6 ms·

BlackBerry will shutter its app store on December 31st, 2019

41 points by john58 9y ago

orbitingpluto 9y ago
Then Blackberry should get started on providing individualized downloadable .bar files for users who have purchased software from them. Either that, or get ready to provide a lot of refunds.
- sbarre 9y ago
  That all depends on what the terms of sale/use said. I doubt they'll be on the hook for that. It's not like they are taking back the software from you, they are simply turning off the services that the software relies on, and I doubt they were on the hook for that in some indefinite manner.
  - orbitingpluto 9y ago
    I'm sure they can add an addendum to the Terms of Service that you have to comply with to continue to use the service so that the service can shut down. You know, fairness. I've had issues with several apps that I've purchased from the Windows App Store disappearing for good. I've had to ask for a refund each time, but Microsoft will refund. GameSpot used to have a online store akin to Steam. I've also obtained refunds from them. That was a difficult process akin to the bypass notices from H2G2, but it was worth it as I had a large library of games. Companies are not going to go out of their way to give you your money back. But they know they owe it to you and will refund your money if pressured to do so.
    - dwighttk 9y ago
      beware of the leopard
- jonknee 9y ago
  The store shutdown date is more than 2 years away and devices that use it are all more than 2 years old right now, no one is getting a refund.
- skinnymuch 9y ago
  It's over two years away. No new phones are being made. I highly doubt they'd have to provide refunds. Did HP have to do anything with the much shorter window of closing the webOS store?
  - orbitingpluto 9y ago
    I've commented elsewhere, but I received refunds for HP Touchpad purchases. HP ceasing to activate Touchpad is a bit of an issue, but at least you can reactivate one by restoring a backup profile, your own or a generic one found online.
djsumdog 9y ago
I'm really disappointed at the lack of alternatives. WebOS (Palm), Win Mobile, Ubuntu Touch .. We don't even have standardized micro-computer hardware to make it remotely easy. Each device is prosperity custom arm disaster.
- alphadevx 9y ago
  Agreed. I started with WebOS (Pre was my first smartphone), then HP happened. So I jumped to Blackberry 10, then their new CEO moved them to Android. So now now I am a reluctant Android user, because I find it only slightly less invasive than iOS. Very disappointed that this is the state of mobile computing landscape going into 2018.
  - BoorishBears 9y ago
    > So now now I am a reluctant Android user, because I find it only slightly less invasive than iOS. That's surprising, I'd say Android is many times more invasive than iOS. iOS tends to lean towards on-device features where Android will happily send excessive amounts of your data to their servers to make "neat" features work.
    - toxican 9y ago
      I switched to an iPhone because of this. I may not know everything that's going on behind the scenes with my phone, and I may not be able to tweak the hell out of it, but I do know that Apple's entire business isn't built around using personal info to sell ads. That's reason enough to stick with them if I really care about privacy/invasiveness. I'm sure they're not perfect either, but I just really do not trust Google anymore.
    - maxxxxx 9y ago
      On the other hand you cannot install what you want on iOS. They both suck in their own sweet way.
      - BoorishBears 9y ago
Apocryphon 9y ago
Right now it appears that the remaining "major" actively developed/supported alternative mobile OS's are Sailfish and Tizen. The former living off of Russian/Chinese contracts and funding, the latter because Samsung wants an insurance policy against Google. Which one is more likely to survive to 2020? I understand there are a ton of Linux non-Android projects like Plasma Mobile, Librem, KaiOS, etc., but I'm not sure if any of them are as far as long yet. edit: see - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14049174 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14049174
- pjmlp 9y ago
  Tizen is a joke, might survive on Samsung own teams doing software for watches, TVs, fridges and what else, but I doubt any serious app developer will ever touch it. The SDK went through multiple reboots latest being .NET Core, even worse than WP, and their lack of code quality is well known. https://what.thedailywtf.com/topic/15001/enlightened https://what.thedailywtf.com/topic/15001/enlightened http://appleinsider.com/articles/17/04/05/researcher-calls-samsungs-tizen-os-the-worst-code-ive-ever-seen http://appleinsider.com/articles/17/04/05/researcher-calls-s... https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/07/12/samsungs_tizen_no_longer_worst_ever/ https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/07/12/samsungs_tizen_no_l...
  - Apocryphon 9y ago
    Ah, then maybe Sailfish will survive as a regional niche.
    - amiga-workbench 9y ago
      I think there is a good chance of that, the Russians seem to have a very rational distrust of western hardware and software.
mycall 9y ago
What will happen to QNX?
- Apocryphon 9y ago
  It'll be fine. It's used in automative systems and my bet is it will allow BB to reinvent itself as a car company.
  - ogdoad 9y ago
    It'll then go out of business again, because nobody will want to drive with a trackball.
horatiocain 9y ago
Blackberry's app store is still running? That is baffling.
m-p-3 9y ago
So we know that the newly-released Uber app for BB10 will last around two years.
pjmlp 9y ago
I wonder how much from Cascades framework has been given back to Qt.

