| BlackBerry World | |
|---|---|
 Home screen of BlackBerry World on BlackBerry Z10 | |
| Developer | BlackBerry Limited |
| Initial release | 30 July 2010; 15 years ago (2010-07-30) |
| Stable release | |
| Written in | Java,C++ |
| Operating system | BlackBerry OS,BlackBerry 10 OS,BlackBerry Tablet OS |
| Platform | BlackBerry |
| Size | 260,000+ apps (all OS) |
| Available in | 14 languages |
List of languages | |
| Type | Digital distribution |
| License | Proprietary |
| Website | BlackBerry World |
BlackBerry World was anapplication distribution service (app marketplace) byBlackBerry Limited. The service providedBlackBerry users with an environment to browse, download, and updatemobile apps, including third-party applications.
The service went live on 1 April 2009; 16 years ago (2009-04-01), originally namedBlackBerry App World. It worked withBlackBerry 10 devices, theBlackBerry PlayBook, and a majority ofBlackBerry OS devices. At one point in 2011, BlackBerry World had the largest revenue per app at $9,166.67, compared to its rivals ($6,562.50 byNokia Ovi Store, $6,480.00 byApple App Store and $1,200.00 byGoogle Android Market), although total revenue was lower than Apple App Store.[3]
BlackBerry devices after 2015 (with the release of theBlackBerry Priv) no longer use the BlackBerry 10operating system, but instead use theAndroid operating system with theGoogle Play store for app distribution instead. BlackBerry World servers alongside other BlackBerry services shut down in January 2022.[4]
In 2003, Research In Motion (RIM) (now known asBlackBerry Limited) launched theMobile Data Service to enable customers to accessJava-based third-party enterprise applications using the secure real-timepush-based BlackBerry infrastructure.
Later on 21 October 2008, RIM announced at the BlackBerry Developer Conference that the company would open an application store for their devices.[5] It was also announced that the store was scheduled to be open in March 2009, and would work in conjunction withPayPal's services. On 19 January 2009, RIM began accepting submissions of applications from developers.[6]
On 4 March 2009, RIM officially named the store 'BlackBerry App World'[7] (previously called the BlackBerry Application Storefront). It was also confirmed that the service would not initially be available for desktops, and only a web-based catalogue would be accessible from non-BlackBerry devices.
On 1 April 2009, at theCellular Telecommunications and Internet Association (CTIA) trade show, RIM announced that App World had gone live.[8]
At the BlackBerry-sponsored Wireless Symposium, it was announced that an average of one million apps were being downloaded each day.[9]
On 19 August 2010, BlackBerry App World 2.0 was released. This new version introduced BlackBerry ID; an account system that can be used on both the BlackBerry client, and the BlackBerry App World desktop storefront. In addition to BlackBerry ID, BlackBerry App World 2.0 also introduced direct credit card billing and carrier billing forAT&T Wireless subscribers.[citation needed]
On 3 December 2010, Research in Motion announced that daily downloads were two million apps per day.[10]
On 2 February 2011, BlackBerry App World 2.1 was released. This version introduced in-app purchases of digital goods, allowing for add-ons to be purchased within applications.[11]
On 21 January 2013, BlackBerry announced that it rebranded theBlackBerry App World to simplerBlackBerry World, as part of the release of theBlackBerry 10 operating system.[12]
On 18 June 2014, BlackBerry announced an official relationship withAmazon, which includes access toAmazon Appstore in BlackBerry 10.3.[13]
On 14 December 2017, BlackBerry announced that BlackBerry World would close at the end of 2019,[14] however the store was not closed, and continued to function as of August 2020.[15] On 1 April 2018, BlackBerry removed payment features from BlackBerry World.[16][17]
The store eventually closed in January 2022 with other BlackBerry 10 and BlackBerry OS services.[4]
At the beginning of 2011, 16,000 apps were available on BlackBerry App World. A year later, the app store passed 60,000 apps (January 2012), and a month later 70,000 apps (February 2012). At BlackBerry Jam in September 2012, RIM announced that App World had more than 105,000 apps.[citation needed]
In May 2013, at the Blackberry Live Conference, BlackBerry announced that over 120,000 apps for BlackBerry 10 were available to download from BlackBerry World.[citation needed]
Application verification was done for BlackBerry World apps about content and quality before is agreed to launch. About 85 percent of the verification was done inDenpasar,Bali,Indonesia.[18]
| date | downloads per day | downloads to date | available apps[19] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 Jul 2010[20] | 1,000,000 | 10,438 | |
| 27 Sep 2010[20] | 1,500,000 | ||
| 14 Feb 2011[20] | 2,000,000 | 26,179 | |
| 22 Mar 2011[20] | 3,000,000 | ||
| 12 Jul 2011[21] | 3,000,000 | 1,000,000,000 | 36,781 |
| 7 Feb 2012[22] | 6,000,000 | 2,000,000,000 | 67,310 |
| 8 Jul 2012[23] | 6,000,000+ | 3,000,000,000 | 77,501 |
| 31 Mar 2013 | 6,000,000+ | 4,000,000,000 | 135,000[24] |
| 23 Apr 2014 | 234,500[25] |
Research In Motion (RIM) announced that the store would initially be available in theUnited Kingdom,Canada, and theUnited States.[26] As of March 2013, BlackBerry World was available in 170 markets, and supported 23 currencies and 33 languages. Over 6 million applications were downloaded daily, with an aggregate of over 4 billion downloads to-date.
As of August 2020, BlackBerry World was available in 171 countries and territories.[27]
Applications were both free and paid; from $0.99, to $599.99 USD in the U.S.[28]
The store was available for the following BlackBerry devices that are updated toBlackBerry OS version 4.5.0 or higher:[26]
Users were initially allowed to archive their apps on aMicroSD, or oneMMC storage of certain BlackBerry smartphone models.[29] The archive to external memory card function was later removed with the release of App World 3.0.[30]
In 2010, Research In Motion (RIM) announced several new tools to make it easier for BlackBerry applications developers to build, simulate, deploy, and monetise feature-rich applications on the BlackBerry platform; including the BlackBerry Enterprise Application Development Platform, the next generation BlackBerry Web Application Platform,BlackBerry WebWorks Platform for the BlackBerry PlayBook™ Tablet and BlackBerry smartphones, and BlackBerry Payment Service, BlackBerry Push Service, BlackBerry Advertising Service, Location Service, Maps Services, Analytics Service, Scoreloop, BBM Social Platform Software Developer Kits,et al.
BlackBerry embraced open standards, and included a variety of open source libraries out of the box including:Lua,OpenAL,cocos2d-x, andBox2D, and has an open source repository that can be accessed at GitHub.com/blackberry. This open ecosystem helps developers target multiple platforms through partnerships withAppcelerator,Apache Cordova, dojo,jQuery Mobile, Marmalade, NME,Qt, and Sencha Touch.[31]
BlackBerry has changed its whole direction of development tools, mainly embracing theirC++ / Cascades as the 'native' road to developmobile apps for theirBlackBerry 10 platform.HTML5 is considered the almost-native second path for development. In April 2014, BlackBerry has announced to stop the support ofAdobe Air with the release of BlackBerry 10.3.1 to be released later 2014. From the time of the release of BlackBerry 10.3.1, it will not be possible to upload newAdobe Air-based apps to BlackBerry World.
| Devices |
| ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Services |
| ||||||||
| Executive team |
| ||||||||
