General BlackBerry® 10 Smartphone Functions and Features

[z10sarah]

Just bought the bb z10 and I love it. But there's one big problem in every Android app (port) in BlackBerry World such as (RSS apps, games, .. Etc) and even with side loading some of the bar apps such as (Whatsapp, Keek, Line, .Etc)  I can't type nor read in Arabic because the Arabic characters are not connected!  It's really annoying! And since Skype is planning to releases their Skype for Android to the BlackBerry 10 I'm really worried! .. Me and a lot of my friends who has the z10 are disappointed with this just like we were disappointed with the lack of Arabic support in the playbook! I really don't want to see this happening again ! I hope BlackBerry fix the Arabic characters in the Android runtime ASAP! 

and I hope BlackBerry read this because this problem (and the missing "select all" button in BBM broadcast) has been talked about in lots of Arabic sites, blogs (reviews), forums .. And some people are considering to buy something else other then z10! 

btw Yes BlackBerry 10 OS support Arabic (reading and writing) very well and the font is fantastic! the only problem is Android runtime at this moment, that's all ...

thank you ..

[xThamer]

I'm having the same issue with some of my apps ..

update: I just tried my friend's Z10 since he has Whatsapp, and Line .. and you're right!

I did a fast search and discovered that Android Gingerbread 2.3.3 which is the same version of the the Android Player in BlackBerry 10 OS doesn't support Arabic correctly, letters appear separated when they should appear connected!

I do hope BlackBerry can fix this issue in future updates ..

regarding Skype we should wait and see and let's not forget thet they're collaborating with BlackBerry to ensure the app runs very well

[UAEBB10]

BLACKBERRY PLEASE FIX THIS ISSUE!!
I bought 3 apps form BB World and they don't support ARABIC
can someone please deliver this msg o BlackBerry it's Important

[peter9477]

I know little about Android, but a quick bit of googling gives me the strong impression this limitation with the current version is Android's fault, not BlackBerry's. They're supporting Gingerbread 2.3.3 for now, and the few minutes I spent searching suggest Arabic support in that version was very incomplete.

Assuming that's true, would upgrading the runtime to Jelly Bean 4.1 help at all?  If so, then you're in luck because it's on the roadmap for the Android runtime: http://developer.blackberry.com/android/tools/roadmap/

Quoting from that: We are working to bring up a newer version of Android Runtime on the BlackBerry 10 platform. We are still working through the details and full scope, but the target is to upgrade the Android Runtime from Android Gingerbread 2.3.3 to Jelly Bean 4.1. The goal is to support all current features and APIs available on the Android Runtime platform today as well as evaluate new features and APIs for inclusion.

[UAEBB10]

there's no dates available!

anyway I have the old samsung galaxy tab running android gingerbread 2.3.3 and Arabic looks great on that thing!

please BlackBerry team fix this :'(

thanks @peter9477

[bo_wadh7a]

Same here 

both apps throw android runtime or apps imported from developers ( android app in app wolrd) have the unconcted arabic characters issue - i myself ontacted some of the developers and they say its blackberry os bug so we need a fix for this blackberry

[almudhaf]

I have the same problem, blackberry please fix it.

in addiion, i was not able to download videos.

Cheers

[ahmed_mh1]

I'm having the same problems since I bought my BlackBerry Z10. Those scattered arabic letters for all the android ported apps are very annoying, especially with the still poor collection of apps on BlackBerry World comapred to iOS appstore and Google Play Store.

I was very excited before buying my BlackBerry 10 when I knew that I can port android apps to my BlackBerry 10 device, which was for me a very big plus for BlackBerry devices, but when I start the process, I was faced by 2 shocks, the first one is the scattered arabic letters (which makes most of the working apps useless for me as I'm not able to benefit from them), and the other one is that some ported apps are not working at all (crash when launched), and others are not working functionally.

I thought that those problems apply only to the sideloaded apps, but what shocks me further is that I downloaded some apps officially from BlackBerry World which have th same problems. Can this happen? I think that BlackBerry team is checking and approving every app before permitting the app to be included in the BlackBerry World, so to have some apps on official BlackBerry World that are not functioning or have scattered arabic letters is very annoying and not understood at the same time.

I hope that BlackBerry people are listening now, and I really hope that the expected runtime environment that shall land next June and support Android Jelly Bean 4.2.2 (as announced by BlackBerry) will solve that issue, because for me and all the people I know who use BlackBerry 10, the MAJOR DRAWBACK for BlackBerry 10 is the poor collection of apps (especially for Middle East region).

Also, till now, the BlackBerry native Maps app does not include that maps for all the countries and regions, which is also another drawback for BlackBerry 10.

Hey BlackBerry, you did a fantastic job with the all new BlackBerry 10 devices, so please keep it up to the expectations of your users, and don't lose them because of such issues. Please solve this issue of scattered arabic letters in ported apps and improve your current collection of apps on BlackBerry World very soon (and givining some attention to the BlackBerry World for Middle East region).

Also, please consider updating the maps database for your native Maps app for BlackBerry 10 as well to include all regions and countries.