Facebook and Whatsapp Discontinue Support For Blackberry (canadajournal.net)

Meshach writes with a link to news that as of yesterday, Facebook and WhatsApp have both discontinued support for Blackberry smartphones including BlackBerry 10 and BBOS platforms. Apparently Blackberry fought to have the support continue but in the end they were not successful. BlackBerry has had to replaced their official Facebook App with a native app that uses a simple web interface. If you're still using a Blackberry, it would be interesting to know why. (You like the interface? Business requirement? Just being contrarian?)

Comments

Not everyone uses Facebook or WhatApp

[Barsteward]

so a non-story for some of us

Re:Not everyone uses Facebook or WhatApp

[ganjadude]

not everyone uses a blackberry either... so its probably a non story for 99% of us

still interesting

Re:Not everyone uses Facebook or WhatApp

[Gojira Shipi-Taro]

And therefore not worth you reading OR commenting on, yes?

I think the point of "interest" here is that Blackberry is losing another significant point of support from an application that a great number of people DO use, whether or not you or I do.

I think continuing to belabor the fact that Blackberry is effectively a dead platform, and that widespread abandonment by app developers is only going to accelerate, may be a bit redundant at this point.

I suppose if I really thought a story shouldn't run, I'd deal with that while it was still pending, as much as meta-moderating the firehose (or whatever that process is called) has any effect.

Simply chiming in with "I'm too cool for this story" is just noise though.

Re:Not everyone uses Facebook or WhatApp

[houstonbofh]

Some of us don't use "apps" when a web page works just fine. And once you read the TOS, you will too! God, they are privacy sucking nightmares!

Re:Not everyone uses Facebook or WhatApp

[KiloByte]

There are valid reasons to use Blackberry. There are no valid reasons to use Facebook.

Re:Not everyone uses Facebook or WhatApp

[Barsteward]

Thats a shame but hopefully they will keep them up to date with security updates unlike samsung etc. i'll stick with my BB Passport because of the quality build, keyboard, days of battery life rather than hours, bigger screen, and none of the problems that andriod/ios get with adverts, security etc

Re:Not everyone uses Facebook or WhatApp

[MightyMartian]

BB has been "making" money by selling assets, not in actual revenues.

Not surprising

[johanw]

Blackberry is dropping support for BBOS itself. The current BBOS 10 seems to be in maintenance mode and their new device will run Android. And the remarks of their CEO that companies should add a backdoor for "lawfull interception" scared away all customers who valued privacy and destroyed the "it is secure" argument when considering Blackberry.

Re:Not surprising

[trentfoley]

The CEO's recent statements only reiterated something that everyone already knew, which was if an American company will happily fold to the Indian government you can be damn certain they are already well and truly in bed with their own. .

BlackBerry Limited (formerly RIM) is a Canadian company. Apparently, they will fold to nearly any government. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

BlackBerry user

[Anonymous Coward]

The BlackBerry interface makes more sense to me, the OS allows for true multi-tasking, The Hub aggregates all communication streams (email, SMS, MSS, social app notification, etc.) into one place, and yes...the physical keyboard.

Oh noes!!!!!

[JustAnotherOldGuy]

"Blackberry has had to replaced their official Facebook App with a native app that uses a simple web interface."

Oh no, those poor peasants, forced to use a filthy web interface! Oh the shame, oh the degradation, how will they ever be able to hold their heads up in public again??

Also, pay attention to your editing, lads. Allowing writing like "has had to replaced" is simply shameful. Tut-tut.

Re:Oh noes!!!!!

[c]

"Blackberry has had to replaced their official Facebook App with a native app that uses a simple web interface."

Oh no, those poor peasants, forced to use a filthy web interface! Oh the shame, oh the degradation, how will they ever be able to hold their heads up in public again??

I'm not seeing the problem, here, either. Facebook on a mobile browser is, IMHO, a *better* experience than the Facebook App. No battery drain while you're not using it, no notification nonsense, no having Facebook code creeping through your private data.

Rest in peace

[izat]

The Blackberry Bold remains the pinnacle of smartphone design. Too bad people today care more about a big shiny screen and shitty apps than usability.

Re:Rest in peace

[gweihir]

Indeed. Consumer stupidity has killed numerous superior technologies.

Dear eds

[Anonymous Coward]

No chance you could have linked to the original blog post, from which TFA scrapes its quotes?

blogs.blackberry.com/2016/03/great-apps-on-blackberry-a-strong-commitment-to-the-blackberry-developer-community/

canadajournal.net looks rather sketchy and full of clickbait

I use a Z10. It does what I need extremely well.

[gweihir]

Reasons? I need email, calender, hot-spot, occasional maps and excellent telephony. That is it. All there. Add an extremely snappy UI (as it is QNX), removable battery, good keyboard and overall excellent hardware. And I recently got a spare new one for around $100 off Ebay. As long as BB supplies security-patches, I am not moving.

Facebook? Whatsapp? If I want time-sinks, I play real games on a real computer.

Yes, BB Z10 user still

[suy]

I got a BB Z10 for free for being a Qt developer and attend a developer event. It was my first BlackBerry, and I am so sorry that I will have to let it go, since I am so not buying a BB device if it's just running Android (If I'll end up buying an Android device, I'll have plenty of choices). Yes, the BB OS 10 interface is a lot better for me than Android. I loved the Nokia N9, and this one was even a tiny step forward, and I'm too used to it after 5 years of happiness. I also used a Jolla for some time, and is the kind of UI where I feel at home.

