Posts tagged App World 2.0
BlackBerry App World v2.0.0.36 Rolling Out Now – Full Details
Aug 19th
According to InsideBlackBerry, App World 2.0 has come out of private beta and will be rolling out tonight to 65 countries. One of the newer surprises is that developers now have the option to set a price of $0.99 and $1.99 for their apps! In the past, every paid app required a minimum cost of $2.99. If you currently don’t have App World on your device, or have not been prompted for the upgrade, you can click on over to www.blackberry.com/appworld from your device and see if it has rolled out to your area.
*Tip: If your App World download page shows the old version, holding down ‘alt’ while pressing R + S + T, then backing out, and re-entering the page may push the update to you. Worked for me 
Hit the jump to see all of the new features of App World 2.0>>
Top 25 Themes and Top 25 Apps
Let’s get started! You’ve asked and we’ve listened – you enjoy your BlackBerry Smartphone themes, but you want to see them listed by themselves. You also asked to see what’s new and what’s been updated recently in BlackBerry App World, and we’re happy to deliver.
In our new “Top 25” screen, you can see the Newest apps, Recently Updated apps, Top 25 Free Apps, Top 25 Paid Apps, and Top 25 Themes. These lists update every 24 hours, and are based on a combination of number of downloads and user ratings.
BlackBerry App World Barcode Scanning
Another cool feature we’re adding is the ability for our developers to use a QR barcode to promote their apps. BlackBerry App World 2.0 will have a new menu option called “Scan a Barcode” – which works just like scanning a barcode for a new contact or group in BlackBerry® Messenger 5.0. Just point the camera of your BlackBerry Smartphone at a QR barcode and the details page for the app you’re scanning pop right up!
More Billing Options
In addition to the ability to purchase apps with a PayPal® account, we’re adding support for two new billing methods to BlackBerry App World. To access these new billing options, you will be able to simply log in and choose ‘Payment Options’ from the menu.
Credit Cards
We know that many of you will be happy to hear that you will soon be able to use a major credit card (cards vary by region) to purchase apps. If BlackBerry App World credit card payments are available in your country, you’ll see the new “Credit Card” option where you can securely enter and save your credit card information for all your App World purchases.
Carrier Billing
We’re also excited to tell you that we’re working on integrated billing with various carriers to enable carrier billing as a payment option in BlackBerry App World.
PayPal
If you prefer the simplicity of paying with PayPal, then just choose the PayPal option. You’ll be asked for your PayPal account email and password once, and then all your purchases can be made using your PayPal account.
Introducing BlackBerry® ID
We’re also proud to introduce the new BlackBerry® ID, a device-independent user identification. With your BlackBerry® ID, you can easily download and purchase apps, then manage them in My World. Also, if you ever need to switch to a new BlackBerry Smartphone, logging in with your BlackBerry ID will bring all your apps to your new BlackBerry smartphone so you can always have the apps you need, when you need them!
[Via: InsideBlackBerry]
Updated: RIM let a bunch of garbage into App World today!
Aug 5th
I was browsing App World about an hour ago and I couldn’t help but notice the ‘Newest’ apps page was flooded with eBooks. Since this whole slew of eBooks seemed to be from the same company, I figured I’d download one just to see what the UI was like. First of all, it’s very misleading that a lot of these books are labeled as ‘FREE’. They are just samples, so you will have to make a purchase if you want to read more than a few pages. Second, The text layout was horrible. As you can see in the image after the jump, a lot of words were smushed together. I downloaded a second ebook just to double-check and got the same results.
Hit the jump because I’m not done talking…
The same company also has some paid books that you cannot sample, and I’m sure the text layout still suffers. How would you feel if you purchased an ebook and had to read a couplehundredpages ofthis? Probably not too happy. RIM should really be held responsible for approving all of those shoddy books for App World without checking at least one of them. This really shows RIM obviously doesn’t stick to the testing they claim on their App World developer FAQ..
How does RIM determine if an application is suitable for BlackBerry App World?
