So, I’ve been running with my BlackBerry Storm for 6 weeks are so. I’ve installed the latest leaked BB OS and, For me, the Storm is performing pretty good. The problem that I am running into is that a lot of the really cool BlackBerry applications that I used to run on my BlackBerry Pearl don’t run on the BlackBerry Storm.
I knew that this would be an issue going in as the layout and user interface on the Storm is so different from other BlackBerry devices. One can only assume that the Application Center didn’t launch at the same time as the BlackBerry Storm because of the lack of applications for it. I’ve noticed, however, that a few BlackBerry applications have been released and / or updated since the launch of the BlackBerry Storm and they are not compatible with it.
Now, I know that these applications were probably in development long before the release of the BlackBerry Storm, but, the fact that brand new BlackBerry applications don’t work on my brand new BlackBerry Storm got me to thinking about what all it takes to make a BlackBerry application run smoothly on the BlackBerry Storm?
This is a great question and actually one of the reasons that I’ve held off ong gettting the BlackBerry Storm. I have a BlackBerry 8830 and, although it is getting to be a bit long in the tooth with no recent OS updates, all of the applications that I use work splendidly on it and either are sluggish or don’t work at all on the BlackBerry Storm.
I had to migrate from an iPhone to a Blackberry for work. I chose a Storm because of the high expectations for it. The lack of applications for the Storm is a major letdown. As Kyle points out, even the applications that are supposedly created for the Storm only work with a lot of pain and effort. Thumbs down.
I write applications for the BlackBerry and can tell you that coding for the enhancments in the Storm are time consuming enough that many developers won’t until there are enough storm users to make it worth the while.
Does anyone know how well the BlackBerry Storm is doing?
It seems like all I keep hearing is bad stuff about it but ever since I updated it, it works great for me.
The lack of software is kind of a drag though.
When a new phone comes out, I take a look at the platform. For the BlackBerry Storm, it’s nothing like any previous RIM device. I’d wait until the “new” sticker wears off before diving into a purchase because I couldn’t live without some of the applications on my BlackBerry Curve, and they don’t run on the Storm just yet.
If I wanted to be really limited by my device, I’d go by a pre-paid Tracfone. All in good time, the Storm will come full swing and everyone will be touching. Touching is good. 🙂
@Richard Ward
My freind has a prepaid trac-phone. It has a calculator and Snake 2 on it. It is the pinnacle of human achievement, as far as he is concerned.
I do have a question though… Does the lack of a solid OS (ie. Expected future updates) make developers hesitant to write Apps for the Storm?
Its a double edged sword. When more people wait for support from their favorite apps before they buy the storm there is less direct demand for these apps to be updated. The reason the iphone received such a large amount of support is because there was no previous device to compare to, so people purchased the phone and then demanded support. Developers were all to willing to appeal to a starved audience. The more people who “wait and see” there are, the less the motivation to develop quality storm apps. Or perhaps RIM has asked developers to hold on to their updates pending the launch of the app store.
Speaking personally, storm support is a pain. It took alot of man hours that I would have rather have spent else where in the application i work on, on Newer features or Deeper bug fixes. The need to support the new interactions, and their sometimes illogical actions lead it to be frustrating.
The other major issue, is supporting any device from the the first pearl to the Bold could be done, mostly, in development environment, with minimal differences. The Storm must be build for 4.7 meaning you need preprocessor support of some sort at the least for for it.
I’ve been using freerangeinc for
Rs feeds and am testing bloomberg.
They both seem to have taken the
Easiest route to get it to work.
They only really display well in
Portrait and not full screen. Dragging pages also
Is reverse from other native apps.
Sounds so far like the Storm would have been better called imperfect Storm. It’s not good to hear RIM dropped the ball like they have done with their flagship Bold and Storm so far. Yeah it’s not good for RIM, it’s BB users nor is any good for developers as the current BB OS is far from being what it should be.
I agree storm is a total let down price is high expectations are low don’t buy it