[dejanh]

Let me be very clear about this. These will not be PIN locked, and they will not have a whitelist built in. To have a built in white list means that during each production run for the PRIV, BlackBerry would need to get the exact list of all PINs and update the app every time these devices are shipped. That's ludicrous. At best, it may be checking a hardware identifier, however that is extremely doubtful. You guys are fooling yourselves into thinking that these are somehow special compared to *literally* the rest of the Play Store. I understand it, because you want to feel like the PRIV is special. It is special in its own way, but not because it runs these apps. For those that actually want these, there will be a way to run them on non BlackBerry devices.

[BeetrootJulip]

If BlackBerry is smart, they would release a paid suite of BlackBerry Apps asap prior to the XDA community reverse engineering these APK files and spreading them for free (which is inevitable).

I'd gladly pay somewhere around $10 (maybe more) for a suite containing the Launcher, Hub and Keyboard. Think about the possibility with millions of Android devices out there on the return they could realize.

They better act fast before the ship sails and the free files are released.

Posted via CB10

$10? Lol

Posted via CB10

[cgk]

App rather than services tend to make pocket change - Swiftkey* the most successful keyboard (three million paid users over... em.. five years? five right?) has made about $10 million and the last I checked isn't profitable.



* ironically Swiftkey exists because the creator saw someone tapping away on PKB blackberry....

[BeetrootJulip]

I can't install Blend on my 6" Android phone. Even if I download the APK from another source, it won't run unless I'm using it on a 7"+ tablet.

[tickerguy]

Let me be very clear about this. These will not be PIN locked, and they will not have a whitelist built in. To have a built in white list means that during each production run for the PRIV, BlackBerry would need to get the exact list of all PINs and update the app every time these devices are shipped. That's ludicrous. At best, it may be checking a hardware identifier, however that is extremely doubtful. You guys are fooling yourselves into thinking that these are somehow special compared to *literally* the rest of the Play Store. I understand it, because you want to feel like the PRIV is special. It is special in its own way, but not because it runs these apps. For those that actually want these, there will be a way to run them on non BlackBerry devices.

We shall see.

It is trivially simple to have a set of framework services in your ROM that are supplied by the vendor (BlackBerry), and which these sorts of APKs call.

Without them it won't run. If those frameworks (which are NOT on the Play Store) validate themselves the same way that the rest of the BlackBerry OS does (via cryptographic signature) and are dependent on kernel services that are similarly validated then extracting them is a fruitless venture unless you also steal and transplant the underlying OS and frameworks, stripping the cryptography checks in the process.

I find it amusing that people think the XDA folks will have some special "in" on this; the means by which one can decompile an APK are well-known and nothing special; those tools are in the public domain just as is the toolchain to compile and sign an APK.

But that won't help you if BlackBerry has implemented these apps using services that are native to their Priv software build, and we know that they did that in securing both the kernel and the rest of the operating environment. It would be silly not to use those services, having put forward the effort to develop them.

As for my knowledge of this matter I've ported Android twice on two different phones because I didn't like being orphaned by the manufacturer -- one a Samsung device and the second a Motorola one. I'm very familiar with the internals of how Android works and what a manufacturer can do to frustrate those who want to try to take a component and use it on another device should they so choose to block it.

[dave gomez]

BlackBerry is doing a great job with the transition in my opinion. They are giving us tweaks here and there to make this as painless as possible !


Posted via CB10

[darkehawke]

I don't get it. These apps I assume will already be installed on the Priv. Why post it on the Play Store if not to make it available to other Android phones?

Aaaargh! All this does is generate more questions about Blackberry than answers!

Motorola does the same thing with it's stock apps.
Blackberry Priv will not be able to get Moto Voice even though it's on the play store just like the X wont get the Hub.

Certain apps are limited to specific devices.

The reason OEM's are starting to put them on the play store is for faster updates.

Before OEMs would update their apps as part of a software release which then had to be approved by the carrier.

By putting these apps on the play store, Blackberry can push out individual updates via Google play, without having to package it in a software update and await carrier approval.

This means these apps can be updated straight away, whereas on BB10 and before, Blackberry would build a software update over time before releasing it for approval to various carriers who "test" it at a snail's pace before releasing it to us.

It's a smart move by blackberry

[DroidBerryGuy]

Can anyone pull the hub jpg so I can use it as a icon until my priv comes in? I downloaded it from playstore but it has a black background.

[DroidBerryGuy]

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/yN...uqdgjA=w300-rw

That is the icon, however, when I save it from my browser and try to use it with Nova, it has a black background.

[southlander]

So BlackBerry can do updates directly rather than wait for the carriers, which is an excellent move.

Posted via CB10

It is becoming standard practice I think. Google did this with some of the core Android functionality a while back. Moved it from the core OS into apps so that it could push to devices without going through the carriers' approval processes. Smart for BB to do it as well.

[CrackberryQ]

And who said that BBID was just for BBM on PRIV??? Seems that BlackBerry services are required to run the BlackBerry apps and hence the need for both BBID and Google accounts.

Posted via CB10

[BB-JAM215]

And who said that BBID was just for BBM on PRIV??? Seems that BlackBerry services are required to run the BlackBerry apps and hence the need for both BBID and Google accounts.

KInd of like Google Play Services for BlackBerry.

[00stryder]

And who said that BBID was just for BBM on PRIV??? Seems that BlackBerry services are required to run the BlackBerry apps and hence the need for both BBID and Google accounts.

