For those using BlackBerry Z10, Z30, Q10 or Q5, installing Android apps on your BlackBerry 10 device is going to get a whole lot of easier. In its next BlackBerry 10.2.1 software update, anyone can install Android apps with its APK file.
For those who are new to this, APK is basically an Android Package File which you can run to install. Usually this happens in the background on the Google Play store for a hassle free experience. The only hurdle that’s stopping regular people from installing Android apps is the lack of a “Google Play” store in the BlackBerry system. Obviously the folks at BlackBerry won’t allow such a blasphemous act. Therefore, only those with some technical knowledge of side-loading would get to enjoy a wider choice of apps from the Android platform.
Now there’s an app called Droid Store which allows BlackBerry users to install Android apps directly onto their device. This offers easy one click downloads with out the need of side loading or finding for APK files. At the moment, it doesn’t support Google logins which means that you’re limited to Free Apps for now. In the future, it could be possible to download paid apps that have been purchased under your Google login.
For those running on a leaked version of BlackBerry 10.2.1, you can download it here. To install it, you would need to side load and the instructions for sideloading is available here. The Droid Store will not work on current official BlackBerry version 10.2 and below it as it lacks the APK Installer support that’s only coming with BlacBerry 10.2.1.
Can’t wait to get BlackBerry 10.2.1 on your smart phone? If you’re feeling adventurous, you can get it earlier over here. As always, do proceed with caution.
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