14 DAY TRIAL // On Monday, Nokia announced at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona the first handset in its lineup to run under Android, namely the Nokia X, which features an exclusive series of applications and services, some of which have already been ported to other devices out there.
To be more precise, Nokia did not go for the full Android experience with its smartphone, but opted for a forked version of the platform, one that lacks Google’s services.
Instead, the Finnish mobile phone maker loaded its own set of services and applications on top of Android, including an app store that has been ported to other phones.
Basically, if you have an older Android device and are interested in getting a taste of the features and capabilities that Nokia will be providing Nokia X users with, you’re all set.
The port comes from the XDA-Developers Forum and is said to be work in progress for the time being, with some bugs still affecting users, such as the impossibility to install specific applications.
At the same time, some users report that the app does load successfully for them, but that it is unable to connect to Nokia’s servers.
What remains to be seen is whether the issue indeed resides in various phone configurations, or it is related to Nokia, given that the service is not public as of now.
The NStore0.5.apk is up for grabs via this thread in the forum, opening the door to Nokia’s own portal for Android devices. Of course, you won’t find the same amount of applications as in the Google Play Store, but some appealing ones are there, such as Nokia’s HERE Maps.
Nokia Mix Radio has been ported to Android phones as well, though it will require root to be installed. Moreover, users will need to modify the handset’s build.prop info to grab it, as detailed in this post.
Some other applications that are exclusive to Nokia devices are also available in the aforementioned store, such as Refocus and software coming from the Nokia Beta Labs, as GSMArena notes.
Nokia X, along with Nokia X+ and XL, will not be launched in all countries out there (such as the United States), mainly given the company’s focus on emerging markets with them (where the brand is still strong).