BlackBerry App World is go! RIM‘s answer to the iPhone App Store is up and running for anyone with BlackBerry OS 4.2 or above. But has it been worth the wait, or is it just the CrackBerry Shop with a better UI? Read on for first impressions and find out.
We tested out BlackBerry App World on a Curve 8900 over Wi-Fi and GPRS, as well as a touchscreen Storm, and we can report that it’s promising. A quick Yahoo search brought up the link on RIM’s site to download BlackBerry App World, via your desktop or straight to the mobile. We chose the latter and were away in seconds, as it’s a quick download.
Once you’ve rolled your trackball past the lengthy EULA, you’re in. It looks and works exactly the same on both the Curve and the Storm, with featured apps you can quickly scroll through, search and category lists, which when clicked on show the app name, price, developer, and logo. You’ll need to use PayPal if you want to grab any non-free apps on BlackBerry App World, but there’s a fair few freebies on there for everyone to try, from Facebook to Google Talk.
You can choose from favourites and categories (Music & Film etc), and while it’s not greatly stocked at the moment (Just over 400 apps at the time of writing, mostly games and dictionaries), it is at least a good start. It’s quick to click on an app, read the user reviews and start the download. A download bar tracks your progress, and it’ll offer you the chance to and install the app without exiting App World so running programs really only takes as long as they make it look in the iPhone ads on the telly.
We noticed a few problems though, it should be stressed. For one, synopses of apps are tucked too far inside. It’d be useful to know what every app listed in a category does in the same page rather than have to play a guessing game. Secondly, everything is in dollars until you pay with PayPal for the first time, which is a mild inconvenience considering you never quite seem to know what the exchange rate is going to be these days.
Thirdly, some of the apps available for download are simply shortcut icons for web URLs, which is more than a little cheeky. Yes, they’re free, but it’s still a bit misleading. So for the record, do not download Car And Driver. It’s pants.
At the moment, most of the apps on there are nothing new. Any self respecting BlackBerry addict will have the likes of Viigo and their favoured IM clients on there already, but more should appear in time, now that it’s easier to reach out to more ‘Berry users than ever before via BlackBerry App World. A sign of that is some new apps arriving for BlackBerry for the launch of BlackBerry App World. Shazam, the music recognition service, for instance, is now available to try in a full version for free for 60 days.
All in all, we like where RIM is going with BlackBerry App World. It’s fast and easy, and despite their being no limitations to making apps for the platform before, it should make it even more popular and innovative. It needs a few tweaks, and won’t offer a huge amount of must have apps for some time, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try it out now and see for yourselves.
Out Now | £from free | BlackBerry
