Back when the BlackBerry PlayBook first launched the question of themes and customizations came up and while the answer to the question "Will the PlayBook be skinnable?" was never really dismissed -- it was never taken seriously either. It only garnered a response that when broken down equated to if the demand is there, it might eventually be considered as an option. Well, that never happened despite the demand being there and to this day, theme developers still have no access to creating themes on the BlackBerry PlayBook.
Now, with BlackBerry 7 devices out -- theme developers are once again stuck waiting on RIM to update the BlackBerry Theme Studio so that themes can be created for BlackBerry 7 devices. Their has been no mention of if and when the update will come but as we all know -- DevCon is only a few days away so that may bring a new release but what if it doesn't?
As we know, BBX devices are the next evolution of the BlackBerry platform and will run on QNX. Theme developers at this point are questioning whether not they'll have a place when those devices eventually get released. Some have brought this up on the BlackBerry developer forums but as of now, no official information has been detailed about either Theme Studio for BlackBerry 7 devices or QNX be it on the PlayBook or BBX devices when released.
With that in mind, where do you all think themes for BlackBerry devices are headed? With developers asking people to speak up about themes on new devices to show support for their work, has it come to a point where the mass majority just isn't interested in themes on their devices any more or is this just a priority issue for now in that RIM has many other things on the table for QNX, BBX and Blackberry?
For as long as I've been involved in BlackBerry, themes have also played an important role and when you look at other platforms, their significance while being high up there in terms of user usage -- support from say Apple and Google just really isn't there. There is no pre-approved way of creating themes on other devices just guidelines and some suggested tools to use but Apple nor, Google is handing out "theme developer kits" so that you can make your own. But with that said; themes are a huge portion of installs on both the iOS and Android platforms.
Another thought is the possibility of RIM wanting to make their own themes. Their recent customer survey asking about widgets and such could suggest a move to have preset options for end users. Thinking along the lines of a work theme, personal theme, weekend theme all pre designed by RIM. In any case, there is no real answer for the time being but BlackBerry theme developers are working hard and hitting RIM to provide new tools for creating themes -- sound off in the comments on where you all think themes are headed or just head on over to the BlackBerry developer forums and show some support for them.
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