[sauron4]

I've been wondering why BlackBerry decided to include the Android Runtime into their OS, I'm not saying it's a bad thing because it isn't, I'm just curious to know why.

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[pttptppt]

Because they need apps. And IMO, it's working quite well for them and us.

[eldricho]

Because they knew apps would be one of the obstacles and the easiest way would be to include the runtime so they could lure some Android devs and companies to port their apps over without having to go fully native, but still having the app
Look at Skype i.e.

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[app_Developer]

They didn't just "allow" it, BlackBerry did the considerable work involved to make it part of the OS.

[sauron4]

Is that the only reason though, for the apps? Does the OS need the runtime for it to fully function or can it run without it.

Also is the Android Runtime a different version to the one that Android currently uses?

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[Nharzhool]

Is that the only reason though, for the apps? Does the OS need the runtime for it to fully function or can it run without it.

Also is the Android Runtime a different version to the one that Android currently uses?

Posted via CB10

It is independant of the OS. The Dalvik Runtime, which is the one in 10.2 (also on all Android 4.x devices AFAIK), runs separately on top of the QNX OS. This is why if you boot your device up and then immediately launch an Android App, you will see the Dalvik runtime starting up.

I have no idea exactly which version of the Dalvik runtime each Android phone uses but BlackBerry have modified this one slightly and continue to do so which is why we get different Runtime versions with different OS releases.

[sauron4]

Oh I see that's good that it's not dependent for BlackBerry 10 to run.

Is there a reason why they lock the runtime?(which I'm not too sure what that means anyway)

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[thurask]

Oh I see that's good that it's not dependent for BlackBerry 10 to run.

Is there a reason why they lock the runtime?(which I'm not too sure what that means anyway)

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My guess is for security reasons, they intend any apps that execute native code to be verified and tested by BBRY first (as in sending the app to BlackBerry World).

Keep in mind, all the unlocked runtimes come from versions that were never meant to leave their offices.

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[sauron4]

I didn't realise the unlocked runtimes were leaks, I thought they had been unlocked by someone and then that person put it online for people to use but how wrong I was.

Interests me to know this sort of stuff, would make a good blog for one of the CB editors...

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