Smartphones will receive native support for Android apps in OS 10.3

Jan 13, 2014 10:48 GMT  ·  By

Canadian mobile phone maker BlackBerry is reportedly getting ready to allow Android applications to be distributed to its users via the official BlackBerry World portal.

The move is possible courtesy of the expanded support for Android apps that the BlackBerry OS 10.2.1 comes with, and that has already been confirmed officially.

Back in November, BlackBerry announced an update to its SDK with an enhanced Android runtime packed inside, making it possible for more apps developed for Google’s platform to run on its own mobile OS.

“Android apps that use shared libraries written in native-code, such as C and C++, will now be supported on BlackBerry 10,” the Canadian vendor announced at the time.

The recently released BlackBerry 10.2.1 SDK OS has brought the new Android runtime to developer smartphones, allowing app builders to test their software for compatibility with the new release.

Basically, the feature means that users will be able to easily install Android apps (apk) files on their devices. All that remains to be found is a download source for these applications.

According to a recent article on Good e-Reader, BlackBerry is actually getting ready for the addition of Android software in the aforementioned BlackBerry World portal, so that users could access more content from their handsets.

Furthermore, the news site also claims that BlackBerry has already approached game publishers to determine them to release their titles via its app portal.

Devs will only need to submit screenshots and descriptions to have their software listed in the BlackBerry World, which means almost no effort from them. Users, on the other hand, will be able to download and install the apps just as they would any content built for their smartphones.

Starting with the BlackBerry 10.3 firmware update, BlackBerry Q5, Q10, Z10, and Z30 will be able to run Android applications natively, it seems. However, no info on when the OS upgrade will arrive has been provided as of now.