Initial Impressions of the Hub from an Android User

[benjamin19]

I posted the following over at Crackberry, but I thought users here might be of interest as well. I love almost everything about the Priv.

I don't ever do any type of reviews of anything, so I thought I would just write a few impressions of mine, and why from an Android user perspective I don't feel as if it is more productive for me. I want to preface this post by saying that I am sure that the Hub on BB10 blows this out of the water with the way it is integrated into the entire OS. I truly wanted to give all of the Blackberry software a fair shake, and I feel 5 days or so is enough for me to write my opinions.

I think the main reason why many BB10 converts want/need to use the Hub because it is what they are familiar with. The idea is great. Have all your social media messages/emails in one spot that you can access in one place. The issue I have is, as an Android user, that place is my notification shade. I found that I have no need to go to the Hub to check all my messages when I always naturally check them, dismiss them, archive them, delete them, etc from my notification tray.

Now, if there would be a way that they could figure out a way to send texts, do things with social media, and everything from within the app, this could change my view of it. However in Android, it just doesn't work that way. The Hub is just an app, and one that doesn't do anything better than my Gmail/Messenger/Phone app.

These are the things that bothered me and is the reason why I am probably going to go back to using my old Android apps.
-The inability to archive Gmail emails.
-When I delete a message from the lockscreen it automatically unlocks my phone.
-When I file an email to a different folder, it stays in the hub. I have to filter out unread emails to get it off of there.
-When I delete a text message in the Hub, it deletes in my main app too. I tried checking delete on Hub only, but it still does this. I just want to dismiss the message out of my hub.
-To delete an email from my Android Wear watch, I have to swipe to the right three times. Would love to be like Gmail where it is one swipe then delete.

Bottom line, the Hub is fantastic on BB10 I am sure, but this is Android. What makes it great on BB10 is having everything accessible in one place, but Android already has that built in. A majority of people that get notifications deal with them when they check their phone through the notification tray. No need to open an app to dismiss it there. Feels redundant. I honestly will keep the hub active so that I can see a timeline of my texts and phone calls in one place, but I think I will be moving back to the Gmail app. The great thing is, in Android its ok. Android is about choice. You don't like what's on your phone, you have the choice to go find a better solution. I know it's different, but if Android is new to you, just give it time and you will enjoy the ability to choose as well.

Posted via the Android Central App on the Priv.

 

[Trisk333]

I don't feel like I need the Hub in my life either. I do however love the new sort feature BlackBerry has added to the notification drop down and think that's perfect for my needs.

That said, have you found the best way to disable HUB? Do I have to remove all accounts from HUB or is there somewhere I can turn it off?

Also is BBM just some kind of IM service? I don't think I know anybody that has it, I would prefer to not sign up for it, and would like to remove that notification from the drop down asking me to sign up. I appreciate any help.

Day one that with the Priv and I love it so far!

Edit: never mind, I just disabled both through the app manager

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[John Gee]

Also is BBM just some kind of IM service?

Ja, ja, ja, ja!

*this* is why BlackBerry should have created an Android app (and maybe a phone) a decade ago.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[Whyareallthegoodnamestaken]

As someone who did have a BlackBerry 10 phone you are right on all counts.

But as this is BlackBerry's own version of Android they may well be able to integrate it deeper given enough time.

It's been my experience that BlackBerry is actually very fast at bringing out new features and they tend to bring out the ones that people ask for. So it wouldn't surprise me at all if your wishes came true.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[freedomx20a]

In bb10 you can do everything in hub.

Posted via my Galaxy S5 rooted with Priv launcher + hub

 

[freedomx20a]

The pull down sucks and isn't efficient. you pull down and click it opens the app and you send ur email or message. Then u exit pull down and do the next one. Very annoying. But to dismiss bulls hit notifications it's fine.

BTW I can send text via hub and then email fine.

I'm sure in a couple years the hub will be almost bb10 level. Where it half opens everything in a peak and u can multi everything instantly.

Posted via my Galaxy S5 rooted with Priv launcher + hub

 

[freedomx20a]

The best thing about the hub is search. This was the only way I personally could go android.

See I have a couple companies with different emails and I give quotes all day. When my boss calls and says what price did you give this guy. I search and tell him instantly.

BTW the search is way faster on android for some reason. Takes 0.1 second. On my passport the keyword search can take more then 30seconds.

Posted via my Galaxy S5 rooted with Priv launcher + hub

 

[murphcid]

That is good to know.

