Android applications on the BlackBerry 10. Likbez

By releasing the new operating system, the BlackBerry at one time had a great twist on the application crisis, offering its users an Android virtual machine inside its QNX system and thus allowing Android applications to run on the smartphone. At some point, it came to the point that the official store of the BlackBerry World was littered with various lanterns by ports of Android applications (as the BlackBerry owners dubbed Android apps running on BB OS10). By the way, the official skype and viber applications posted by companies in the BlackBerry World are still nothing but ports. =)

It is no secret that now any pizza delivery company self-respecting company considers it its duty to make an application for two popular mobile operating systems - iOS and Android. Not to mention such useful and convenient applications as banking clients or navigation services. None of them, as a rule, heard about the exotic BlackBerry OS, and the ability to run Androd applications is the only chance for BlackBerry owners to make a full-fledged smartphone from their excellent dialers and mailers.

A brief history and description of how to launch Android applications - under the cat.

Immediately it should be noted that the ability to run the application does not mean its full-fledged work. For example, your humble servant got into a very interesting situation. By launching a large state-owned bank client on the BlackBerry Q10, he found that the ID field slipped around where the top row of physical keys began, which made it impossible to activate it to enter an identifier. He did not lose his head, and called the technical support service, causing a hysterical statement there that their Android client incorrectly displays the interface on a smartphone with a 1: 1 screen ratio and forcing them to wonder what kind of square phone it is on Android? To the credit of programmers, I must say that in the next update of the application, they still decided the problem, and more quickly than BlackBerry offered its solution.
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Initially, the launch of Android offers did not seem like a giant crutch, but a whole wheelchair. The geeks that stood at the dawn of distribution will remember converting * .apk files to * .bar (* .bar - the format of BlackBerry OS10 applications) - first through sites like apk2bar.org , followed by installation through special applications.
Then it became possible to convert applications with a special script. The script required the creation of a debug key and the receipt of an EDS directly from BlackBerry and allowed to convert applications for certain devices, the identification number (PIN) of which was clogged in the debug key.
The disadvantages of the method were that the applications obtained in this way were launched only on devices whose identification number was plugged into the debug key, and the EDS for the debug key was issued for a maximum of one month. That is, once a month, you had to delete all ports (losing settings), delete the debug key, request a new EDS, re-convert * .apk-files, create a new debug key and install it all.
Particularly curious can read the instructions here (English)

By itself, the prelude to such actions was the need to find the * .apk file of the application we needed. And it happened that the current versions were not launched, it was necessary to search for earlier versions and sort through them in search of a working and stable version. This was due to the fact that, up to a certain stage, the BlackBerry OS10 was able to work only with versions of applications created for early Android. The problem of the search was solved by special sites, downloading *. Apk-files from there or using extensions for Google Chrome.

Today's Day

However, with the development of the operating system, these torments have sunk into oblivion, and now there are many simple ways to start Android applications on your BlackBerry 10 smartphone. To date, BlackBerry owners have three ways to install Android applications (if you take into account applications from the Google range Play):
1) Installation through the Snap application;
2) Direct installation of a * .apk file;
3) Setting up and preparing a full Google Play;
Also, the user has the ability to install the Amazon Appstore (on the BlackBerry10.3 it goes out of the box), and even the Nokia Store, and take advantage of them.
On the pros and cons of each of the methods I will tell separately. As a matter of fact, the first two points are a way to get the desired * .apk file, and the installation still ultimately boils down to the third point.

Snap application



Snap is a special application created for downloading *. Apk files from Google Play.
The web page of the author of the application with a detailed description (eng)
Page with instructions for use (eng)
The application is written specifically for the BlackBerry OS, and, to put it in the jargon of BlackBerry geeks, is “native” - created using the official BlackBerry development kit. But the author, for certain reasons, did not post his BlackBerry World, distributing *. Bar-file of its application from under the floor via the Internet.

The instructions for the link above give a way to install it using Google Chrome, but personally I’m more comfortable just to download the * .bar file of the application, and install it with third-party programs such as Sachesi . Download the program, connect your BlackBerry10 to the PC, wait until the BlackBerry Device Manager and the BlackBerry Link recognize it, launch Sachesi, go to the Install tab and drag the * .bar file from the folder to the application interface. You may need to enter a device password.



Then run the program that offers you to log in to your Google account, and then you get access to Google Play. If you use two-step authentication with Google, you will have to create a password for the application in your account.



After downloading the * .apk file, we proceed to its installation, which I will describe below. The transition to the installation is carried out by the “Install” button. If you do not want the * .apk files to be stored in the memory of your smartphone, select in the settings of the “Delete APK” application in the “Post-install behavior” list (by default, the program saves * .apk files).

