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Hello,
I'm relatively new here, but as i notice that ported Android apps don't work so well.
What bothers me, is that in the App world there is no way to see if an app is orginal PB made or a ported Android app.
I would like to try original RIM-apps first, and if nothing exists or not good enough then try a ported one. Not the other way around. I'm losing tons of time!
you can only detect it by name and look of the UI... many android apps look like android apps :) but if you have never used android it may be hard to tell.
A Solution would be to google the app name.
Imho. If so, then stupid choice. They spoil the own nest. Why not work with sources like Linux/Ubuntu does?
Its up to the Developer to put the correct information in the Appworlds 'App description'
Whats it matter if its an android app, some work very well. We have the choice of web works, adobe air or native apps. The most important thing is that its well written. I get a little annoyed about all the people slating android apps.
Yes, some are utterly rubbish, but then some of the native apps are too. Its thanks to android apps, in part,that there are now some 89000 apps in our world.
Be grateful :)
I, too, would like to know. Currently, they do not multitask like native apps and if the Android Player is locked up, you have to wait for the timeout/reloading or use 3rd party tools to recover.
Actually, I _THINK_ folks have said Rim does not allow programmmers to id apps as android but I'm not sure if that is true.
There you have it. Little nuance.
We are very happy that the android apps are there, no doubt. It's a great thing. It has also been a great pro argument for buying the PB. Mayby I've never been more grateful in my life. ;-)))
But the difference between the native apps and ported apps should be visible at a blink. In Ubuntu you have also tens of thousands of apps in the repositories. So? It's great for a community, which is very important, but as a single user, this is a only a "nice to have". What bothers me most is my personal "must have" 10 applications.
I am concerned that a non-advanced user that runs an Android app on the PB, an App that does not make it (stalls, points you to android market, is not able to install themes/add-ons, etc...) is only drawing the conclusion "PB is not working well". He or she does not bother if it Android, Rim, IOS, or whatever.
And you know. I client is only a real client if he buys twice. Isn't that exactly the problem of RIM nowadays?
Even more. If I'm an app builder, and see that all Apps are treated equally, would I bother making a PB-version?
The only thing that's needed is an extra option in the App-manager: include or exclude ported apps. As a novice PB user, I could be terribly wrong. Lighten my up.
Nobody said anything about getting rid of the apps, we just want a way to IDENTIFY them.
Ignoring the fact that a native android app would obviously be inferior to a native version, there are a variety of reasons you specifically wouldn't want an android version. Say you download an android music player and an android game, you want to listen to your music while playing a game. Not that difficult right? Except that the game will cancel out the music as it's one active android program at a time.
Be grateful? For what? Useless repetition? Sorry I'm not grateful but disappointed in the endless list of converters, hangman games and other useless crap that got ported to App World so someone could get a free PlayBook and never come back to fix their mess.
The number is a false representation to satisfy the predatory press and nothing more. Do the math most Android apps on any Android device are crap because the OS is. I've been on an excellent Galaxy tablet and felt the hardware was never fairly represented by the OS or the apps.
Ya got to have a quality OS to build quality apps on and Android ain't it. So yes let us know its Android so we don't have to waste a lot of time weeding out the weeds.
If you're a dev then don't be lazy and ruin your credibility. If you've got a killer app then by all means bring it native to our BlackBerry App World and we will be very grateful.
RIM rejects any app with Android in the description, icon, title or inside the app. Thats why they rejected my Reset Android app to reinit Android.
Devs who add these labels get told to change it unfortunately...
i thank you for confirming what I suspected...and this IS unfortunate:(
As the original post implied, confirmed by other users including myself, the android ported apps are simply unstable on a playbook. I don't blame the Devs and I don't blame the PlayBook but the problem is obvious and I am growing more irritated by downloading a ported app only to delete it soon after due to being, stalled/frozen/unusable...hardly a way to make a new BB and PB enthusiast like myself encouraged by my present choices.
If this low app quality continuous to undermine my general happiness with the playbook, I will look elsewhere for my next upgrade when I am ready to invest.
Well, I'm running OS 2.1, and I find that android apps generally run very stable on my PB. And I've got over 80 android apps loaded on my PB, the majority of them sideloaded apps. As far as native apps being better than ported android apps, this is certainly not necessarily true. As far as I'm concerned, the best file browser for the playbook is Ghost Commander, an android app, which can do things no native file browser can and can do other things either better or easier than any native file browser can. I have four map apps on my PB, the native Bing Maps and the android apps Google Maps, Osmand, and MapDroid. The three android apps all allow for downloading of maps for offline use, while Bing won't even open if you're offline. How Bing can be considered better than these android apps , I don't know. How many people here prefer, for various reasons, the sideloaded Kindle reader app over Kobo? The point is, if you refuse to use the android apps, you're probably missing out on a lot. If an app does what you want and gives your PB greater functionality, what difference does it make whether it's native or android?
...the point is, if i wanted android apps i would buy an android tablet;
...the point is, i bought a playbook and did not intend use sideloading and i expect it to work as set up in the factory without undue risk of sideloading.
...the point is, the current latest operation system available to me and to those who don't
use dev mode, is still unstable with most android apps
and the real point is, that if an average technical proficiency user (which i'll risk to designate are a majority) is experiencing problems with android apps,they have the right to know which apps are ported and which are not without wasting so much time.
I'm very glad android apps are available for the pb for those that want them. It would be nice if we could have them identified as such in AppWorld and then be free to choose to use them or not. Wondering why RIM doesn't want to tell us outright and make things easier? :(
I find milage will vary for different folks with Android. 2.0 users can only run one at a time. And the Android side can get itself bunged up.
Sideloading Android app can and does break backups depending on the apps.
And users who have upgraded from 1.x to 2.0 without a secure wipe have been experience many more problems with the Android side. See the bug for example where Android data saves are "wiping" periodically for folks.. Thats a good reason to avoid it.
Personally, i would much rather a local ndk or as3 app. I find they run better and I hate the look of Android and its menu systems (black box with white text, really? I appreciate the msdos look, but really...). And when buying apps i dont want to pay some android dev another 1.99 for 30 minutes of work when there are dedicated local devs around the corner.
I would love to see the apps segregated. I do own an Android tablet (4.0) and an iPad 2. I dont like Android ports because they are mostly useless and work better on my Android tanlet. Just my 2 cents.
Results up to now. 30 android apps installed. 16 are decently working. Does this mean that Android apps "generally" run?
Initializing. Please wait. I dont' think so.
:)
In case you need it, i do have a few apps ive created to reset the android side --- look for overload bar on the forums.
It doesnt fix the problems, but its at least a bandaid sometimes.
The one Android app I do love is Legends of Yore. I have a few OK ones. The rest I dont really use.
It shouldn't be every android app should come with a disclaimer
And I get a little annoyed at people who feel the need to attack those who voice a pretty accurate statement that most android apps work very poorly on PlayBook and some not at all. If android apps are so good why do their developers not advertise that fact?