BlackBerry World vs. Apple, Google Play and Amazon App Stores
There’s a new and improved app store in town, and it goes by the name of BlackBerry World. It’s not new per se, as it had been around for years, but it’s been revamped. Formerly, it was called BlackBerry App World, obviously they dropped “App” from the title, then added a few consumer services that make it comparable to Apple’s App Store, Google Play and Amazon’s App Store.
And because it is comparable to the other app stores, that’s exactly what we’ll be doing. We’ll be comparing it to the app store to get a sense of what people are actually getting from these app stores.
Availability
BlackBerry World: Over 170 countries
Apple App Store: 119 countries, App Store in 155 countries
Google Play: Paid apps available in over 130 countries, movies in US, UK, Canada, France, Australia, Spain, Germany and Japan, books in S, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Australia, and music in the US only
Amazon Appstore: US, UK, Japan, Spain, France, Germany, Italy,
Offers
BlackBerry World: Apps, games, themes, and soon music and videos
Apple App Store: Music, movies, TV shows, apps, books, comics, magazines, news source
Google Play: Music, magazines, apps, books, TV shows, movies
Amazon Appstore: Apps, books
Compatibility
BlackBerry World: BlackBerry smartphones running BlackBerry Device Software v4.5 or higher, with a trackball, trackpad or touch screen and for BlackBerry PlayBook, Mac, PC
Apple App Store: Macs with OS X 10.6.8 or later, PCs with Windows XP or higher, for iOS device use App Store
Google Play: Android devices
Amazon Appstore: Android devices
Content management
BlackBerry World: BlackBerry Media Sync
Apple App Store: Everything downloaded are stored in iTunes on your computer, and because of iCloud, everything can be accessed in other iDevices
Google Play: Content stored in Google Play library, music downloaded managed with Music Manager, watch movies or TV shows now or later with Google Play Movies & TV app for Android and are added to My Movies & TV library for offline watching, Google Play Magazines app
Amazon Appstore: Content stored in the cloud
Features
BlackBerry World: BlackBerry Theme Studio, Print to Go
Apple App Store: iCloud, Genius
Google Play: Cloud integration makes everything available anytime, anywhere
Amazon Appstore: Cloud makes apps available anytime, anywhere
Which is the best app store?
Apple’s App Store is available in more countries compared to the other app stores, and because of this fact, their App Store wins in that category. All the app stores cater to certain devices, and while they all have desktop or Mac versions, the apps and other content have restricted availability. For many users, it really boils down to which device you’re using, and on which platform you’re most active.
Apple also has the most apps, and the best quality apps, thanks to a closed ecosystem and relatively narrow parameters for iOS users’ experiences. Apps tend to look and function better on iOS devices, and developers tend to launch for iOS before Android and other platforms.
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