Hi,
I still have my blackberry 8520 in good condition but it doesn't boot, it stucks at logo with Africa, when i checked there was no sd card so probably it doesnt find os to boot. I want to get this phone back to life, Im guessing probably the current os doesnt support anything such as whatsapp, facebook, youtube or maybe not even search engines.
I am open to install the original rom and where do i find it because official website doesnt have it and also if there is no blackberry rom i am also okay to install any custom roms.
(I have 2gb, 4gb and 16gb sd cards that i can use for this phone)
Thank you, have a nice day. :)

mig33

gua pake jaman SMP. Gua pake di Sony Ericsson k510i. Masih pakai jaringan 2G (GPRS atau EDGE). Waktu itu gua pake buat chat sama temen temen SMP. Udah ada group juga.. namanya room. Cukup ngirit karena mostly text. Ga berani kirim gambar. Waktu itu gua pake Indosat IM3. Daripada SMS 1x Rp150 mending make mig33. Konsep kuota data belum ada. Adanya Rp1/kB. Aplikasinya pakai yang versi Java. Ribet lah harus download .jar dari web mig33.

MXIT

gua pake waktu mulai masuk SMK. Ninggalin mig33 karena network effect. Temen temen makenya MXIT yaa ikut. Udah upgrade make ke Nokia N70. Jaringan udah dapat 3G (UTMS, HSDPA bahkan HSUPA). Udah mulai berani kirim gambar. Udah ada konsep kuota. Bela belain nabung 50rb buat beli kuota Telkomsel Flash 100 MB. Cukup buat sebulan!

Yahoo Messenger

Sempet pake pas magang SMK selama 3 bulan. Abis itu ga pernah pake.

Skype

Cuman pake 1-2 kali dalam setahun. Biasanya telepon partner kerjaan di Aussie aja.

BBM

gua pake pas kuliah. Kepaksa karena orang kantor pada pake. Gua kuliah sambil kerja. Anak kuliah waktu itu kepecah antara BBM, WhatsApp dan Line. Sempet beli BB 8520 paling murah dan install 3 apps ini. Tu hape underspecs dan overprice gila. Gua masih pake paket Blackberry Internet Service (BIS) yang termurah. 60rebu/bulan. Madesu banget cm bisa chat. Ga bisa browsing. Buat akalin gw subscribe ke newsletter biar bisa baca-baca di TransJakarta. Ngenes juga. Jaringan masih pakai 3G. Gua pake BB dari Smartfren.. jadi ngandelin EVDO nya smartfren.

WhatsApp.

Karena ngerasa bego beli BB pas lihat canggihnya temen pada pake Android.. gua lego tu barang ngeselin. Orang di kerjaan dan kuliah pada pelan pelan pindah ke WhatsApp. Dengan budget ga jauh dr BB gua dapat Andromax I. Amaze dengan fiturnya. Wow factor ya pas balik dr Mall Ambassador minang ni hape.. Google Maps an di angkot dan gw bisa track macet di rute depan sampe mana. BB sampah emang.
Seneng sama konsep kebebasan Android. Paket data ayo, WIFI juga jalan. Install dr PlayStore atau sideload juga cincay. Gua cukup tech savvy.. jadi kebebasan ini penting banget. Hal ini yg bikin gw ga hepi pake iOS sampe detik ini.
Konsep paket data jelas dah biasa.. 1GB sebulan cukup banget buat chat, kirim gambar. Youtube an juga jadi biasa. Di masa masa ini gw pake 2G aja masih aman buat WA.
Sampe era 4G, 4G+ dan sekarang 5G masih gua pake. Karena network effect semua pake. Awalnya gua sebel krn fitur ga senendang Telegram. Tapi semua orang pake, ya udah. Makin kesini WA ngejar sih.

LINE

Sempet install dan pake buat PDKT sama cewek. Waktu kuliah hehehe. Uninstall krn tu cewek ga ada interest sama gua. HAHAHAHA. Ini app bloat banget. Auto uninstall. Circle gw geser ke WA semua abis kerja.

Telegram

Gw mulai pake abis jadi mandatory chat apps di kantor. Superior apps dibanding WA. Multidevice dari year one bahkan. Gua pake dari jaman pake Andromax I sampe sekarang gua pake Samsung A54 5G.

