For users of both Pixelated and Stuff I Need, December saw 91% running BlackBerry 10.3 on their phones.
This data was collected by BlackBerry World for downloads of the free strategy game Pixelated and the free checklist app Stuff I Need. Data shown on the chart is from the beginning of December 2014 through the end of December 2015.
With 2016 just beginning, I thought it was worth looking at some of the highlights of 2015.
Overall 4 apps were added for BlackBerry, 3 apps for Windows Phone, and 4 apps for Android.
While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
It is too bad that not every holiday gives me eight chances to make a post. Happy Hanukkah everyone!
In the past month, upgrades of BlackBerry 10 operating systems have leveled off. The overall stats for November were remarkably similar to they were in October. Use of OS 10.3.x has leveled off close to 90% with close to 70% of users running the newest OS of 10.3.2.
This data was collected by BlackBerry World for downloads of the free strategy game Pixelated and the free checklist app Stuff I Need. Data shown on the chart is from the beginning of November 2014 through the end of November 2015.
The app for the Buffalo Metro Rail has been updated to version 1.2 for both Android and BlackBerry 10. This new version involves a significant reduction in the app’s file size (93% reduction for BlackBerry, and 74% for Android). This results in an app that is also quicker to launch.
This app shows the departure times for trains along Buffalo’s Metro route. The app automatically selects the proper schedule for the day, allows for sorting options, and also shows a map of the full light rail line. Additionally the app only needs to be synced once a month, and can otherwise be used without an active internet connection.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Xploding Boxes has been updated to version 5.6 in BlackBerry World, Google Play, the Amazon app store, the Nook app store, the Windows 8 app store, and the Windows Phone app store. This update adds 10 new levels to the game, giving the game a total of 520 levels.
Xploding Boxes is a strategy game where the goal is to start a chain reaction that will explode all of the boxes on the screen. Each level presents a different look and number of touches, requiring a different strategy to solve.
The game itself, and the first 25 levels are available for free, while a one time in-app purchase can be used to access the rest of the levels for just $2.99 while still maintaining your progress from the free levels.
With the new BlackBerry Priv launching, there are already 15 Ebscer apps available for phone through the Google Play Store.
One year after launch, OS 10.3 is on 90% of BlackBerry phones. The roll out of what has been confirmed as BlackBerry’s final OS took some time to get going, but over the past few months, have finally captured the vast majority of BlackBerry 10 users. Additionally the vast majority of users are on 10.3.2, which is currently the newest version of the operating system.
This data was collected by BlackBerry World for downloads of the free strategy game Pixelated and the free checklist app Stuff I Need. Data shown on the chart is from the beginning of October 2014 through the end of October 2015.
I recently had the opportunity to review a number of angular.js compatible UI frameworks. All of these frameworks are fairly new, and therefore they all give some thought to how they appear on phones and tablets.
Angular Material has been created by Google to follow the guidelines for Android’s Material UI. In my opinion this is the best UI for angular. Given its ties to Android it works great on mobile, but it also is designed to scale up to also look good on larger screens. Additionally, the flex box based layout system for Angular Material is more complete and more reliable than what is offered by the other frameworks.
The Ionic framework by Drifty is a mobile focused UI that I have used before. Ionic has good looking controls, and mostly follows the design found in iOS 7. Compared to the other frameworks, the touch targets for Ionic are larger and better optimized for phones. By design, Ionic is meant to be used for creating Cordova apps, but can also be used for websites if you copy two files from their github.
Unlike the other frameworks, Bootstrap does not include any JavaScript and is implemented strictly through css. While this lightweight approach is great, UI Bootstrap is also the least optimized for mobile and is the least integrated with angular.
Created by LumApps, Lumx is another framework that follows Android’s Material design guidelines. Unfortunately, when compared to Angular Material, it is not quite as good. Also LumX has the far more third party dependencies than the other frameworks, making it more difficult for set up. On the plus side, it has the best selection of built in colors for theming your app.
Additionally there is the option to use a number of these frameworks together at the same time. This is not always an option as the css for Bootstrap and Ionic conflict with one another. But sometimes it can work. In particular the components of Ionic make a good compliment to the layout and navigation of Material.
The Weather Beautiful app has been updated to version 2.2 for both Android and BlackBerry users. This update makes the app launch quicker. Additionally the app’s install size is 37% smaller on BlackBerry, and 23% smaller on Android.
This is a simple weather app that displays stunning photography of your surrounding area. In addition to the current temperature and weather conditions, the app also allows you to scroll for a full weekly forecast.
Starbeams has been updated to version 2.1 in order to add 10 new levels to the game. This gives the game a total of 210 levels.
The object of the game is to assign colors to each star in order to ensure that none of the stars are connected to another star of the same color. The game starts off easy, but quickly gets more complex, adding more colors and seven pointed stars that can not be changed.
Starbeams can be downloaded for free for Windows Phone, Windows 8, Windows 10, and BlackBerry 10 devices. A one time in-app purchase is required in order to play past level 25.
Tomorrow I will be attending The Failure Sessions tomorrow night in downtown Rochester. The event is being run by Digital Rochester and will feature two CTOs who will discuss provide a post mortem on some of their previous projects. If you are in the area, I would love to see you there.
The month of September saw large increases in the use of OS 10.3.2, the newest BlackBerry 10 operating system. However almost all of this increase came from users who were already using a prior version of OS 10.3 as the percentage of users running OS 10.2 and 10.1 remained steady from previous months.
This data was collected by BlackBerry World for downloads of the free strategy game Pixelated and the free checklist app Stuff I Need. Data shown on the chart is from the beginning of September 2014 through the end of September 2015.