 

[middbrew]

I agree, the pull down notification seems a bit awkward. But as the OP stated, it's all a matter of what one prefers.

I can also send text via hub and then email fine. The only issue I'm having with emails from the hub is attaching a Word Doc or Excel file to an email. But from my understanding BlackBerry is working on this.

I'm sure BlackBerry will make a lot of updates to the hub going forward, and a lot of the BB stuff was designed with Marshmallow in mind.

 

[mavsguy842]

-The Hub isn't a notification center, it's a message center, so it definitely DOES make sense that if you delete a text message it's actually deleted, from everywhere on the phone.
-I'm surprised that there's no option to make emails disappear after filing them - it's got to be coming soon if it's not already there.
-Gmail archiving, rather than deleting, doesn't surprise me as a problem. Hopefully they can work with Google to enable this feature.

Question: Does the hub have smart filing? On BB10 the hub would learn, over time, into which folder you file certain messages so that now when I press the file icon on a receipt email from Amazon it automatically files it into my Online Shopping folder, and when I press the file icon on a "mortgage payment received" email it automatically puts it into my Mortgage folder etc... It's a big time saver so I hope they have it implemented or on the list to add in soon.

 

[anon(5630457)]

I posted the following over at Crackberry, but I thought users here might be of interest as well. I love almost everything about the Priv.

I don't ever do any type of reviews of anything, so I thought I would just write a few impressions of mine, and why from an Android user perspective I don't feel as if it is more productive for me. I want to preface this post by saying that I am sure that the Hub on BB10 blows this out of the water with the way it is integrated into the entire OS. I truly wanted to give all of the Blackberry software a fair shake, and I feel 5 days or so is enough for me to write my opinions.

I think the main reason why many BB10 converts want/need to use the Hub because it is what they are familiar with. The idea is great. Have all your social media messages/emails in one spot that you can access in one place. The issue I have is, as an Android user, that place is my notification shade. I found that I have no need to go to the Hub to check all my messages when I always naturally check them, dismiss them, archive them, delete them, etc from my notification tray.

Now, if there would be a way that they could figure out a way to send texts, do things with social media, and everything from within the app, this could change my view of it. However in Android, it just doesn't work that way. The Hub is just an app, and one that doesn't do anything better than my Gmail/Messenger/Phone app.

These are the things that bothered me and is the reason why I am probably going to go back to using my old Android apps.
-The inability to archive Gmail emails.
-When I delete a message from the lockscreen it automatically unlocks my phone.
-When I file an email to a different folder, it stays in the hub. I have to filter out unread emails to get it off of there.
-When I delete a text message in the Hub, it deletes in my main app too. I tried checking delete on Hub only, but it still does this. I just want to dismiss the message out of my hub.
-To delete an email from my Android Wear watch, I have to swipe to the right three times. Would love to be like Gmail where it is one swipe then delete.

Bottom line, the Hub is fantastic on BB10 I am sure, but this is Android. What makes it great on BB10 is having everything accessible in one place, but Android already has that built in. A majority of people that get notifications deal with them when they check their phone through the notification tray. No need to open an app to dismiss it there. Feels redundant. I honestly will keep the hub active so that I can see a timeline of my texts and phone calls in one place, but I think I will be moving back to the Gmail app. The great thing is, in Android its ok. Android is about choice. You don't like what's on your phone, you have the choice to go find a better solution. I know it's different, but if Android is new to you, just give it time and you will enjoy the ability to choose as well.

Posted via the Android Central App on the Priv.

I quit using Hub. I didn't find it useful at all. Like you said, the notification shade alerts me on what's going on. I didn't need an app to do that.

 

[bitek]

Blackberry hub will improve on Priv. I have BB10 and BB10 has improved tremendously over time. I love simplicity and effectiveness of BB10. I get popups in hub and all messages. I love BB10 and i know Blackberry will make it very sweet on Priv as well.

 

[vladi]

-The Hub isn't a notification center, it's a message center, so it definitely DOES make sense that if you delete a text message it's actually deleted, from everywhere on the phone.
-I'm surprised that there's no option to make emails disappear after filing them - it's got to be coming soon if it's not already there.
-Gmail archiving, rather than deleting, doesn't surprise me as a problem. Hopefully they can work with Google to enable this feature.

Question: Does the hub have smart filing? On BB10 the hub would learn, over time, into which folder you file certain messages so that now when I press the file icon on a receipt email from Amazon it automatically files it into my Online Shopping folder, and when I press the file icon on a "mortgage payment received" email it automatically puts it into my Mortgage folder etc... It's a big time saver so I hope they have it implemented or on the list to add in soon.