Hello, I hope you're all having a good day.
I recently purchased a BlackBerry Curve 8520. However, when I inserted my SIM card, it prompted me to unlock it, requiring a network MEP code. I've searched for solutions online, but all the methods I found require payment. I'm wondering if any of you know of any free methods to unlock it. Any help would be appreciated!

so I recently bought a blackberry curve 8520 and set it up with my WiFi and mobile network, everything else works fine however the phone is completely missing the browser app but has browser configuration in the settings but when I click on it there's nothing there. anyone know why and how I can fix it??

Hey Guys,
I thought i'd share my story on my journey of using different modded WhatsApp throughout the years, and where I had put my trust. From WhatsApp+ by Rafalanse in 2013 to my current FMWhatsApp by Fouad Mokdad.
Heres my story:
I started my journey on WhatsApp with the Blackberry Curve 8520, in 2012, but that was short-lived due to the phone dying by water damage. I eventally ended up purchasing a cheap Chinese android Phablet (this thing was a pain, miserably slow, got really hot and the screen kept getting lines) ...
Anyway, I was excited for my phablet and I remember when I got it I was researching different apps to download and try out. Google was (probably still is) my best friend, so I asked a lot of questions, seeking whatever I could put my hands on to try.

1. WHATSAPP+ - By Rafalanse

After some time I had stumbled on some videos talking about WhatsApp+, and I wondered. What is this WhatsApp+? Why is it so different from the original? What also caught my eye was the app icon. It was a light blue/cyan which is my favourite. So, I opened up the video. I vaguely remember it being an Indian guy talking about how to get WhatsApp+ on your PC, via Bluestacks.
I decided to go do some more research and stumbled upon the XDA thread where rafalanse; the creator of the original WhatsApp+ basically had a forum post on what WhatsApp+ was and it's features.
At the time I don't think privacy was a concern, I can't exactly remember if last seen was a thing back then (circa 2013). We didn't have blue ticks then, blue ticks were only released until 2014, and the Status (sometimes referred to as "Stories", now called Updates) was released until Feb, 2017. What drew a lot of people to WhatsApp+ was it's ability to have the app customized with themes. Something that even to this day, the Original WhatsApp doesn't have, the most you get is a light and dark theme.
Facebook eventually purchased WhatsApp for $19 Billion Dollars (and I downloaded it off of Google Play for free? lol), a few months after that aquisition, rafalanse got hit with a DMCA notice from WhatsApp, and he was forced to shut down modding the applicaiton. On January 21st, 2015. Users who were once using WhatsApp+ were hit with a 24 hour ban and were forced to switch to the official WhatsApp. We were broken hearted. WhatsApp+ had officially shut down in 2015.
XDA Article - Cease and Desist: Extract below

Developers in trouble

So, now... it was time to hunt, who would create a new modified WhatsApp? Would rafalanse leak the source code to his mod? Will anyone make themes and remove that pesky blue tick so we can have some privacy?
Rafalanse eventually moved on to create Plus Messenger, a modified version of Telegram Messenger, another popular messaging app (and in my opinion, better than WhatsApp, I just cant convince people to convert... You could even migrate messages from WhatsApp to Telegram and Telegram had the features that WhatsApp has now. They did take a while to add Stories and Video Calling but before those were popular, telegram already had a bunch of features that WhatsApp just didnt have yet.
I decided to stray my own path, I remember Lucky Patcher had a patch for WhatsApp to include the privacy features.

