I'm trying to figure out what phone to use to test my black berry app on where I'm using jde version 6.0
I tried to google emulators, I thought the emulate=or would tell you what jde version its using, but I got the link
https://swdownloads.blackberry.com/Downloads/entry.do?code=060AD92489947D410D897474079C1477
which had a drop down for emulters pertaing to a os version, not a device.
I also googled blackberry phone jde 6.0, this did not work.
Is there a web page that has what os version each phone has?
or I was going to get the storm, does it use 6.0 or higher?
also would any blackberry phone with a camero have 6.0 or higher?
The thing is that unless the model is quite old, the devices within the model can range through multiple OS versions.
For example, the BlackBerry Bold can be found with an OS as old as 4.3 installed on it, but you can also find recent models that come out of the factory with OS 6 installed.
At Antair, our current device of choice to test on is the BlackBerry Torch. It is one of the more popular models used by consumers these days. It also has a touch-screen and a physical keyboard, and allows the user to flip from portrait to landscape mode. Torch models come out of the factory with RIM OS 6 installed.
So, if you're going to buy a physical device to test on, due to the range of features, the availability of RIM OS 6, and the popularity of the device, I would recommend the BlackBerry Torch.
You might have a look at this page which gives you access to the simulators in a slightly different direction, letting you choose the device model first.
Related
We have a fairly simple mobile application, completed for iPhone and Android that does the following:
queries a web service to verify the user's account information
display an animation to show that the user, in fact, has a valid account
We got the application working very quickly on a PlayBook by using the Android version.
Now the customer has asked us to explore getting it to work on other BlackBerry devices.
None of us know that much about BlackBerry, and the main source for our question returned from google searches (http://us.blackberry.com/developers/choosingtargetos.jsp) comes up as 404 page.
According to this chart there is still a wide variety of devices in use. Which ones does it make sense to target?
Thanks
I had posted an answer last year about this here on stackoverflow, but as you noted, that link has recently broken.
The only thing I've found that's similar is this BlackBerry developer page. It shows, for example, that paid apps are being purchased by devices that are about 97% on OS 5.0 and above.
From what you've told me, I don't know that your app is going to be that different on different devices, aside from maybe the obvious smartphone vs. Playbook difference. Different devices certainly have different screen sizes, so you'll need to make sure your UI is coded to handle that gracefully.
If you guys are new to BlackBerry, you might want to stay away from OS < 5.0. There are some things in prior OS versions (e.g. location services / maps, browser, and networking) that are a little tough to work with, and with such a small percentage of paying customers still on OS < 5.0, it probably isn't worth it to you.
So, I guess I'm recommending that you target specific OS levels (e.g. 5.0+). That will be a bigger driver for how you build your app, than a specific set of devices. This is because each OS version adds more and better APIs to use.
Once you've decided which OS to target, then you should download the SDK for each major OS. For example, if you use the Eclipse BlackBerry plug-in, you can install the 5.0 SDK (aka component pack), the 6.0 SDK, the 7.0 and 7.1 SDK.
Once you have those SDKs installed, you'll then have a bunch of simulators (each SDK has a simulator folder). Run your app on all those simulators, and that'll probably be a good start.
Of course, there's no substitute for running on real hardware, too, but if your app does mostly standard things (not interacting with hardware sensors, just displaying web pages, and making HTTP requests), the simulators should give you a pretty good test environment. They certainly will give you all the screen size configurations.
As a mobile app developer on all platforms, I am interested to know if it is worth it to write BlackBerry apps for the older OS now that BBX is coming out. I heard the new OS will have an Android player that will supposedly run Android apps on it. It seems that any apps written for the older OS won't be compatible with the BBX OS. Also, is using WebWorks a viable option? What do you guys think?
The road map ahead for developing for BBX announced at DevCon is:
HTML5, WebWorks, Adobe products (Air)
Native C/C++
Android Applications repackaged to run on the Android Player
BlackBerry OS is deprecated after OS 7. That said however, there are currently 70 million (according to RIM) BlackBerry smartphones in use, none of which will likely ever support BBX. RIM will continue to support those devices and the development environments for them. If you only want to work in one environment, and want to support the greatest number of devices, both BlackBerry OS and BBX, then WebWorks is the way to go. If you only want to support the PlayBook and BBX devices then you can use any of the approaches listed above. If you can't do what you want in WebWorks, or want to support devices prior to the introduction of WebWorks support then you will have to use the BlackBerry Java Environment.