That's what I like about HUB as well, it actually knows where to file your emails. I'm sure they can pull of that in Android as well but as far as multiple notifications go especially those related to default Google apps I think there would be no solution except manual override meaning you have to get rid of the account in Gmail app, etc. Im not even sure they will sort Gmail archiving either but than again that is sort of a Google's fault for deciding to act like IE6 for their Gmail.

 

[Jamescunni]

Have to agree with this don't think there is much use in the hub on Android it's nothing like the BlackBerry 10 version integrated apps was what made it great on BB10 will wait and see on upcoming update for the hub to see what improvements are made before deciding to uninstall it

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[tte404]

I've been a BlackBerry 10 user since the Z10, most recently the Passport to the Priv.
I don't see the use of the Hub. As stated here, it seems quite redundant to use. I find myself using the shade and then having to go to the Hub afterwards to get rid of that notification even though, I've already dealt with it.
I've disabled it, for now, and don't plan on using it. The Hub made sense on BlackBerry 10 but doesn't here, maybe one day.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[SeltzerWater]

OP is wrong about archiving Gmail. Simply delete them. They are archived. That's Gmail IMAP behavior.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[benjamin19]

OP is wrong about archiving Gmail. Simply delete them. They are archived. That's Gmail IMAP behavior.

Posted via the Android Central App

Then the HUB needs to be polished up to tel me what it's actually doing. If it's archiving, it needs to say archive. I shouldn't have to go back and forth and see what it's actually doing in my native Gmail is app.

It's all a moot point really. The way I see it, the HUB is there for BB10 converts that want a familiarity feel. For android users, you are better off doing things as you have on past phones. Who knows, once BlackBerry has had a chance to optimize it maybe it will become more appealing to me.

This isn't to take anything away from this phone. When I picked this phone up I said I wanted to try all of BlackBerry services first then disable the ones I didn't like. This review was my feeling three days after forcing myself to use it. I hope BlackBerry stays in this market, because this is my favorite phone of all time, and I have had many a phones.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[SeltzerWater]

Then the HUB needs to be polished up to tel me what it's actually doing. If it's archiving, it needs to say archive. I shouldn't have to go back and forth and see what it's actually doing in my native Gmail is app.

It's all a moot point really. The way I see it, the HUB is there for BB10 converts that want a familiarity feel. For android users, you are better off doing things as you have on past phones. Who knows, once BlackBerry has had a chance to optimize it maybe it will become more appealing to me.

This isn't to take anything away from this phone. When I picked this phone up I said I wanted to try all of BlackBerry services first then disable the ones I didn't like. This review was my feeling three days after forcing myself to use it. I hope BlackBerry stays in this market, because this is my favorite phone of all time, and I have had many a phones.

Posted via the Android Central App

I'm a die hard Android user and I also used BB10. And I love the Hub. It needs work, but it's a great start.

I'm sorry you didn't know how IMAP works on Gmail, but it's not a Hub thing. EVERY SINGLE IMAP client will show delete and EVERY TIME, this will archive Gmail.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[benjamin19]

I'm a die hard Android user and I also used BB10. And I love the Hub. It needs work, but it's a great start.

I'm sorry you didn't know how IMAP works on Gmail, but it's not a Hub thing. EVERY SINGLE IMAP client will show delete and EVERY TIME, this will archive Gmail.

Posted via the Android Central App

With respect, you are incorrect. On my Oneplus One, their stock email app was powered by Boxer. It was not a native Gmail client. Yet, it had the option for me to swipe to archive or swipe to delete. Very simple and visually showed me what it did. I'm not saying I'm an expert in email protocol, but I do know that I have used 3Rd party android email apps that let me specifically archive instead of delete. So, I can't help but think this is possible someway, and since Gmail is widely used by android users, BlackBerry would do well in finding a way to implement it.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[xtremesniper]

In regards to the idea that the notification shade can replace the Hub, what happens to the notifications once you acknowledge them? Do they remain there as "read" or do they disappear?

Reason why I'm asking (I'm not an Android user as of yet) is because I use the Hub as not only a place to receive notifications and messages, but also as a kind of historical record of everything that has come into my phone.

A week from now I can go back and see what messages, emails, notifications, etc I received (and in what order) on any given day or time. I find value in that and it's one of those things that has always annoyed me about iOS (the notifications disappear once seen).