2. GBWHATSAPP - By Omar (@atnfas_hoak)

After some time I stumbled upon this mod called GBWhatsApp. It became widely popular. Created by Omar (Twitter Username: atnfas_hoak). I honestly never really knew what the"GB" in GBWhatsApp stood for, and I was skeptical if he was indeed the original creator since there were starting to pop up a lot of clones with the same name. However I was eventually convinced that this was the original creator based on my research. All the other clones were updating after his release, which means they were all borrowing and copying his mod. His Telegam Channel (Search GBUser on Telegram for the Official Channel) and Group along with Twitter account also frequently updated, giving some insights and plans and there were also other moderators in his telegram group that were keeping everyone engaged.
GBWhatsApp boasted a whole new bunch of privacy featues and the ever popular Anti-Ban code (which prevented users from getting banned for using a modded version of Whatsapp), themes and even very exclusive features! Things like hiding view status, hiding the forwarded notification on messages, Block Calls with/without showing Ringing, Increase on Photos and Videos limit, Auto-Reply, Custom Privacy settings for each contact, etc. I could be wrong but I believe Omar's WhatsApp was based on the WhatsApp Beta versions, because I do remember having access to features that weren't yet available to the public on the official version.
This mod stuck with me for a number of years, until 2019. I can't remember the exact month, but there was a huge ban wave going around, and even I was hit with it. I remember the frustration of people asking me the question "Why was I banned???". It wasn't just GBWhatsApp, but other mods too, like Fouad Mokdad's FMWhatsApp which was another popular mod but was basically copying code from GBWhatsApp, just rebranding it. I tried explaining to people that it's unofficial and according to WhatsApp, (oversummarizing their terms of service) using a modified version of their app is bad, no-no. If anything goes wrong they could be held liable and their excuse is they don't want people to be hacked or data leaked because of these mods, they weren't totally wrong. There was an article from India Today about a mod called WhatsApp Gold. A gold-themed WhatsApp that was basically stealing your private photos back in 2016, It also resurfaced in 2019.
GBWhatsApp got one final update after the ban and.. well... that was it. We never heard from Omar again. WhatsApp usually has their base expire over time to force you to update to a newer version. As time went on we were getting closer and closer to this expiration date but no word from Omar about anything, AT ALL, not even a base update. The other mods of the Telegram were saying the same, Omar either did not respond, or his responses were vague. Eventually... the day came, there was no surprise updates... nothing and On August, 1st 2019. GBWhatsApp was declared DEAD officially by Omar.

*GBWhatsApp Shuts Down* We are really sorry to announce that we have completely stopped the development of GBWhatsApp. It was a great time with all you people. 

3. YOWHATSAPP - By Yousef Al Basha

So, here we were... hanging by a thread with almost nowhere to turn. All the other mods that existed were also shut down because they had relied heavily on Omar's apk to modify and rebrand, without him, they too didn't exist (except for one.. which i'll discuss below now)
I jumped on to using FMWhatsApp but it didn't last long, it too gave the notification of the version was expired. I remember one of the users in the Telegram Group was having a discussion with us, and they recommended "YOWhatsApp" he even linked the Telegram group. YoWhatsApp was different. This was unlike the other mods out there, It didn't seem like it was relying on Omar's GBWhatsApp for it's base nor seem like it was just rebranding GBWhatsApp. This YoWhatsApp had a cleaner UI for it's Mod Menu, it almost seemed like it was actually a part of WhatsApp and not just a random mod menu. GBWhatsApp's menu was a bit cluttered and the UI for those menus were a lot less neat.
...and... IT WORKED! We finally had some hope! Yousef Al Basha continued updating his WhatsApp for some time but it was unfortunately short-lived. Yousef Al Basha also went dark. The notification came up saying that the WhatsApp version will soon be outdated and we would have to update. However Yousef wasn't posting any updates in his Telegram Channel (@YoMODS). On November, 6th 2020 he issued a notice that YoWA v8.50 was not an official YoWA update. This was because someone else faked an update and claimed it was official but Yousef did not issue an update.
And well.... that was it. The group chat was locked, and we were forced to move on in Late November - Early December of 2020. That's where FMWhatsApp by Fouad Mokdad came in.

4. FMWhatsApp - by Fouad Mokdad

After the version had expired I decided to move on to FMWhatsApp, I just couldnt go back to the Official WhatsApp. I had spent the past 8 years on modded versions and it was either I gave WhatsApp completely or find an alternative. I chose the latter and decided to give FMWhatsApp a try. I had stumbled upon the Official Telegram group for FMWhatsApp and began using. Fouad basically was known for copying other's work so when he released his update, it still used to say YoMods in the mod menus or about sections. But what made a lot of people eventualyl migrate to FMWhatsApp was that on February 8th, 2020, Yousef Al Basha sent a message in his telegram channel:

Great work by FouadMODS, walking the same path of YoWA by adding Exclusive Features 👏 I am sharing it here to benefit my subscribers who miss YoWA🔮😇 

and forwarded a message from the official Telegram Channel of FouadMODS (@FouadMODS) showing an exclusive feature to mark a status as viewed if you had turned off Show View Status.
... and well. I have been using it ever since! I've come across other mods like TMWhatsApp and WHatsapp Aero for example which are other popular mods that I see a couple of Youtubers talk about, but they fundamentally take FMWhatsApp's code and just rebrand, WhatsApp Aero actually does it in a cleaner UI than FMWhatsApp and other mods. Though it takes them some time to rebrand and release their newer version.
As far as I am aware, I don't think there is another mod that exists that does it's own mods without relying on reversing and taking apart FMWhatsApp.
I thought that i'd share my journey with you as a guide on my experience in trusting mods. There are so many fakes and clones out there it's really hard to tell who to turst. Im not saying trust these mods either. There is a risk to them all! It's just that these were the most trusted as the years went by, not just by me but countless others.
And as of recent, It seems a new ban wave has been happeneing. Users are now forced to use the official WhatsApp but they are met with a banner message that gives them time to backup their chats and let them know that they're using an unofficial version. I'm not sure what the future will hold, I do hope there's a new anti-ban code and we can enjoy modified WhatsApp again.
Goodluck to you all! Hope my story inspires soemone and atleast points your head in the direction to help find a trusted modder.
For you Rooted users, you guys may have some hope. WATweaker

