First Impressions of the New BlackBerry App Store
by Walter S. Mossberg
Posted on April 1, 2009 at 11:09 AM PT
There have long been third-party programs for the BlackBerry, but in light of Apple’s enormous success with an easy, built-in App Store for the iPhone, Research in Motion today unveiled its own similar store, called BlackBerry App World. The store has hundreds of apps available at launch, and RIM says it expects around a thousand to be available in its first week. Like Apple’s store, RIM’s offers both free and paid apps that download directly to your device.
I haven’t had time to do a full review of App World, but I tried it out for a couple of hours on a top-of-the-line BlackBerry Bold and a fast network connection. Here are my first impressions.
RIM’s store is clumsier to use than Apple’s (AAPL), but it works. The selection at launch is decent, but with some surprising omissions. The emphasis seems, at first glance, to be toward pricier apps. And, there are some limitations and oddities. Perhaps the biggest of these is that App World is only available for relatively recent BlackBerry models–the ones with trackballs instead of side wheels, starting with the Pearl, which came out in the fall of 2006. That means that millions of people with older models can’t use the app store.
App World has apps in all the major categories–Games, Productivity, Entertainment, News, Weather, Finance, Health, Social Networking, and so forth. The selection is broad. For instance, on the first day, it offers 166 games, 99 productivity and utility apps, and 69 reference and book apps. There are even a few of those fart apps that have proved so popular on the iPhone, something that seems so… unBlackBerry-like.
But there are some surprising omissions. There’s no dedicated Twitter client, at least none that either I or a RIM (RIMM) spokeswoman could find at this writing. There’s a Facebook app, but it’s the same rudimentary one RIM has offered for a long time. There’s no Google (GOOG) app, just a shortcut to a Google page in the BlackBerry’s browser. And there’s no app for shopping at Amazon (AMZN) or viewing Kindle books. No doubt these things will show up eventually, but given the competition and the time RIM has spent getting this ready, I was surprised they weren’t there at launch.
Still, I downloaded about a dozen apps and liked most of them, including the Bloomberg, Pandora, and Shazam apps. But a $2.99 Associated Press app didn’t work properly and looked crude compared with the free AP app on the iPhone. Shazam, which identifies songs playing nearby and gives you a chance to buy them, correctly identified several songs on the BlackBerry, but unlike on the iPhone, didn’t link to videos related to the songs.
The buying process is harder than on the iPhone. You have to download the store itself, then pay for any apps you want with PayPal, which requires going through a couple of screens each time. On several occasions, despite my fast, strong, steady network connection, app downloads stopped in midstream multiple times, And the least expensive apps are $2.99, about triple the cost of the cheapest typical paid apps on the iPhone. Indeed, I spotted a surprising number of $20, $30 and $40 apps on App World.
App World has other limitations and oddities. You can only save apps to the BlackBerry’s limited internal memory, not to a roomier flash memory card. RIM has made up for this by allowing you to also store your apps online, but that’s still a pain, especially when you’re not connected. And, oddly, the apps you obtain from App World aren’t located in the BlackBerry’s Applications folder, but in the Downloads folder. You can, of course, move them around, even placing them right on the home screen.
BlackBerry fans unfamiliar with the iPhone won’t care about some of these comparisons, of course. They will, and should, just be happy that their phones are now much richer and more versatile devices. And, in the end, that’s what counts. RIM is now truly in the platform game, which will make its products more attractive and could make its shareholders richer.
Comments
I was hoping to see a common “check for updates” button.
However in my limited testing I see no such global option — and I couldn’t even see it from the individual apps that I downloaded.
The App World also neglects to scan your BlackBerry for items that you already own.
Hopefully it’s checking for version compatibility before you download an item because I also did not see any system requirements listed on the apps for sale.
Posted by wayne schulz at April 1st, 2009 at 11:55 amThere is a Twitterberry app at http://www.twitterberry.com/. Odd that it’s not in the store. I rely on it.
Posted by Merv Adrian at April 1st, 2009 at 12:43 pmSteve Jobs called RIMM a good company that makes good products, and I believe him. But RIMM is not the visionary company that Apple is. Even when RIMM tries to follow Apple, they’re still stumbling in the dark.
Posted by Alan Sanders at April 1st, 2009 at 3:11 pmThe store was a bit clumsy but still useful. I emailed go@ridecharge.com to get my version of Taxi Magic. Not sure, shouldn’t the app check for a new version when it loads? And Wayne are you saying that you were able to download 2-copies onto your BB? That’s not cool.
Posted by Liz Grumbos at April 1st, 2009 at 3:35 pmAll things considered it’s off to a decent start, esp. with the mobile business front, which is the BB’s primary market like it or not. Once the kinks are smoothed out it’ll be pretty good, especially since the iPhone isn’t the best business phone, so folks who’ve stuck to the blackberry won’t be disappointed. Besides, it’ll be a good thing if the app world doesn’t get as choked up on garbage apps as the current apple store is, am I right?
Posted by Alicia Meltrandi at April 1st, 2009 at 4:24 pmI do agree that it is much “clumsier” to use than Apple App Store. Also good points about dealing with version checking and updates.
However, I would not worry about lack of support for thumbwheel devices. Developers will not be attracted to developing apps for these devices. They have enough issues developing for both QWERTY keyboard and touch screen devices.
Posted by Jim Courtney at April 2nd, 2009 at 4:19 amGood assessment, Walt. I got the store to work on my Storm but it doesn’t work on my Bold. Usually its the other way around.
Although not as simple as the iphone store, I am just glad that RIM has stuck their toe in the water.
I cannot believe that after months after the Bold and Storm come out that no solid Twitter app is fully supported. I am using some Alpha versions of some new stuff that I can’t comment on, but still, its Twitter.
Posted by Patrick Moorhead at April 2nd, 2009 at 8:24 amLet’s face it. It’s inevitable that people will compare other App Store concepts to Apple’s because Apple simply nailed it from a user experience, friction-free marketplace, developer tools and developer uptake perspective. And of course, the consumer data is the ultimate proof in the pudding
For the competition, Apple’s achievements make this race both a sprint AND a marathon. Needless to say, this is a heavy load, even more so since I don’t believe that they really have a firm grasp on what App Store means from a platform perspective, something that I blogged about in:
iPhones, App Stores, Ecosystems: Recipes for Successful Developer Platforms
http://bit.ly/Hre72
Check it out if interested.
Mark
Posted by Mark Sigal at April 2nd, 2009 at 9:21 amAny indication of which apps were funded by the Blackberry Fund?
Posted by John Boyd at April 2nd, 2009 at 9:51 amIt’s pretty comparable with iPhone App Store while they only have very small portion of BB apps on it.
Posted by Mary Lynn at April 3rd, 2009 at 10:07 amOne thing it’s better than iPhone Store — GPS Navigation App. However they got a lousy $99.99 nav app there which no one will buy. They have a so call free one while it cost $99.99 to activate.
The free an most popular BB GPS/Navigation app LifeInPocket is not there. (http://LifeInPocket.com) probably because it’s free?
I really like the appworld, Some of the apps you guys already know. The one I enjoyed the most was iheartradio. It is free, plus you can listen to some great mornign shows across the country
Posted by Barry Coffield at April 7th, 2009 at 1:19 pmHello, Iam work on British American Tobaco we are used BlackBerry. Its nice gadget
Posted by Artem Lebedev at September 7th, 2009 at 8:49 amI used this GPS Navigation its realy nice!!!
Posted by Artem Lebedev at September 20th, 2009 at 4:57 am