Productivity vs. BlackBerry?

[yoni45]

So, I'm currently a BlackBerry (9700, for the record) user, seriously considering switching to an android device.

I'm sure everyone here can account for the various ways an android phone is superior to a BlackBerry, and I'm pretty familiar with them.

What's been holding me back though, are the minor productivity tweaks a BlackBerry provides that seemingly don't have a match on android devices. Am I wrong on these? Have others made the jump and found no difference?

Specifically:

Dedicated hotkeys of sorts -- I'm a pretty heavy business user, so I make ridiculously extensive use of my calendar/scheduler. No matter what I'm doing at the moment, I'm able to jump to my calendar with a single button press and see my entire week's worth of appointments. If I need to add something, I can schedule an appointment in under 5 seconds all the way through.

To be honest, that's probably the only hotkey I use, but the ability to do this in an instant no matter what's in my way is rather important for me -- are there any equivalents on android phones? Through my research I've noticed a lack of hardware hotkeys -- is there any software solution that could at least compare?

Notifications -- as people probably know, blackberries have that little LED. Is there any way to get a visual notification on Android phones without having to actually touch the phone? What about customization of the notifications? For example, I'm able to set a different LED color on my blackberry depending on the notification type, as well as set a different vibration pattern (i.e., one long vibe for facebook, 5 short vibes for BBM, 1 medium vibe for SMS, etc.). Are there equivalents to these on Android platforms?

Keyboard -- obviously, most android phones don't have a keyboard and those that do are seemingly sub-par in comparison to a BB (they seem to use side-slider form factors, which means that fingers have to 'reach' to get towards center keys with less grip). I've seen Swype in action and had a chance to play with it in a store though, and I'm pretty impressed. I think this can make up for the keyboard I'd be losing -- any comments on how well swype works for day-to-day use? Is it as intuitive and fast as it's promoted to be?

Unified Inbox -- I'm not referring to e-mail, but everything. BlackBerry's "Messages" application essentially aggregates *all* messages; SMS, MMS, E-mail, FB, Twitter, BBM (not an issue here, but hey), and other specific applications that are given access to it. This allows me to just deal with one "inbox" instead of looking for the appropriate "message" type application. SIs there an equivalent on Android?

As an aside, I know Androids can have homescreen widgets, I'm assuming there's something available to keep a to-do list on there (this is actually lacking on BB, and something I'm looking forward to)?

Finally -- WHICH ONE!?!?!

I've read up on the major hitters so I have an idea, but if anyone knows what kind of use I'm coming from, I'd love some feedback (keep in mind -- I'm in Toronto on a rogers network; that doesn't mean I have to get it from Rogers, just that it has to be compatible).

If you've gotten this far, Thanks! ( if you bother responding, even better... =) )

 

[Prof-KOS]

Hey another guy in Toronto. That's great. To answer some of your questions:

For the calendar hotkey issue I would suggest an app called Jorte. It is a calendar app that has a host of widgets. I would put the calendar widget that you feel works best on the main home screen. Then a tap of the home key will show you your calendar and allow you to add an event easily and quickly.

As far as Swype goes, that's what i'm using now and this isn't a short post.

Most phones do have LED notifications, many have different color notifications as well. This can be set up in the app's settings, but must be included by the developer.

Canada lags behind the US in device selection pretty badly. I would look for a compatible device unlocked if you can. I'm using a Nexus One, but there are some others out there.

Sent from my Nexus One using Tapatalk

 

[ShaLea]

Coming from BBWorld myself, I will say that it takes a little getting used to. I've been a BB abuser for 3+years, but Android world has been pretty good to me. I haven't seen anything similar to QuickLaunch (Quickkeys). I do see a Quicklaunch option under Settings, but don't know exactly how that works & haven't found out via threads. Jorte is a good calendar App. I prefer it over the stock app.

I can't comment on which phone is better, but I'm in the US and have the Epic & it works great for me & is much better than my BB regarding response, web, & multitasking. Although it doesn't have the Push technology, there are alternatives to receive prompt emails.

Hope this helps in your decision making.

 

[markevans]

After 8 years on BB, I switched 6 weeks ago.

Hotkeys:
Agenda Widget (Click+ to add event). I can view and update 7 different Google calendars very easily. The utility of being able to see upcoming events at a glance is a huge plus. This is a better experience than BB.

Launcher Pro: You can set custom shortcuts to different applications like the calendar in the dock…might not need LP for it…can’t remember.

Keyboard:
I used BB's for 8 years and I still love their keyboards. For me, the transition to Swype was fairly easy. However, if you read here and other places, you will find that this is one area that it really varies by user.

Unified Inbox:
Miss it. There is a messaging app that has a ‘Universal Inbox’, but it doesn’t include Gmail, but it does include my other 7 other IMAP email accounts, FB, Text messaging.

Notifications:
This is handled very well on BB, and I REALLY miss this on Android. Profiles app does some of these things, but Android doesn’t seem to have a standard for alerts/notifications. On some of my apps, I can change sound, vibrate, and LED, but on most I can only change sound. Anyone else have a solution?

 

[takeshi]

Notifications:
This is handled very well on BB, and I REALLY miss this on Android. Profiles app does some of these things, but Android doesn?t seem to have a standard for alerts/notifications. On some of my apps, I can change sound, vibrate, and LED, but on most I can only change sound. Anyone else have a solution?

Not really. I haven't tried evverything out there but I haven't found anything so far the fully centralizes management of all notifications (sound, LED & vibration for all apps).