Posted via CB10

I don't recall anybody saying that? Either way, I think it was the content mover app that was just released on BBW that showed that the BBID would be required to authorize transferring data from a BB10 device to the Priv, so it'll be used in other areas too. Likely DTEK and Protect (or however they decide to call it on Android) too.

Posted via CB10

[BB-JAM215]

... I think it was the content mover app that was just released on BBW that showed that the BBID would be required to authorize transferring data from a BB10 device to the Priv, so it'll be used in other areas too. Likely DTEK and Protect (or however they decide to call it on Android) too.

BlackBerry Services would then be providing security for both the user's data and BlackBerry's copyright.

[motec bb]

Can anyone pull the hub jpg so I can use it as a icon until my priv comes in? I downloaded it from playstore but it has a black background.

Ur welcome

Posted via CB10

[Donvald]

We shall see.

It is trivially simple to have a set of framework services in your ROM that are supplied by the vendor (BlackBerry), and which these sorts of APKs call.

Without them it won't run. If those frameworks (which are NOT on the Play Store) validate themselves the same way that the rest of the BlackBerry OS does (via cryptographic signature) and are dependent on kernel services that are similarly validated then extracting them is a fruitless venture unless you also steal and transplant the underlying OS and frameworks, stripping the cryptography checks in the process.

I find it amusing that people think the XDA folks will have some special "in" on this; the means by which one can decompile an APK are well-known and nothing special; those tools are in the public domain just as is the toolchain to compile and sign an APK.

But that won't help you if BlackBerry has implemented these apps using services that are native to their Priv software build, and we know that they did that in securing both the kernel and the rest of the operating environment. It would be silly not to use those services, having put forward the effort to develop them.

As for my knowledge of this matter I've ported Android twice on two different phones because I didn't like being orphaned by the manufacturer -- one a Samsung device and the second a Motorola one. I'm very familiar with the internals of how Android works and what a manufacturer can do to frustrate those who want to try to take a component and use it on another device should they so choose to block it.

You are completely naive. If these apps are any good and wanted by the wider android community, they will be ripped. They will be cooked into custom roms. They will be free to download. If they need to be cracked, they will be cracked. There are far more accomplished software designers with far more valuable apps that have them cracked in no time.

Almost anything on Google play can be obtained for free. Any long time Android user that is familiar with the OS will tell you the same. But more relevantly, its unlikely that the Priv software will supersede anything currently available on the platform, so the conversation is almost irrelevant.

I can actually envisage blackberry Priv users downloading CyanogenMod Roms for a cleaner experience, rather than current Android users, flocking to the Priv software offering which unfortunately, and going by Blackberry's history, will be bug ridden, slow to be updated, battery draining Also rans.

[BB-JAM215]

You are completely naive. If these apps are any good and wanted by the wider android community, they will be ripped. They will be cooked into custom roms. They will be free to download. If they need to be cracked, they will be cracked. There are far more accomplished software designers with far more valuable apps that have them cracked in no time. ....

So does Samsung or Nexus for example have any propriety apps that are coveted by users with other brands of hardware?

If so, are these apps available to anyone who wants them?

[SC2Bud]

I was hoping they would price the keyboard and hub.

My guess is this would be the case if they were to launch it for non-BB devices. More incentive to buy BlackBerry android phones.

[DroidBerryGuy]

Ur welcome

Posted via CB10

Thank you but when I save it and try to use it as an icon, it has a white background. Not sure how I can save it and use it as an icon without it having a background.

[DroidBerryGuy]

So does Samsung or Nexus for example have any propriety apps that are coveted by users with other brands of hardware?

If so, are these apps available to anyone who wants them?

While most apps can be modded and used on all devices, some can't. Like with Samsung, many apps that are ripped from a phone can only be used with TouchWiz. Not sure how these will be.

[00stryder]

Thank you but when I save it and try to use it as an icon, it has a white background. Not sure how I can save it and use it as an icon without it having a background.

I'm not sure you can? Unless you were to duplicate your home screen background and piece out the approximate area where you plan on placing the icon, which would virtually make it "invisible."

Posted via CB10

[00stryder]

I can actually envisage blackberry Priv users downloading CyanogenMod Roms for a cleaner experience, rather than current Android users, flocking to the Priv software offering which unfortunately, and going by Blackberry's history, will be bug ridden, slow to be updated, battery draining Also rans.

Assuming those hardware checks/pin doesn't prevent modding the OS (and maintaining a functioning phone), which I suspect they do.

Posted via CB10

[BB-JAM215]

While most apps can be modded and used on all devices, some can't. Like with Samsung, many apps that are ripped from a phone can only be used with TouchWiz. Not sure how these will be.

So then if some Samsung apps can't be used on other phones, then it would be reasonable to assume that apps for the Priv by BlackBerry would also not be able to be used on other phones?

[BB-JAM215]

Thank you but when I save it and try to use it as an icon, it has a white background. Not sure how I can save it and use it as an icon without it having a background.

First you need to make the background transparent in a program like Photoshop, then you need to save it in a file format other than JPG that supports transparency such as PNG or ICO. Try this.

[DroidBerryGuy]

First you need to make the background transparent in a program like Photoshop, then you need to save it in a file format other than JPG that supports transparency such as PNG or ICO. Try this.

I am getting black background on it as well. Thanks for trying!