[notfanboy]

There was a lot of debate about this in the beginning. Some people thought it would reduce the incentive for developers to make native apps. Some liked the idea of having a ready-made market of apps. Some just hated the idea of Android on their devices. Some thought that as a marketing feature, it took care of the objection in customer's minds that that the PB app market was barren compared to iOS and Android.

Looking back, do you think it was a good thing or a bad thing? Did you think it was a bad idea at first but changed your mind later? What about vice versa.

In my opinion, my unequivocal answer is that it's a good thing. First of all I would rather have more choice than less choice. Even if it disincetivized developers from making native apps, I think the overall net effect was that the PB user ended up with more apps.

[BB_Bmore]

Choice is always a good thing Imo.

[madman0141]

I liked it and some of the droid stuff is good but there is definently a quality difference between droid and BlackBerry. Native is much better.

[rackeonracke]

It was a great choice. I have a feeling that lots of the big name apps that will be on BB10 will be in Android form. It's a great way to get your feet wet in BB.

[James Nieves]

If BB10 is successful the Android Runtime could single handily destroy Google. Those OEMs that arent having success with Android (almost every OEM but Samsung) can look at BB10 for licensing and still utilize Android for what we wish. As I've said multiple times and as recently quoted by Tim Neil to N4BB. RIM is tracking the Android Source currently at jellybean 4.1. Imagine a jellybean runtime floating within BB10. The possibilities with their new OS are really endless.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9900 using Tapatalk

[rupam95]

The Android Player was the worst decision RIM have made!!!

You can can't just add another OS to a year old hardware and expect it to improve performance... you can't break the rule of Physics. I wonder how much memory and storage i would save if they removed the android player. Most likely about 200mb of RAM.


This also allows Devs port their android apps so easy that they just submit their app and no updates or news are later received; most of them are half-baked as well. Android apps will never be as good as the Native ones. Moreover, two UI's in one device is FUGLY. Android UI is just terrible (period)

[rupam95]

It was a great choice. I have a feeling that lots of the big name apps that will be on BB10 will be in Android form. It's a great way to get your feet wet in BB.

Yes, but the the android apps are never going to feel as good as the Natives. I'm never going to pay for an Android App on my new BB10.

[NFLPLAYBOOK]

An Android app would have to a must killer app with no other choices to be installed on my PlayBook. I research ever app I download and remove anything Android. I want the best experience of QNX and a port just won't do that.

[Michel Souris]

The only full email implementation is Android...
The only really good free chess and solitaire apps are Android ....
The only really good free ereaders are Android ...
The only really good free file managers are Android ...
Get the idea ... ?

[DC506]

Choice is always a good thing Imo.

I totally agree....choice is good.
If you install an app, android or native, and you don't like it.......delete it.

[esk369]

I haven't as yet had the kay nays to try the sideloading thing might try it but enjoy my pb as is for now and when I want droid I use my t300 but I have to agree with the folks who say choice is a good thing.
I'm looking at a 32gigitty touch pad to play around with.

[Bold_until_Hybrid_Comes]

i didn't spend any time developing the player. So I didn't lose anything. I also don't use the player so I didn't gain anything directly from the player. Indirectly it perhaps was the deciding factor for some people to buy the playbook. It can run apps from two eco systems.

So I think it was a good idea, but those who spent their time making it are the ones who will have the burden of truly deciding if it was worth it.

[anon3969612]

Yes,

Last year I sideloaded an Android telnet app, a Remote Desktop app and a very specific Android remote control (AVR Remote) for my Marantz theatre tuner. All of these apps allowed my PB to be used for specific daily tasks I wanted. As time went on, these apps were officially ported over to App World in PB .bar format by the developers. They run a bit better than the sideloaded versions, but the original sideloaded apps worked fine. Allowed my PB to be much more flexible around the house and on the road as a control device. I just loaded rplayer lite from App World, the only solution I could find for streaming .pls files from the internet to my digital player piano... I have a *very* narrow focus for apps

The android player has been a big part of the PB for out there apps.

[bay1902]

Simple answer....YES

Why - demonstrates exceptional capacity, insight from RIM, opens doors to new developers and users (such as myself and many others on here); provides accessibility to a number of decent apps, as Bold_until_Hybrid_Comes states - allows for people to use 2 eco systems; shall I go on. Yes this is my opinion, however the improvements seen in 2.1's runtime allow apps to effectively stand alongside natives. Why do you need more RAM? Is the PB too slow for you? Not bashing but am curious by this comment. In retrospect if RIM shouted about this more than it did the capacity to play flash in its marketing then more people would know about it & consider their options. Yes it isn't perfect, yes some apps fail, but on the whole it is a fantastic capacity.

I am sure more tweaks will occur in BB10 - maybe even full apk integration (wishful thinking, but no issue with sideloading). If the spin and marketing crew get it right, if refinements can be made & updates for accommodate (at a minimum) the JB 4.04 kernel then there would be a Google killer here and people would look up & shout "wow, I cant buy any app for this elsewhere".

Again this is my opinion, I love it, I am happy with it, all my fave android apps run with it, why would I complain & why is this a bad idea? It shows foresight, innovation and possibility - just badly marketed! If you could update the kernel without a fresh install of the OS - now that would be amazing! Add to this Brine (if it EVER shows itself) then isheep and android users would have serious facepalm moments.

