Comments on: Does BlackBerry App World Give RIM the Web Working Edge?

By: WWD’s 2009 in Review, Part 1

WWD’s 2009 in Review, Part 1 — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:02:53 +0000

[...] it included the new Tracemonkey JavaScript engine, providing for much better web app performance. RIM launched the BlackBerry App World to try to compete with Apple’s App Store. In the “What’s In Your Bag?” [...]

By: Work Smarter Using iPhone Push Notifications

Work Smarter Using iPhone Push Notifications — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 16:01:08 +0000

[...] Darrell Etherington No Comments In the past I’ve been known to speak rashly. I actually declared the BlackBerry the victor in matters of mobile device web working, but a recent development in the iPhone world has me [...]

By: rob

rob — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 00:05:41 +0000

developers get a bigger cut off the profits on blackberry app world (80%) compared to the app world

By: Darren

Darren — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 17:18:48 +0000

Apple’s whole deal is that the content in the App Store is made by both big companies and one-man-bands. It costs $99 (for the Standard Program) to submit apps to iTunes — and, for people to legitimately download your app, it must be in the App Store.

For the BlackBerry you don’t need to be a part of App World to distribute your app. And it costs $200 for every 10 apps you submit to App World, including those that get rejected.

I don’t know if $100 will really be a deal breaker, but if a developer just wants to distribute a free productivity app, it might be better to not use App World.

By: tsieling

tsieling — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 16:57:18 +0000

> I’d just assumed that the many kinks that come along with the iPhone, specifically those surrounding not being able to run apps in the background, and the need to power cycle whenever you install to ensure proper functioning, were just part of the territory.

Personally I like that apps are prevented from running in the background, sucking down battery life and introducing god knows what kinds of instability on a device that I rely on heavily. I don’t want my phone to be a place where an app I’m curious about can set itself up and do things beyond my control. With the one-at-a-time format, apps can’t kill my phone because of some bad code.

As for having to power cycle whenever an app is installed, this seems strange. I install a few apps a month, at least, and have only cycled a handful of times in the 10 months I’ve had my iphone. I think this is more of a ritual brought on by some bad experiences than a necessary practice.

By: Ajay

Ajay — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 15:42:13 +0000

Nice article – totally agree with you. AppWorld is going to be a solid platform for productivity/ business related apps. Which means AW will head in a different direction than the iPhone AppStore, which has become an awesome gaming platform, but still not that great for getting stuff done. (I own both a BlackBerry and iPhone and experience this every day. :-) ).

Not that we won’t see anything consumer related on AW, but just probably not the rich 100MB games that you can already get on the iPhone.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 14:32:27 +0000

T1 Rex, You may have a point – to a point but the whole experience of searching, downloading and installing apps as well as paying for them is still very clunky compared to the iPhone experience. I have both. My Blackberry is the bold so I only have half the screen of the iPhone, that alone makes looking and using some of the Apps a much more pleasurable experience.

One reason I got the Blackberry was two-fold. One as a new media worker and consultant it behoved me to learn about one of the other major mobile platforms. Also I am carrying around 2 phones as the business partner I had left to start a new business and I am using the number she used as the official line and my iPhone and my personal line. I want two phones that looked different so I could tell them apart. I could have forwarded the other number but I don’t want to have to think about how I answer the phone.

By: T1 Rex

T1 Rex — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 06:49:59 +0000

If the available Blackberry apps start to rival the iPhone, then Blackberry gains an advantage since it is available for a variety of carriers in the US.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 03:12:38 +0000

I own both an iPhone and a Blackberry Bold. To be honest nothing beats the iPhone app store experience as well as the process of installing and loading apps however I have downloaded Blackberry App World and I’m glad it’s finally there. It’s still a bit clunky compared to the iPhone but a lot easier that it was before to find and download and app. I don’t dislike the Bold at all. I actually love it but in a different more “techie” way.