BlackBerry Hub comes to the Google Play Store: Is it enough to turn their fortunes around?

BlackBerry has made the BlackBerry Hub available on Android as an ad-supported app with subscription options. The app, called BlackBerry Hub+ Services, will be available in two flavours. A free, ad-supported option with limited features and a premium, subscription-based, ad-free model with additional features. The free, ad-supported version will give you access to the Hub, BlackBerry (BB) Calendar and a password manager. This version will throw up the occasional ad when you use it. The premium version will cost $1 per month (or Rs 50 in India) and will offer BB Contacts, Tasks, BB Search, BB Notes and the BB Launcher. You will get these premium features as part of a 30 day trial, so you can decide if a subscription is worth it. BlackBerry Hub has been among BlackBerry’s most cherished features. Those who’ve used it swear by it; it’s one of those defining features of a smartphone that really stick with you. When BlackBerry announced BB10 for touch-screen devices, the Hub was, again, central to the UI and, again, a true hub for all your communication needs. [caption id=“attachment_301906” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”]  BlackBerry Hub on Android-powered Priv.[/caption] BlackBerry’s first attempt to bring the Hub to Android was a bit of a disaster. In our review of the Priv , we found the Hub to be less functional than Android’s default notification centre. The point of the Hub on BB10 and previous BB devices was that it was an actual hub. You would get all your notifications there, these include notifications from Facebook and Twitter and other, third-party apps, and you’d never have to actually enter the respective apps to interact with those notifications. On Android, the Hub did not integrate with apps like Instagram, Snapchat, etc., though it did work with messaging and email. As a result, you’d be left with using the Hub for certain tasks and the notification centre for everything else. The Hub should have replaced the notification centre altogether. Our review also pointed out that the Hub offered limited interactivity with the notifications, compared to BB10 anyway. This was about five months ago, however. I hope that things have changed now. I’ve never been a BlackBerry user myself and my only experience with any BB device was with the stellar Z30. The phone lacked apps, but the Hub and keyboard were awesome and I fell in love with the power on tap. The OS was also very well designed as well. I ultimately had to return the device (it was a review sample), but the experience stuck with me. If BB’s newly established Mobility Solutions Group has any hope of bringing in money for BB, they need to provide an experience of that magnitude on Android. Can they actually do it? Only time will tell.