[froboebel]

So my buddy has been using a blackberry as a dumbphone with no blackberry plan or data or anything for about a year now. He wants to be able to load apps that don't require data (i.e. themes and Color ID), but obviously you can't do that via the browser or app world.
I know how to load the apps from a .zip from, say, the Crackberry app store via Desktop Manager. The issue is, the only apps that will allow me to download the .zip are paid apps. This is all well and fine, except that only some of the apps he wants are paid apps so I can't see a way of getting the files of the free ones.
Does anyone have any advice for me?

*Please don't say anything generic like "what good is a blackberry without a plan?" It's not my phone, it obviously works out fine for him and he doesn't need data so it really isn't our business to tell him what he does or doesn't need.

[dictoresno]

he can find some themes here on crackberry as zip files and then he can load them using destop manager.

you can also request for someone to make a zip for you for certain apps that he may need.

[froboebel]

Okay, great! Thanks a lot.
And just to make sure, i only tried with a couple paid apps so far, but will all paid apps have the .zip available after purchase?

[Motorcycle Mama]

No. Not all apps (paid, free or otherwise) will have a desktop installation option.

It's up to the developer to determine the method(s) by which their applications are available to the user.

Some other OTA and desktop options. Some don't.

He will just have to search around for those that do.

Increasingly (it seems to me) fewer and fewer apps are offering desktop installation options.