Installing * .apk file directly
First, set up the phone. Go to "Settings" -> "Application Manager" -> "Install Applications" and put down the rocker "Allow installation" and "Check applications".



After downloading the * .apk file of the application you are interested in, you will need to open it in the BlackBerry file manager (Snap does it automatically). At the same time, the storage location of the * .apk-file is not important - it can be a memory card, the memory of a smartphone, or a hard drive configured by the BlackBerry Link computer.
After that, you will see the application installation window. To check the applications, BlackBerry Guardian is used, which checks the * .apk files you install for malicious items. Depending on the firmware, the “Install” button will interrupt the check and start the installation, or start the installation after the end of the check. During the installation process, you will be presented with a request for access to smartphone features and asked to confirm it. The installed application will appear in the main menu - as if you installed the application from BlackBerry World.



Starting with certain versions of the BlackBerry OS10, the virtual machine supports Android 4 applications, so you will not have to search through the versions of applications looking for a working one.

The disadvantages of these methods are the inability to make purchases in the Snap application (you need to buy through the browser / device on Android and then install) and remove the applications available to you from the list, the lack of books, movies, music and press. Plus, the inability to start many Google services - for example, Google Drive, Gmail, Google Chrome, because they do not have their own ability to log into Google account, but use the tools of the Android operating system.
Also, paid applications may require verification of payment in Google Play Services, which you do not have. Google Play Services may also be needed for applications that use Google maps in their interface - they either will not work correctly for you, or will not start at all.

The following method will help you get rid of these problems.

Launch Google Play



But after all, Google Play is also an application in the Android operating system. And so it can be run on the BlackBerry OS10. But first you need to resolve the issue with your Google account. And in the end there was a man who solved this question, and another was found who translated his instructions into Russian .
For a user eager to get Google Play on his BlackBerry, simply install the * .apk files patched by the author:

• Google Login - directly responsible for the Google account itself;
• Blackberry Google ID - gservices.db database handler for BlackBerry;
• Google Play Services , required, for example, because of the built-in map handler;
• Google Play Store - of course, the actual application store itself;
• Google Play Store Downloader - provides the ability to download *. Apk-files of applications;
• Android Settings - an application that opens access to the settings of Android, rotating inside the BlackBerry OS10;
• Android Browser - the native browser of the Android operating system;

Note, for entering data into a Blackberry Google ID, you need to get a Google ID somewhere. To do this, you can use the Snap program, which you will initially have to install - there you can find out your Google ID by going to the application settings.

Thus, we get a fully functional Google Play on BlackBerry, which allows you to download, update and even buy all the submitted content with virtually no restrictions. And since we have already resolved the issue with the Google account, now we can launch any applications without any problems (although some have to be patched beforehand).



The installation algorithm in this case looks like this. Find the application that interests us in the Google Play Store and click the "Install" button. We will open Google Play Store Downloader, which will inform you that this file is currently being downloaded. Upon completion of the download, it will appear in the list, and, selecting the desired position, we proceed to the installation phase of the * .apk file described above.

Nokia Store and Amazon Store
After the appearance of Nokia X, it became clear that now on the Android platform there are also applications from Nokia. Perhaps we can run them too?
As practice shows, this is possible, but you need all the time to have the * .apk-file of the current version of the Nokia store on hand to reinstall it upon request.



As for the Amazon Store, it basically works the same way as Snap. Allows you to download the * .apk file of the application you are interested in and proceed to its installation.

Summary
What does this give? If we compare the application running on Android and the application running on BlackBerry 10, then we can write security to the “berries” asset compared to the “green man” - the virtual machine does not have all the access rights and permissions, in particular, it cannot control network connections. In liabilities, we have increased energy consumption (which is not always the case - for example, I did not notice an increase in charge consumption after installing Viber and Skype, but a client of a popular social network in the CIS left me without a phone for 4 hours), not quite stable work, inconvenient (by compared with native Facebook and WhatsApp clients in BlackBerry OS10) notice.

But still, you should be aware that it was originally started not to launch Android applications better than Android itself, but to give BlackBerry 10 owners the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of the mobile applications industry along with the happy owners of Android -devices Initially, it was considered as a temporary measure, until the BlackBerry’s own application market reaches the proper level.

I don’t know if I will ever see Yandex.Maps in BlackBerry World (and whether it will be a “native” application, or just a legitimate “port”), but at this stage I can safely say that such a measure allows me quite reliably and confidently use my smartphone as a navigator to access my account in the bank and allows me to synchronize my bookmarks in the browser on my BlackBerry and on the laptop.