At some point in every product line you will come to the end of useful life of a product and, as a developer, have to face moving on into the future. It is going to be worth while developing for BlackBerry OS as long as doing so helps you achieve your goals, what ever they are. So you have to look at your target market and decide if it includes those users who will be carrying BB OS devices, for probably at least the next 3 years, or not.
That's correct, legacy BlackBerry code will be useless:
DevCon update: BB-Java is dead, no java support for QNX.
By the way, the Android player will have several limitations too. Your best bet is C++ for BBX. Luckily, BlackBerry market share is declining and there's not a single BBX device out there yet.
Update: New BlackBerry 10 (as BBX is called now) phones have just been released. Here are the final dev options:
Native C++ API (optional libraries are available)
Android API, partial support
Adobe AIR API, partial support
HTML5 API, partial support
Hi i need to buy a blackberry to test my applications. I want to buy a device which supports more OS versions (I will be happy if it supports all versions). Which Blackberry device will supports OS 4, 5 and 6 ?? can any one help ??
BlackBerry devices only ever tend to support two major OS releases so you're out of luck trying to run all three on any one handset.
If you can only buy one handset then I suggest you buy one the later ones. This is because a phone running OS7 can also run applications written for OS6,5,4.5 etc
There are still quirks you will run into, but even the two phones running the same OS may function differently. E.g. if the internal storage is based on a microsd card or not.
RIM has done an excellent job of providing simulators for every type of phone so in the first instance you can download and try these.
If you run into a problem that's specific to one device and you cannot replicate it on the simulator then another option is to subscribe to services like DeviceAnywhere
In my opinion if you are designing a UI it's essential to be able to test touchscreen and trackball devices. Therefore I suggest the Torch or Bold 9900 as be good candidates for you as they can do both.
There is no BlackBerry device that supports all versions: OS 4.x and OS 5 and OS 6.
I am deciding between which library to use for development: jQuery Mobile or Sencha Touch. The application I am building will specifically target enterprise (Fortune 500) BlackBerries. The application will not require any hardware features, but the user experience/UI rendering should be as good as possible.
I am not familiar with BlackBerry OS adoption/upgrade statistics so I don't know what platform is my lowest common denominator. Are most enterprise users on BlackBerry 6+ or 5+ or 4+? I just don't know and I don't know where to find those statistics. What is your recommendation?
In my opinion the first step should be studying the audience of your future application.
What model do they use, do they use the most recent models, or they tend to keep working with old models.
The main point is that RIM stops releasing device software for old BlackBerry models.
For instance for BlackBerry 8800 the most recent available device OS version is 4.5
But your customer may have a lot of empolyees who use this device.
Devices with device OS version 4+, but before 5.0, do not work properly with complex html/javascript pages.
In version 5.0 there was implemented better support for complex html/javascript functionality in your applications.
Conclusion: If your potential customers are not using old devices, then start supporting device OS versions 5+, otherwise use SDK version 4.x according to the target devices.
As best practice, I would jump into learning and developing for the latest Operating System, which would be 6. I know all of our customers are working on Bolds a Torches, which means they'd be using 6.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BlackBerry#Operating_system
Additionally, I would look into creating Adobe AIR applications. They work for Application 6 and Playbooks as well.
http://us.blackberry.com/developers/started/bbdevapproach.jsp
You will likely found RIM's own "Choosing a target OS" page helpful. It has stats on current active devices as well as narrowing down to those devices that use the AppWorld.
I develop and test applications for BlackBerry 4.5, 4.6, 4.7 and 5.0, but have done testing only with the respective simulators. Now I am about to buy a new BlackBerry device to test my applications better in a real scenario.
Can anyone suggest which device suits my needs?
Hi
I'm not sure about this model but i do know that in other cellphones you need to change the software version every time. Because you mentioned that you want to build apps for different OS versions.
You should try to locate a device that is the easiest one to change OS version and be able to downgrade and upgrade without any errors.
thanks
The current BB devices on the market are generally 5.x and up. You have to define a minimum version you'll support. As long as your app doesn't do too much hackery JDE versions are upwardly compatible.
Simulators generally model real devices well except for the networking. You see some differences especially GSM vs. CDMA devices. Ex. if you ask for the device's phone number (in the NAMP) it may or may not start with a 1.
If you're on a budget or decide to buy multiple devices you might want to try Curve 8520 - it's one of the cheaper new models, comes with BlackBerry OS 4.6 upgradable to 5.0, but still has most of the functionality you might need, except for the GPS.
Additionally it has one of the lower resolutions RIM has to offer (320x240), so if your apps are UI intensive you can see if they work well with entry level models.
Hope it's of any help.