I’m just curious to know about everyone’s personally owned and preferred smartphones after seeing the post about the smartphones that people regret buying. It could be your most recent and current smartphone, it could also be your first or second or anything in-between. Which smartphone did/do you like most among all the units you’ve owned over the years?
I’ll start— my favorite phones among all those I’ve owned are the iPhone 4S and Samsung Galaxy S3. In my opinion, the iPhone 4S ushered in a new era for the modern iPhone and is the foundation for the iPhone of today with the introduction of Siri and other essential features that the current iPhones include, from a software, hardware and design perspective. The Galaxy S3, on the other hand is regarded as the “iPhone killer” and is, in my opinion, the first and last excellent Samsung Galaxy phone.
I’m currently using an iPhone 15 Pro and a Xiaomi 13 Pro but I still miss the times when the iPhone 4S and Galaxy S3 were my daily drivers between 2011-2012.
EDIT: I also miss my Blackberry Curve 8520 from 2009 because it reminds me of my first year high school days. And the physical keyboards!!

Might be a weird one but there was a mobile game where you would be able to order vehicles (tanks and helicopters etc) and send them to different missions. You would make money from different battles. It was text only so no actually graphics. It was so long ago but I think you could fight against other players. Definitely played it on my blackberry 8520 but might have been on other devices I’m not sure.

With the recent Eve Online & ESO server outages, it got me thinking we need to address this problem.
Maybe i'm alone in this but companies who offers MMOS, & Always Online games needs to have High End Servers & Networks as well as back ups in case it goes down.
There's 3 examples:
Eve Online:
two weeks in a row it has had network outages, first one was two weeks back it went out for 8 or more hours, Resulting in players losing ships, one player even lost an 8 billion isk(game currency) ship & last night it was also off for an hour or more, unsure how long as i only checked again the next morning thanks to loadshedding.
Elder Scrolls Online(ESO):
they also went off for quite a while, the game already has ping issues due to their mega servers and countries thats in the middle or in further regions have poor ping count, in South Africa, we get roughly 200-300ping where as games with multiple servers have a far lower ping so its an mega server issue
And lastly we have(sigh) Ubisoft's Ghost Recon Breakpoint outage:
Where to start with this shit show company, i really don't know who's brilliant idea it was to make a single player game as always online. So this was off i think a few months back or a year back for a few hours too & frankly that shouldn't happen. this is a prime example why single player games should not be always online
Now i'm in the same camp as people who view always online games should be with either dedicated co-op & pvp, mmorpg, battle royales etc games like that, SP games should be like Wildlands & dark souls, offline primarily with co-op & pvp/invasion being online.
What do you think they can do to solve these common issues? its a lot more prominent for online games like Eve Online where the slightest of network issue especially during a fight almost always leads to the loss of your ship, there's no respawning or anything like that, you lose a ship, sometimes at the cost of billions, i've personally lost a 50mil ship thanks to their blackberry 8520 servers

I recently found my old BlackBerry curve 8520, and there are multiple stuff that I want to know that I can’t find on google.

1. Do I need to have a SIM card in it to use the phone?
   
2. Do I need to have a micro SD card in it to use the phone?
   
3. Are all the BlackBerry curve batteries the same or do I need to get one for the specific model?
   
4. What is a good website to get a battery and back cover for the phone?
   

Recently I've got the blackberry curve 8520 and now I don't know how to find the latest firmware and flash it on the phone, so if you can help me it will be usefull

Is there any way to install emulators on the blackberry 8520?

Hey everyone, I have a Blackberry Curve 8520. It's a really fun, really old phone and I want to see if it's possible to hack it so I can have an internet connection on it. Ideally, I'd like to use it for whatsapp and maps, which I think I can just use with a browser.
​
A friend told me to look for ssl cerificates and enforced encryption, to see what could be done. Since I know so little, I figured I'd ask everyone here. Is it possible to bring a little relic like mine to life?