Hands-on preview of BlackBerry App World

Posted by Katherine Hannaford on Wed 1 Apr 2009

Make sure to check out our hands-on photos of App World

Research In Motion today announced the launch of the App World for BlackBerry smartphones, which looks set to give the iPhone App Store and Android's Market a run for its money.

With over 1,000 apps available to download from today in the UK, US and Canada, the apps start at nothing (indeed most of them are free), and range to an unspecified sum - there's no word yet on whether there's a price cap. The priciest app we've seen so far is £11, but most seem to be around the £4 mark, if not free.

- See hands-on photos of App World here

Available on all BlackBerry devices running 4.0 software, the apps are tailored specifically for each handset, and users won't be able to download non-compatible apps. For example, there's a lot of apps available for Storm users, which utilise the touchscreen and accelerometer, which aren't available to Pearl, Curve or Bold owners.

Once the App World icon is pressed, the user first sees a page displaying 11 featured applications. These range from a Facebook app, to a Bloomberg stocks one, to a nice-looking Google Talk option. Scrolling through them is easy, and very much in keeping with the whole BlackBerry user interface - it's slick, polished, and RIM has obviously spent a long time designing it.

Four icons are included in the lower half of the screen, offering access to "Top Downloads", "Search", "Categories" and "My World". Top Downloads ranks apps depending on the number of downloads, and is country-specific: UK residents will only see the top-ranked apps for the country. Search obviously allows the user to search for apps, whether it be a particular one, or a type of application. Categories includes 13 different areas of apps, entertainment, games, maps & navigation, music & video and so on. The last option, My World, shows all the applications the user has downloaded, and if they've previously downloaded something but then uninstalled it, it will still show in My World - ready for a quick re-install, if wanted.

The apps we've played with so far are very suited to not only the device, but the device's user - stylish, quite high-end (we doubt you'll see most of the rubbish which fills the Android Market, here) and quite intelligent, dare we say it. BlackBerry users choose a BlackBerry to consume media and information, and the apps provide that in spades - the Bloomberg one is a good example.

When downloading an app, you can read reviews left by other people who have downloaded it previously, and also see the star-ranking they assigned it, plus screenshots the developer has included. Downloading doesn't take too long at all - indeed, when we were trying it out, we weren't even using 3G but it took under a minute. RIM has partnered with PayPal for payments, so every time an app is downloaded, the user is asked for their PayPal password.

One of the nicest things about App World is that it's easy to transfer apps from one device to another. Handy for upgrading, and RIM doesn't charge extra for the privilege. Applications are integrated very deeply into other BlackBerry functions - anything email-related will show up as an option in BlackBerry email.

Currently, 80 per cent of the profits of a paid-for app goes straight to the developer, with RIM taking just 20 per cent for themselves. Anyone can develop an app and release it on App World, with RIM telling us that there's "no certification process". Obviously any offensive or unsuitable applications won't stay on for long, but RIM will work with developers who may be struggling with some of the technology, to ensure they get it right. They have no qualms about mobile TV or radio apps, but will aid developers to ensure they're doing it correctly. It takes approximately 10 days to process an app and see it in the store, so it won't be long until you can start making money - if you're so inclined.

With 125,000 developers signed up on www.blackberry.com/developers, we can expect to see more apps being released soon, like everyone's favourite, Shazam, which will be available from tomorrow.

Link: BlackBerry App World