Blackberry Playbook

[anbrow]

I am really thinking of getting a Playbook, one of the main reasons to get a tablet for me amongst others is to be able to have the scriptures on them for Church. I am not a developer, but I have beta tested many things. Would love to help out!

[tobyhuff]

I'm another "stuck" on the Blackberry for now--both phone and Playbook. There appears to be no one working on the Blackberry software, or even planning to do so. For example, neither of the 2 previous Blackberry developers for LDS Tools touched the platform past May of 2011; both now work "elsewhere." I'm a Bishop, and really need the mapping feature to use in visits. IStake for Blackberry of course was pulled by Church request in September; however the LDS Tools Blackberry Beta version mapping doesn't work, and appears it will not be fixed. Virtually no one in the actual Technology realm responds to Blackberry inquiries...feels like we're relegated to "outer darkness.":-( As for our Playbooks? Expensive toys that won't do your scriptures or much else...although you can log into LDS.ORG through your browser. RIM doesn't plan to issue Ver 2.0 for Playbook until Febuary 2012. There's a hope at that time a WORKING App allowing Android software will enable the Playbook to become a useful tool. Meanwhile, we Blackberry users sit and "covet" the High Councilor, Stake Presidency and anyone else using Android or IPADs from the pulpit for scriptures, talks and the like. How does one "repent" of the "committed to Blackberry" sin?

[russellhltn]

There appears to be no one working on the Blackberry software, or even planning to do so. For example, neither of the 2 previous Blackberry developers for LDS Tools touched the platform past May of 2011; both now work "elsewhere."

Such is the downside of community development. The project only goes forward to the extent that they're interested in working on it. I don't think I have to tell you what the industry thinks about the future of the playbook.

How does one "repent" of the "committed to Blackberry" sin?

That one is easy. Go to your neighborhood purveyor of electronics and open your wallet. On the low-cost front, I can tell you that the Nook Color (like many Android devices) doesn't work on the new calendar, but the Kindle Fire (which looks almost identical to the Playbook) does. I haven't had a chance to play with the Nook Tablet.

[anbrow]

I don't think I have to tell you what the industry thinks about the future of the playbook.

I find this comment to be quite rude and uncalled for. Even so, the playbook is just as valid a platform to develop for as any Apple or Android platform. I resent being relegated to the back burner simply because I choose to use a specific platform of phone or tablet. I completely agree with brother tobyhuff, how can we get more developers interested in this? I know the Church is a volunteer church, but it is also run by "callings". Is there no way to call someone to do this? I would do it willingly if I had the skill and know-how, but I was not given programming as one of my talents.

[russellhltn]

I find this comment to be quite rude and uncalled for.

Sorry you feel that way. That wasn't in the spirit it was intended.

I've been seeing that RIM is working on giving the Playbook the ability to run Android apps. It's probably better to wait and see how that goes.

[jdlessley]

I don't think I have to tell you what the industry thinks about the future of the playbook.

I find this comment to be quite rude and uncalled for.

I find it interesting that a statement summarizing marketing analysts' outlook of a product could be offensive. It raised my curiosity enough to do an Internet search. And lo and behold there is a sentiment that the Blackberry Playbook may have a bleak future.

Even so, the playbook is just as valid a platform to develop for as any Apple or Android platform. I resent being relegated to the back burner simply because I choose to use a specific platform of phone or tablet.

Not having a team of volunteer community developers working on this application is not a judgement of the validity or viability of the product. It does reflect the limited number of community programmers that have skills, knowledge, interest, and time to work the project.

By definition community developers are volunteers and do not work for the Church. As such they exercise their agency to pick and choose, based on their skill sets and interests, the development efforts on which they wish to volunteer their personal time.

I completely agree with brother tobyhuff, how can we get more developers interested in this?

This is a good question. But until someone finds a good answer we can only rely on those with the skills, interest, and time to volunteer if and when they choose.

[anbrow]

Sorry you feel that way. That wasn't in the spirit it was intended.

I've been seeing that RIM is working on giving the Playbook the ability to run Android apps. It's probably better to wait and see how that goes.

No worries. Sorry, I just got frustrated. In any case, you mentioned that the Android apps may be playable on the Playbook. Well, I've gone out and upgraded to the Beta OS 2 on the PB just to check this out. In fact they do work, pretty well in fact. I found a thread on the Crackberry.com website where there were several people working on porting the Android apps over to the PB, and wouldn't you know it, someone has already ported over the LDS Gospel Library, the LDS Tools, and The Mormon Channel app, all of which I have tested on my own Playbook with great results! HERE is the link to the document that shows where to get each of the ported apps. To get them onto the PB you will NEED to have the BETA OS 2 installed, and get yourself set up in Development mode, then download and use a program called DDPB, found HERE - to get the apps "sideloaded". HERE is some further information on this process, highly recommended reading if you are going to attempt this. I understand that this is more than most people are going to want to do at this point. You really need to be very much technically inclined, and very patient with the process, and above all, have the time to read through it, understand it, and then do it. Understand this is all nothing more than a WORKAROUND. It brings up an Android player application which then runs the application inside this app. It's not natively running on the PB. That is where I have the real issue with this. I want it to run natively and not have to "Sideload" an app that belongs on a different platform to get it to work. But I guess until people understand that the PB is really a very great platform, and stop believing so called marketing experts (who I am sure are all biased anyway) we will just have to continue to deal with picking up the crumbs off the floor from others.

[Rathwell]

hey if anyone can develop the app Im all for helping out. I use them on my iphone and they are great, so Im sure it would be even better on a tablet. How do we get this going?

[jrattray]

The church has the scriptures on the HP Touchpad a tablet that lasted a whole a 60 seconds. It's a device that is no longer being made nor are there plans for it to be supported and there are scripture apps.

Yet, the Playbook that has been around since April 19th and continuing to grow in popularity...I know many people that purchased it during those big sales.

RIM is not going anywhere........the Pres of the United States uses one!....the police, analysts, etc....

"More than 20 million Canadians used a mobile device in September - and eight million of them own a smartphone, representing 40% of the mobile market, says a report released Wednesday. Research In Motion Ltd. remains the most popular smartphone platform, with 35.8% of the market, says comScore Inc.'s online survey. Apple Inc. is second at 30.1%, followed by Google Inc.'s Android, which has doubled its market share to 25% in the past six months. Device manufacturer Samsung Electronics Co. ranked as the top original equipment manufacturer, with 25.2% of mobile subscribers in Canada, followed by LG Electronics Inc. with 20.0% and RIM with 14.3%. Apple ranked fourth with 12% of subscribers, Nokia Oyj fifth with 10.1%."

[Mikerowaved]

Since these apps are developed mostly by volunteers, I guess the real question to be asked is, how many Playbook (or substitute your favorite platform) users are there that have the time, experience, and know-how to work on one of the LDS development teams? As "unfair" as it may appear, recruiting volunteer help is not easy, so if the numbers are low, it's hard to move the work along for any particular platform.