RIM will review a submitted application for content suitability and perform technical testing to ensure the application meets the BlackBerry App World Vendor Guidelines.
I’m not saying they should wear turtlenecks and stop every app at the door for an extensive review, but set some ground rules. For a start, when a developer submits over 10 apps in a single day, that should raise a red flag. C’mon now!
On another note, I have nothing against reading, but eBooks aren’t really apps. They’re books. If it was one was added here or there, it wouldn’t be an issue, but being that almost half of the 25 newest apps are eBooks, that really ruins the whole newest apps page. Regardless of whether or not RIM lets this spam to continue or not, they should create separate pages for newest apps, themes, and books. The whole point of App World 2.0 is supposed to make browsing for apps easier, so let’s see if RIM makes some necessary changes before it comes out of beta.
UPDATE: I just checked App World again and 17 of the 25 newest apps are ebooks from For-Side.com Co Ltd. None of the new books are free and some of them are priced as high as $11.99. How RIM is continuing to approve all of these shoddy ebooks without checking their quality is beyond me. I don’t really know if anyone is buying these ebooks, as I haven’t seen reviews on any of them as of yet. I wonder if RIM will catch on before they have a bunch of angry App World shoppers on their hands?
BlackBerry App World 2.0 available to select Beta Zone members!
Jul 29th
As soon as I received my invite today, I logged into Beta Zone just to watch the site crash. I quickly saw I was sharing the pain with many other Beta Zone members, as my twitter timeline was full of similar comments. Even when I was able to login to the site, it would eventually send me in a loop back to the login page. This isn’t the first time Beta Zone has sent me in a forever frustrating loop, but I digress. I’ll save the issues with RIM’s shoddy Beta Zone site for another article. About 5 hours later, I was finally able to download App World 2.0. I’ve only used it for a few minutes so far so its too early to do a full review. For now, see App World 2.0′s features via Inside BlackBerry after the jump.
Top 25 Themes and Top 25 Apps
Let’s get started! You’ve asked and we’ve listened – you enjoy your BlackBerry Smartphone themes, but you want to see them listed by themselves. You also asked to see what’s new and what’s been updated recently in BlackBerry App World, and we’re happy to deliver.
In our new “Top 25” screen, you can see the Newest apps, Recently Updated apps, Top 25 Free Apps, Top 25 Paid Apps, and Top 25 Themes. These lists update every 24 hours, and are based on a combination of number of downloads and user ratings.
BlackBerry App World Barcode Scanning
Another cool feature we’re adding is the ability for our developers to use a QR barcode to promote their apps. BlackBerry App World 2.0 will have a new menu option called “Scan a Barcode” – which works just like scanning a barcode for a new contact or group in BlackBerry® Messenger 5.0. Just point the camera of your BlackBerry Smartphone at a QR barcode and the details page for the app you’re scanning pop right up!
More Billing Options
In addition to the ability to purchase apps with a PayPal® account, we’re adding support for two new billing methods to BlackBerry App World. To access these new billing options, you will be able to simply log in and choose ‘Payment Options’ from the menu.
Credit Cards
We know that many of you will be happy to hear that you will soon be able to use a major credit card (cards vary by region) to purchase apps. If BlackBerry App World credit card payments are available in your country, you’ll see the new “Credit Card” option where you can securely enter and save your credit card information for all your App World purchases.
Carrier Billing
We’re also excited to tell you that we’re working on integrated billing with various carriers to enable carrier billing as a payment option in BlackBerry App World.
PayPal
If you prefer the simplicity of paying with PayPal, then just choose the PayPal option. You’ll be asked for your PayPal account email and password once, and then all your purchases can be made using your PayPal account.
Introducing BlackBerry® ID
We’re also proud to introduce the new BlackBerry® ID, a device-independent user identification. With your BlackBerry® ID, you can easily download and purchase apps, then manage them in My World. Also, if you ever need to switch to a new BlackBerry Smartphone, logging in with your BlackBerry ID will bring all your apps to your new BlackBerry smartphone so you can always have the apps you need, when you need them!
[Via: InsideBlackBerry]
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