1. chiefbroski's Avatar
    I'm no expert, but the QNX OS can apparently run Java, C, C++, Flash stuff and pretty much most of the common dev platforms available. RIM has already told us that Android apps can repackaged to run on QNX. I thought iOS apps were based on C++, so shouldn't it be possible for iOS developers to simply repackage their apps so that they can run on QNX?

    If RIM can find a way to make it easy for iOS developers to expand their audience to all Blackberry devices running QNX, in the long run, RIM could leapfrog everyone in the app department and start a new era of non-proprietary apps. This gives developers more power in who they write for.

    This is in a way Apple's best innovation, making it easy to write apps. RIM could take it step further and make it a no-brainer to easily repackage your app for App world.

    What are your thoughts?
    08-22-11 10:51 AM
  2. FMB8900's Avatar
    It could happen... have you read Joseph Holder's Blog post back in July about the Android app player and Blackberry Choice?

    It all boils down to a choice for developers. Applications on the PlayBook can be written in a variety of languages and platforms. Adobe Flash CS5 creates apps that run on iOS, Android OS, and BlackBerry Tablet OS all from the same source code. Soon, the Android App player will allow those Android developers an entirely new market to sell their apps. Purportedly, only very minor changes will be required to port those apps to multiple operating systems.

    Release of the PlayBook's Native Development Kit will unlock the vast power of the C/C++ language. I do not use that term lightly. Add to that the luxurious user interfaces created by The Astonishing Tribe, baked right in to the development kit. According to QNX's Dan Dodge, applications that run on the Linux or Mac OS X platforms, should be simple to port the BlackBerry Tablet OS. In short, the PlayBook will be able to run some very powerful apps.
    You can read it here: What the Android App Player means for BlackBerry

    Its going to be a very exciting/interesting future for BlackBerry users and developers, but I think RIM is taking one step at a time releasing the NDK, the Android App Player, and getting QNX Handhelds out first before trying to get iOS apps on the playbook.
    chiefbroski likes this.
    08-22-11 11:19 AM
  3. Danf's Avatar
    I believe it is because Android is an open source platform so making an app that emulates the Software so Android apps can run on blackberry is not a problem. IOS however is a proprietary OS so they can't just make an IOS simulator to run IOS apps on without running afoul of Apple and the inevitable lawsuit.
    08-22-11 11:21 AM
  4. lnichols's Avatar
    I'm sure it could play them if a player were developed, but iOS isn't licensed out, and it isn't OpenSource, so I don't think they could do it without getting sued.
    08-22-11 12:04 PM
  5. DenverRalphy's Avatar
    I'm no expert, but the QNX OS can apparently run Java, C, C++, Flash stuff and pretty much most of the common dev platforms available. RIM has already told us that Android apps can repackaged to run on QNX. I thought iOS apps were based on C++, so shouldn't it be possible for iOS developers to simply repackage their apps so that they can run on QNX?
    C and C++ are programming languages, not an operational platform. You can write programs/apps in C/C++ for virtually any OS/Platform, then they are compiled into proprietary machine code for a specific operating system. A program written in C++ and compiled for iOS can't just be dropped onto an Android or QNX device since they are not compiled for those operating systems. The developer would have to re-write (port) the C/C++ code to be compatible with a compiler built for the respective operating systems. This entails a significant amount of work, and some developers do this already, but it's significantly more work than just repackaging the product. Especially if the developer makes heavy use of the OS' prebuilt development library.

    Java is both a language and a runtime environment. So the process of porting apps is somewhat easier, as in theory Java runtime environments are supposed to be cross platform, but in the mobile industry each platform has developed their own proprietary runtime environment (jre) or virtual machine (jvm) which are heavily modified.

    Android is released under an open license that anybody can freely utilize, so it's no problem for RIM to incorporate a virtual instance of Android on their devices. iOS on the other hand is proprietary and is not free to install on devices other than Apple products.
    Last edited by rmjones101; 08-22-11 at 12:37 PM.
    chiefbroski likes this.
    08-22-11 12:33 PM
  6. chiefbroski's Avatar
    Even though iOS is not open-source, the apps themselves belong to the developers. The developers would like to make their app available to the largest audience. Its completely legal to take a developer's app (with permission of the developer course) and try find a way to package it so it runs on QNX in a sandbox.

    Apple didn't just "create" iOS out of nothing. RIM can create an effective sandbox for those iOS apps, but that may take lots of time to create. Android is naturally easier because it was freely available, so RIM's taking it and modifying it.

    I just wonder if that's possible...because an undertaking of that kind is true innovation. It's breaking down barriers between platforms....one OS to rule them all. LOL. But it also may not be worth the effort with all those android apps.
    08-22-11 12:47 PM
  7. DenverRalphy's Avatar
    Apple didn't just "create" iOS out of nothing. RIM can create an effective sandbox for those iOS apps, but that may take lots of time to create. Android is naturally easier because it was freely available, so RIM's taking it and modifying it.

    I just wonder if that's possible...because an undertaking of that kind is true innovation. It's breaking down barriers between platforms....one OS to rule them all. LOL. But it also may not be worth the effort with all those android apps.
    Actually, they pretty much did. Well as close to it as you can get. It was derived from Mac OS X which they own. Which in turn was derived from BSD. It has evolved over the years to the point that there is probably nothing of its roots left that wasn't developed by Apple.
    08-22-11 12:53 PM
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