If you own a BlackBerry Passport, you know the awesomeness of its screen. To get even more out of that beautiful screen and be even more productive, you have to check out the Work Wide app. We've already written about it but now we're bringing you a review to show you just how much of a useful app it is. The BlackBerry Passport is wide enough to have two apps displayed side-by-side on the screen. Two developers decided to make this happen - Brian Scheirer and Olaf Hanson.

Opening the app, you have the browser on the left by default and then the composer on the right. You can change the displayed apps by tapping the menu icon, which is the centre icon along the bottom. When you're done, just hit Done to return. From there, start being productive.

Work Wide Default Screen

The different apps that you can display split-screen are:

  • Browser: Full HTML5 web browsing experience, with reader mode (press "R").
  • Composer: Send, Save, Share messages and notes. Opening saved messages will open its accompanying "app" (browser, picture, etc.) exactly where you left off.
  • Calculator: Similar to the native calculator, complete with calculation history. Ability to run two calculators at once.
  • Picture Viewer: View pictures stored on your device, media card, or connected cloud storage.
  • Txt Viewer: View .txt files directly in the split screen. Doc, Xls, ppt, and pdf available but will open full screen. However, Work Wide allows you to quickly reopen those files for easy access.

Work Wide App menu

You can hit Save to save your composed message. When you need to return to continue typing out your message, you can open it up and it will even bring up the app displayed on the other side. If you were composing a message and you're ready to send it just hit the Send icon (envelope icon) on the bottom right of the composer window and it will bring up the native BlackBerry 10 compose screen so you can add in the email address of the recipient. If you need to attach a link or even a file to that email, that can be done directly from the Work Wide app. In the compose window you'll find a paperclip icon with a tick box next to it. Just tick that box and the webpage displayed or picture displayed will be automatically be included when you go to send it. Attaching a file will only work with emails though. It won't share to BBM or anything else. Links will share everywhere.

Work Wide in action

Anything you type in the composer window can be copied to the clipboard or even shared. Maybe you wanted to push out the message to someone on BBM, just tap Share and it will use the native BlackBerry 10 Share function. I use this a lot to update my BBM Channel. I share a lot of BlackBerry related news from stories I come across on the web, so being able to have the post I want to share displayed so I can reference it is very handy. I can then just Share to BBM Channels and even include the link.

You can also adjust the size of the each app, as well as switch the sides of the app as you see fit. Just tap the menu icon, the same icon you tap to choose your apps. You'll see a slider to adjust the app screen size and another icon on top of that for switching the screens around. Once you've adjust everything, just hit Done.

Work Wide really takes things to another level when it comes to being productive on your BlackBerry Passport. I find myself using it more and more. Generally for note taking, when I want to reference things from a website. I can then copy what I have typed out and paste it into Evernote (my preferred notebook app) and I can access it later through my account. I have even found being able to display two calculators very handy for my Business Accounting class. The only app I don't use much is the Txt Viewer. But it is equally as useful as everything else.

The only problem with the Txt Viewer is that .doc, .xls, .ppt and .pdf files open full screen. Though Work Wide does an excellent job of being able to reopen the files really quickly so if you do need to go back and refer to it just hit Return to Doc. To go back and continue typing just swipe the document to the right to bring up the composer window.

The Good

  • Split screen with two apps side-by-side
  • Adjust app window size

The Bad

  • Can only share files and photos to email messages
The bottomline

You really can't go wrong with Work Wide. If you're a BlackBerry Passport owner, I recommend this app. You may think that you won't need it but once you start using it, you'll see how much use it has for you. I'm using it more and more for the times I need to share things with people or to social media. I can get things done faster than I did before. And as a BlackBerry 10 user, or even a Passport user for that matter, you know that the flow of BlackBerry 10 is already pretty slick. Work Wide pushes things that bit further and really is a must-have app for Passport owners.

Work Wide is only available for the BlackBerry Passport, to make use of that beautiful screen. It will cost you $2.99. It is well worth every penny. Check out the video above to see it action, if you need even more convincing.

Learn more / Purchase Work Wide from BlackBerry World

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