Posts tagged App World
PingChat! for BlackBerry now in App World
Aug 23rd
PingChat! for BlackBerry is now in App World under the ‘Newest Apps’ section. If you haven’t given this app a look as of yet, I suggest you do now.
PingChat! Is a cross platform instant messaging application that works between iOS, Android & BlackBerry platforms. It supports group messaging as well. The UI is clean and it has a 1up on text messaging because a check mark pops up next to your messages when they have been read by the recipient.
PingChat! is fairly new and still needs some work, but it’s coming along very nicely and all platforms will be seeing frequent updates with a bunch of new features in the near future. I have a pretty good feeling PingChat! Is going to be in App World’s top 25 downloaded apps fairly soon.
You can find PingChat! for BlackBerry here in App World.
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?
What to expect from BlackBerry App World 2.0
Jun 21st
BlackBerry users have the freedom of downloading apps from several different places. You have BlackBerry App World, web stores such as Mobihand, and OTA links. The introduction of App World last April was a nice step in the right direction, and there have been a bunch of minor updates over the past year, but it still has many hurdles to overcome in order to become the unanimous option.
App World 2.0 will be bringing along some nice new features. One of the biggest additions for many, is carrier billing. As of now, you need to have your PayPal account linked to App World in order to purchase apps. Personally, I have mine set up but there are many people who do not. Many people don’t have a PayPal account, and others don’t like the idea of using their PayPal account in this manner. Carrier billing will definitely make things easier for everyone and is sure to boost app sales.
There will be another feature called BlackBerry ID which will seamlessly port your App World account from one BlackBerry to another. There are some issues with App Worlds current method of device switching so its nice to hear this will be taken care of.
Some new search categories will also be available in App World 2.0 such as Newest Items and Top Themes. I currently search through App Worlds top apps on a frequent basis but it would be great to be able to see what’s new. I’m sure I’ll be checking the Newest Items daily to see what’s out there. As far as themes go, they’re not for me, but the Top Themes category should be very helpful for users who want to easily find themes with high ratings.
Last but not least, we will see the addition of Wi-Fi support. The fact that App World currently doesn’t support Wi-Fi is my pet peeve. I absolutely hate having to turn Wi-Fi off on my BlackBerry just to open and browse through App World. I’m glad to see this annoyance will be no more.
There’s no word on a release date for App World 2.0 but it should be coming this summer. The new features in App World 2.0 will be enough to satisfy me for the time being, but what are your thoughts? Is there anything else you’d like to see in App World 2.0?
Sources: CrackBerry, WorldTech24
BlackBerry App World 2.0 Coming Soon, What It Should Have Been All Along
Jun 16th
BlackBerry App World 2.0 was revealed today at a press conference held by RIM, and what came out of it was the understanding of just how far behind the its competition RIM really is, and how difficult its climb back to the top will be. I am referring not to market share, of which RIM and BlackBerry still have a majority in North America, but rather about innovation, and the prospect of attracting developers to the aging platform.
Apps seem to be the only way to monetize an ecosystem these days for developers, and as iPhone has proved in less than two years, creativity and loyalty are two key features needed to spread the message of a great app. Developers are eager to make apps for the iOS platform because the schema is proven: 70% revenue of all sales go back to the developer, and as long as the app fits within the constraints of the App Store Terms of Service, it is sure to be approved. Granted, those terms of service often seem frustratingly changeable and temperamental, but with thousands of apps being submitted for approval every week, there has to be some sort of give and take.
Nevertheless, the BlackBerry App World has always been a shadow, a blip, a mere speck on the radar compared to its App Store (and Android Marketplace) competition. Developers have not been attracted to the clunky app submission process, the lack of payment diversity (previously PayPal-only) and limited pricing options (minimum of $2.99/app).
BB App World 2.0 looks to improve the experience dramatically in many respects: first, RIM plans to incorporated a BlackBerry ID for each login, which would sync up all downloaded and purchased apps over multiple phones. One of the huge drawbacks to owning a BlackBerry has been the exceptionally frustrating experience of trying to migrate all your data, apps and settings from one device to another. Inevitably something is going to be missing, it happens every time.
Carrier billing will also be enabled, allowing operators like Rogers or Verizon to apply payment to your monthly post-paid phone bill instead of relying exclusively on PayPal for purchases. Also, My World will show all installed apps and not just those that you’ve purchased.
QR codes, those little barcode things you see everywhere, will be enabled in the App World, to allow customers to take a picture using the built-in camera of a bar code from a paper or advertisement, and have it load the App World download page automatically. Very cool.
Unfortunately, this is too little, too late, for the App World. What it needs is some killer apps and games, giving people a legitimate reason to go online and purchase them. Right now, sifting through the top 20 free and paid apps in the App World, only a handful of them are ones I’d actually be interested in using, and many of the free ones are RIM’s first-party apps such as BB Messenger and Facebook for Blackberry.
Until developers have the impetus to create better apps for BlackBerry, and until the OS can handle running multiple apps seamlessly without slowdown, the BB app ecosystem will continue to suffer.
BlackBerry App World updated to 1.1.0.33
Mar 9th
BlackBerry App World has been updated to 1.1.0.33. No change log as of yet so it’s anyone’s guess what was fixed – maybe it will quit deleting itself from people’s phones now.
Either way, it gives me the chance to download BB App World FROM BB App World! (sorry in advance if I tear a hole in the time-space continuum)
Thanks to CrackBerry for the heads up.
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