[DC506]

I haven't as yet had the kay nays to try the sideloading thing might try it but enjoy my pb as is for now and when I want droid I use my t300 but I have to agree with the folks who say choice is a good thing.
I'm looking at a 32gigitty touch pad to play around with.

There's nothing to sideloading. I tried it the first week I had my Playbook. I found it similar to loading epub files onto my Kobo using Calibre. If I had to guess, I would say my apps are 50/50, native and android. And that's repeated on 3 Playbooks.

I appreciate the variety of choice and as I stated earlier, if I don't like a particular app, I get rid of it. And carry on with life

[rkennedy01]

The only full email implementation is Android...
The only really good free chess and solitaire apps are Android ....
The only really good free ereaders are Android ...
The only really good free file managers are Android ...
Get the idea ... ?

That piracy is rampant on Android and thus most apps are free or use in-app advertising?

Yeah, we got that...and thanks for all the free stuff, guys! Runs great on the PB!

RCK

[Harryl6134]

I voted yes. What's the big question? I use android apps such as the free Kindle app from Amazon,with good success. If there were a native app, I'd use it, even if I had to pay a reasonable price for it.

After all, Amazon is making money from me on my prime membership, movie rentals, e-book purchases, and mdse purchases.

[ynomrah]

That piracy is rampant on Android and thus most apps are free or use in-app advertising?

Yeah, we got that...and thanks for all the free stuff, guys! Runs great on the PB!

RCK

How you would not consider your statement complete hypocrisy is beyond me.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using Tapatalk 2

[rkennedy01]

There was a lot of debate about this in the beginning. Some people thought it would reduce the incentive for developers to make native apps. Some liked the idea of having a ready-made market of apps. Some just hated the idea of Android on their devices. Some thought that as a marketing feature, it took care of the objection in customer's minds that that the PB app market was barren compared to iOS and Android.

Looking back, do you think it was a good thing or a bad thing? Did you think it was a bad idea at first but changed your mind later? What about vice versa.

In my opinion, my unequivocal answer is that it's a good thing. First of all I would rather have more choice than less choice. Even if it disincetivized developers from making native apps, I think the overall net effect was that the PB user ended up with more apps.

I'm definitely on the "it's a good thing" bandwagon. Most of the apps I use on the PB are Android versions that I converted and side loaded myself. gReader Pro really has no equivalent native app. Neither does TapaTalk. The Android Twitter client is lean and efficient, while apps like RepliGo and ES File Explorer fill-in gaps left by the poorly conceived default offerings.

So, overall, the Android runtime has made life on the PB much more palatable to me. And given the PB's robust QNX underpinnings, I find that I actually prefer to run them here than on their native platform. In my experience, it's simply a more stable and reliable environment for running compatible Android apps.

RCK

[BB_Bmore]

Saw this too. Like you say just imagine BB10 with jelly bean on one device. Game...set...match..Everyone and their momma will be back on the Blackberry band Wagon

If BB10 is successful the Android Runtime could single handily destroy Google. Those OEMs that arent having success with Android (almost every OEM but Samsung) can look at BB10 for licensing and still utilize Android for what we wish. As I've said multiple times and as recently quoted by Tim Neil to N4BB. RIM is tracking the Android Source currently at jellybean 4.1. Imagine a jellybean runtime floating within BB10. The possibilities with their new OS are really endless.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9900 using Tapatalk

[howarmat]

overall it was good for instant app suppport...BUT i really think it has hindered better native app development which is what i really wanted to see. I have android phones and tablets if i want to run android apps/games. I bought the playook to see what the future holds for native QNX/BB10 development and so far that seems still quite behind of where I would like to see it.

[Thunderbuck]

overall it was good for instant app suppport...BUT i really think it has hindered better native app development which is what i really wanted to see. I have android phones and tablets if i want to run android apps/games. I bought the playook to see what the future holds for native QNX/BB10 development and so far that seems still quite behind of where I would like to see it.

While I understand your point of view, I don't quite share it. One simple question: how many Playbook users were ready to ditch the device before they discovered they could run Kindle? Probably a few thousand. There's probably a good 5 thousand decent app titles that wouldn't have been there were it not for this portability. As poor as Playbook sales have been, it would have been much worse had the Android Player not been around.

[southlander]

Probably on balance more good than bad. Without phones I couldn't have seen a lot of devs writing native apps for QNX-BBOS if it was just the PlayBook they could target; with it's small user base. I think there'd be a lot less apps. But RIM could have done without it as well financially and just waited for BB10 and had a native only PlayBook as it first launched. The PlayBook would have basically become the dev alpha in tablet form.

[howarmat]

While I understand your point of view, I don't quite share it. One simple question: how many Playbook users were ready to ditch the device before they discovered they could run Kindle? Probably a few thousand. There's probably a good 5 thousand decent app titles that wouldn't have been there were it not for this portability. As poor as Playbook sales have been, it would have been much worse had the Android Player not been around.

ooh i agree, the android apps saved the PB from even worse sales and adoption. There is no doubt about that. That is the good part of having the android player for sure.

[southlander]

ooh i agree, the android apps saved the PB from even worse sales and adoption. There is no doubt about that. That is the good part of having the android player for sure.

Right. What's harder to know if the "cost" in terms of the time it took -- the resources consumed. The design changes to the OS required and if that made it "less solid" in any way. The end result is fine I say.