The way you jump back and forth between applications on Android is really really bad for my taste. I have an Android tablet, and it annoys the hell of me that it shows lots of poor screenshots of applications that I have not opened (e.g. when I just restarted after an upgrade it shows tons of them no really running). Harmattan (Nokia N9), Sailfish OS (Jolla) or BlackBerry OS 10 give a much more useful indication of what the application is/was doing, or additional controls. Besides, you see several of them at a glance, not in a stack view that only shows a tiny slice of the second one and almost nothing of the next ones.

The top shade got one step back in the last major Android release. In an Android tablet, the user had access to different quick controls swiping on the left or the right of the screen: now I have to swipe twice to have quick access to the Bluetooth control, so moving my headset from the phone to the tablet (or vice versa) is a lot faster and convenient in BB OS 10 with respect to Android (they used to be tied in the previous version).

I'm used to not being the typical user (I'm a bit more power user, fine), but seriously, changing from one application to the other (browser to podcast to instant messaging for example) or having quick access to Bluetooth settings is something I would expect done right in 100% of the mobile OSs for this time and age.

BlackBerry User here

[williamyf]

I use a BlackBerry Q10. I NEED the physical Keyboard. I tried for a year with a glass keboard on a Nokia N9 with Meego. I tried everything. Portrait keyboard, Landscape keyboard. Swipe Keyboard (before it was available on Android), custom Layout keyboard, bigger keys keboard, you name it (the good thing about Meego is that it was infinitely customizable). No dice. In the end, after one year of honestly trying to type on glass, it was evident that in my case the physical keyboard wins.

My first Q10 had keyboard problems (multipress) and had to be replaced.

I would be happier with an iPhone with a physical keyboard (and no, cases do not work) as I am a Mac user, but that is just wishfull thinking.

For the OS, BB10 is serviceable, but even RIM/Blackberry do not believe iin it, for if they did, you could buy the Priv in Android option and BB10 option...

But, as for Facebook and WhatsApp discontinuing support, I do not care. Since BB10 can run Android APK binaries, I am 95% sure that an AOSP version of the apps will appear in the BlackBerry World or Amazon App Store, and, failing that, I can sideload the APKs anyhow, so, no big dealio...

My two cents, YMMV

Re:Misleading

[ClaymoreZA]

I have a Priv myself, and while I like it a lot, it does show just how mature and well-integrated BB10 is. Android has a way to go.

Blackberry and QNX

[Archfeld]

Whether or not blackberry devices survive is very much in the balance, but Blackberry the company is making a bundle on their QNX OS, which is quietly powering a huge number of devices in very diverse markets.

http://www.qnx.com/products/ne...
http://www.qnx.com/partners/pa...
http://www.zdnet.com/article/b...

Why I use my BlackBerry still

[nerdyalien]

First and foremost, this is old news!
https://tech.slashdot.org/stor...

Former developer and operations (DevOps) guy here, worked for many financial and media outlets; now working as a consultant for remote clients in Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore. By nature of my work, I handle thousands of e-mails, hundreds of voice calls, text messages, WhatsApp, Skype etc on the go.

As for why I still use a BlackBerry:
1. Solid communication device - There is nothing like a BB when it comes to holy trinity (E-mail, voice, text). BlackBerry Hub is an unique app that aggregates all communication details into one place, haven't seen anything like it in other devices.
2. Keyboard - Do I need say more ?
3. Sturdy design - I drop it everyday, still it is working without a hitch
4. Long battery life - Easily a day, if I push, about day-and-half on a single charge
5. Stable OS - It has QNX with proper multi tasking
6. Basic useful/stable apps

I always get slagged off by colleagues, friends and pretty much everybody else for carrying a BB. Fact of the matter is, I am an old geezer with sausage fingers, suffering from early stages of rheumatoid arthritis. As a result, I can't type on touch screens like others. I am not big into social media stuff or any young & hip trends that require all these fancy apps. I am comfortable with the basic & stable apps comes with the OS.

There is nothing like writing a typo free e-mail/text (especially to a client), and ensure intended message is communicated correctly. In that respect, BB is a godsend !

If Facebook would not have bought Whatsapp

[allo]

Blackberry Users would now still have one of the two apps.

Re:I use a Z10. It does what I need extremely well

[thegarbz]

Facebook? Whatsapp? If I want time-sinks, I play real games on a real computer.

This is why I carry a desktop PC with me everywhere. The ability to whip it out in the subway and have a quick Call of Duty fragfest just makes my trip so much more pleasant.

I use Telegram

[blind biker]

Telegram is an open-source version of Whatsapp - it imitates it very well, and it works like a charm. Telegram for Blackberry is still maintained. And of course, being open-source, in theory one can do the maintenance him/herself if they find a bug they want squashed.

Open communication protocols

[mars-nl]

Too bad all the comments above are about whether the BB is any good or not. They are not about the real issue: that it is shouldn't be news that some sort of communication stops working because of unsupported platform. If we all would be using open protocols for communication (like email, sms, irc, xmpp) instead of some proprietary centralized sillicon valley super .com's version of it, this wouldn't have been news. We would switch to another client or make one and not rely on whatever the .com's shareholders think is profitable. Facebook does not do what is best for internet users or does not do what is the best technical solution. They do whatever gives them the most amount of control for the least amount of money.