10. I think i almost never get FB notifications which is a problem since i manage a page for a youth soccer league and i need to respond to messages in a timely fashion. I was creeped out when i started to get notifications on how long the drive was from my home to my workplace since i never set up any workplace info on my phone. And what’s up with these intrusive survey style notifications?
I continue to use religiously the 3 apps that i have always used; twitter, instagram and facebook. The facebook app doesn’t impress me at all and the last update screwed it up even more. As well, i have also already had to deal with spam while in FB. These damn pop ups show up getting me already nervous that i have been compromised.
i have had to force close instagram a couple times as it froze on me completely. Twitter is the only one that has behaved so far. Outside of these i have also installed a file manager (sorely missed), QR code reader, Bell Fibe TV and Waze (because i have a few friends that rave about it). So there are days when i ask myself why i switched over to Android. With BB10 i have a instagram, twitter and facebook (albeit browser). BB10 has a fantastic file manager, QR reader already built in & Bell Fibe (android port). Although i will admit Waze is pretty good, i certainly could live with the BB10 navigation. I mean in the end, there hasn’t been anything great about the switch outside of the fact i get insta stories for instagram which apparently is coming to BB10’s Inst10 but knowing Nemory it will be a half assed job. I say this because when he first announced that he was working on insta stories for Inst10 i asked if we would be able to create our own stories or just view others and he said to start only view others. Translation. Creating our own stories will never happen! Years later and still you cannot upload a video w/Inst10. So ya, trust me, i am right about this.
I do miss BB10. My Passport SE is no longer my daily driver but i go to it from time to time just to get my BB10 fix. I miss it. i sorely miss the “peak” feature of BB10. Such a small feature but so great. Believe it or not, almost two months later and i still find myself trying to do gestures a la BB10. Yes, of course i realize, that going back to my Passport SE from time to time isn’t helping matters! Must. Let. Go.
On the BlackBerry software side of things…
BBM is well more advanced than the BB10 version but it looks too iPhoneish. UGHHHH!!!! This business with the “N” replacing the “*” for new messages is annoying. Bring back the spark!! 
i can also do without the ads… but c’est la vie.
The Android version of Hub can’t touch BB10’s version. Again, as i mentioned in a previous post it’s like having moved from a mansion to a one room apartment. i guess we can thank the gods that we have the dark theme!!! Right? 😛
I don’t really have any other gripes with the rest of the BB apps.
I am sure that Android has something to offer and down the road, and as i continue to work with it, i will see it. For now i don’t. U’d think that a seasoned OS like Android would be leaps and bounds superior than the rookie, BB10. It isn’t. Maybe Oreo will change things.
My Random Thoughts 