[CoquiPeru]

Hello everybody!!

I see on the web a lot of excitement among BlackBerry users regarding the new leak version, it seems that with this new version which is BETA for now, we can download APK files thanks to a third party store, we all know that Google is infested of Malware, if we are able to download Android apps on BlackBerry, aren't we opening the gates to Malware to enter into our smartphones?

I see people with Android phones with anti-virus installed, which I found weird at the beginning because I never had to install anything similar on my BB and now it seems to be a common thing.

By the way, I'm a consumer.

[SEAWARRIOR]

edit/allow permissions carefully, & you'll be fine,,, if you don't like how much/what info it's asking for, ditch the app...

[CoquiPeru]

Regarding the permissions, I think I've been doing my homework very well, I don't let any developer to have access to my phone's information, such as contacts, PIN #, device #, pictures, files, etc.
If that's all that requires to stay safe, then Android apps are welcome.

[jpvj]

IMHO there are two issues to address when installing an app:

1) Android apps cannot be denied any specific of the requested permissions. It's either all or nothing. This is a bit different than native apps. So be carefull to read what permissions are required and deny the app is you don't feel comfortable with the requested permissions.

2) OS security: A malicious app itself may utilize a weakness in the operating system and gain root access or at least access outside it's container. So far I have not heard of any breaches in BB10 (a very early exploit was found, reported and fixed. I think it was xsacha that found it during early BB10 beta days). BlackBerry would definitively fix it very fast if one was found.

If you choose to install apps from the big vendors they are assumably more safe to play around with than from an small, unknown developer.

So go ahead and enjoy your access to a large number of working Android apps.

[BKA22]

Well there are certainly plenty of anti virus options for android. Given the fact that we're now loading these android apps that do not allow us to change permissions, would it be wise to install one of the anti virus apps?

Z10

[CoquiPeru]

I really think, we no longer have a choice but to download (or buy) a good anti-virus, is Max Mobile Security ready for all the crap from Android? what really sucks is that even if the anti-virus doesn't find any malware, we still cannot control the permissions we want to allow to the developer.
Is it really so difficult to make native apps for BlackBerry?