[wout000]

This has baffled me since the beginning of the BlackBerry OS 10 release and I continue to be baffled.

I don't get why BlackBerry isn't being proactive in their crusade to get Android apps in BlackBerry World.
I'm sure they're doing some work but they're not being very vocal about it and as far as I know we haven't seen any results so far.

It has become so easy to convert an APK file to BAR with minimal effort, even the CrackBerry forum users are doing it without any major problems. Apps like Snapchat, Instagram and Vine all run on BB10 albeit with quirks but nothing so severe that renders the app unusable.

What if...

BlackBerry sent emails/letters/texts/whatever to Android developers asking for permission to automatically convert their app for them. Every app that works 100% gets added to BlackBerry World courtesy of the developer of course for all of us to download, and every app that has some quirks or proves to be inconvertible gets a follow up with a BlackBerry Dev to adapt it so it can eventually be converted.

Honestly, I don't mind if it's an android port as long as it works 100% and is smooth when running, something the leaked Android runtime proves is possible.

I have just converted my main Bank's mobile banking app without a hitch, everything works perfectly and smoothly. I contacted them asking about their BlackBerry plans, they mentioned they had none, I replied that I have their app running on my BlackBerry smooth as butter with every functionality and they became interested and started asking questions...

I reckon a lot of Android developers / companies don't offer a BlackBerry app (ported) just because they haven't got the slightest clue this can be done. BlackBerry needs to really step up it's game here and start advertising this possibility.

On a side note, Frank Boulben has to go. He has proven himself worthless since the time he became CMO and hasn't produced any positive results. I'd sure like to see his work evaluation... :/

[pkcable]

I think a lot of Android developers just don't see a market, and that's why THEY have not done it themselves, BUT I do like your idea. Not sure BBRY wants or has the resources to devote to the project however.

[ubizmo]

I've also wondered why these apps that demonstrably work don't get put into App World, since the effort to do so would be negligible. There have been some other threads on this question and the only halfway plausible answer I've seen is that these developers won't want to be responsible for support and updates on a platform that they may perceive as shaky. Listing the app is only the beginning. If they are concerned that problems are more likely in a non-native Android environment, they probably worry that support costs would cancel revenues, given the small user base.

That's just a guess, of course.

[wout000]

I think a lot of Android developers just don't see a market, and that's why THEY have not done it themselves, BUT I do like your idea. Not sure BBRY wants or has the resources to devote to the project however.

Regardless of market or not, it's a 2-click process. This just shows a lack of BBRY engagement IMHO.

I've also wondered why these apps that demonstrably work don't get put into App World, since the effort to do so would be negligible. There have been some other threads on this question and the only halfway plausible answer I've seen is that these developers won't want to be responsible for support and updates on a platform that they may perceive as shaky. Listing the app is only the beginning. If they are concerned that problems are more likely in a non-native Android environment, they probably worry that support costs would cancel revenues, given the small user base.

That's just a guess, of course.

It's basically running on Android...So any improvements to the Android app will automatically be transfered to the BBRY app. Any bugs found in the BBRY app will most likely also be in the Android app and if not, there will always be a BBRY dev team to help out.
Existing FAQ's for an Android app just need to be copied and Android replaced by BBRY...

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

I think a lot of Android developers just don't see a market, and that's why THEY have not done it themselves, BUT I do like your idea. Not sure BBRY wants or has the resources to devote to the project however.

And I kinda agree with them... but if it is as simple as BB says that it is and even if they only sold a few apps it would be worth it. I understand that there are some large app developers where even a few thousand downloads wouldn't mean much. But I've contacted a couple of developers of some small programs that are specific to my industry. I bet they don't sell more than a few hundred apps a month, so an influx of 10 or 20 new users ever month would be big. One of the Apps works fine Sideloaded - got a co worker to send me the APK, I would have paid for it if it were available, but by not porting it over he lost at least one sale.

Of course this was all back at launch when there was a lot of buzz about BB10. Now I wouldn't' blame a developer for not touching the platform.

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

Sorry but I think you're going about this backwards. BB should--and I believe could--make BB10 devices look like just another Android device to Android App Store. You would simply run App Store and install any Android app you want. Don't bother converting apps to run in the player, make the player look like an Android device.

Google would not allow it!

They want you to have the full Google Experience... and feed you all the paid ads they can while you are getting it. Revenue from the App Store and in app purchases in miniscule compared to the revenue they get feeding you ads while you use the browser, gmail, maps... And maybe not as much today on mobile, as what they will be able to do in the future as device and networks mature. Google, Microsoft and Apple all have a LONG game in mind.

They would allow BlackBerry access if they were running a "slightly" modified version of Android... but then you would be better off buying a much more powerful HTC or Samsung device.

[Troy Tiscareno]

Sorry but I think you're going about this backwards. BB should--and I believe could--make BB10 devices look like just another Android device to Android App Store. You would simply run App Store and install any Android app you want. Don't bother converting apps to run in the player, make the player look like an Android device.

While Android is open-source, without the non-open-source Google components, which requires a Google license (which comes with a number of conditions, most of which would disqualify BB), you can't have Play Store access. Play Store access requires Google certification, which requires running a certifiable Android (only) OS, plus pre-installing Google's apps and services, and a bunch of other things.

Google isn't dumb. They aren't going to let other companies come in and steal their store as they please. They have plenty of infrastructure to prevent that. And while you can get around that with side-loading, that's allowed for development purposes. Sideloading will never be a consumer solution.

[wout000]

Google Play Store access is never going to happen. They need to be proactive about this and just do it so BlackBerry users can simply open up App World and download a converted app without even knowing it... That's customer service and being actively involved.

Posted via CB10

[ubizmo]

It's basically running on Android...So any improvements to the Android app will automatically be transfered to the BBRY app. Any bugs found in the BBRY app will most likely also be in the Android app and if not, there will always be a BBRY dev team to help out.
Existing FAQ's for an Android app just need to be copied and Android replaced by BBRY...

I think this is true in some cases, but not others. We see that some versions of Android apps run when sideloaded, but others don't. There's no guarantee that when an Android app is updated, the updated version will still run in the BB10 Android runtime environment. I suspect that in most cases, the needed adjustments would be minor, but it appears that many developers just don't want to take on the added work. In particular, they don't want the support tickets when something doesn't work.

At least, I can't think of any other remotely plausible reason why they wouldn't port apps to BB World.

The Kindle app has been in BB World since launch. It has never been updated, to my knowledge. The Android version that's in Google Play has been updated a few times since then. Amazon apparently couldn't be bothered to update the BB World copy, but it's still there making money. In contrast, they haven't ported the Audible app at all, even though it runs just fine sideloaded on BB10, and they know this. That's just incomprehensible, but that's the way it is.