41 points by john58 9y ago

Then Blackberry should get started on providing individualized downloadable .bar files for users who have purchased software from them. Either that, or get ready to provide a lot of refunds.

sbarre 9y ago
That all depends on what the terms of sale/use said. I doubt they'll be on the hook for that. It's not like they are taking back the software from you, they are simply turning off the services that the software relies on, and I doubt they were on the hook for that in some indefinite manner.
- orbitingpluto 9y ago
  I'm sure they can add an addendum to the Terms of Service that you have to comply with to continue to use the service so that the service can shut down. You know, fairness. I've had issues with several apps that I've purchased from the Windows App Store disappearing for good. I've had to ask for a refund each time, but Microsoft will refund. GameSpot used to have a online store akin to Steam. I've also obtained refunds from them. That was a difficult process akin to the bypass notices from H2G2, but it was worth it as I had a large library of games. Companies are not going to go out of their way to give you your money back. But they know they owe it to you and will refund your money if pressured to do so.
  - dwighttk 9y ago
    beware of the leopard
jonknee 9y ago
The store shutdown date is more than 2 years away and devices that use it are all more than 2 years old right now, no one is getting a refund.
skinnymuch 9y ago
It's over two years away. No new phones are being made. I highly doubt they'd have to provide refunds. Did HP have to do anything with the much shorter window of closing the webOS store?
- orbitingpluto 9y ago
  I've commented elsewhere, but I received refunds for HP Touchpad purchases. HP ceasing to activate Touchpad is a bit of an issue, but at least you can reactivate one by restoring a backup profile, your own or a generic one found online.

djsumdog 9y ago

I'm really disappointed at the lack of alternatives. WebOS (Palm), Win Mobile, Ubuntu Touch .. We don't even have standardized micro-computer hardware to make it remotely easy. Each device is prosperity custom arm disaster.

alphadevx 9y ago
Agreed. I started with WebOS (Pre was my first smartphone), then HP happened. So I jumped to Blackberry 10, then their new CEO moved them to Android. So now now I am a reluctant Android user, because I find it only slightly less invasive than iOS. Very disappointed that this is the state of mobile computing landscape going into 2018.
- BoorishBears 9y ago
  > So now now I am a reluctant Android user, because I find it only slightly less invasive than iOS. That's surprising, I'd say Android is many times more invasive than iOS. iOS tends to lean towards on-device features where Android will happily send excessive amounts of your data to their servers to make "neat" features work.
  - toxican 9y ago
    I switched to an iPhone because of this. I may not know everything that's going on behind the scenes with my phone, and I may not be able to tweak the hell out of it, but I do know that Apple's entire business isn't built around using personal info to sell ads. That's reason enough to stick with them if I really care about privacy/invasiveness. I'm sure they're not perfect either, but I just really do not trust Google anymore.
  - maxxxxx 9y ago
    On the other hand you cannot install what you want on iOS. They both suck in their own sweet way.
    - BoorishBears 9y ago

Apocryphon 9y ago

Right now it appears that the remaining "major" actively developed/supported alternative mobile OS's are Sailfish and Tizen. The former living off of Russian/Chinese contracts and funding, the latter because Samsung wants an insurance policy against Google. Which one is more likely to survive to 2020? I understand there are a ton of Linux non-Android projects like Plasma Mobile, Librem, KaiOS, etc., but I'm not sure if any of them are as far as long yet. edit: see - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14049174 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14049174

pjmlp 9y ago
Tizen is a joke, might survive on Samsung own teams doing software for watches, TVs, fridges and what else, but I doubt any serious app developer will ever touch it. The SDK went through multiple reboots latest being .NET Core, even worse than WP, and their lack of code quality is well known. https://what.thedailywtf.com/topic/15001/enlightened https://what.thedailywtf.com/topic/15001/enlightened http://appleinsider.com/articles/17/04/05/researcher-calls-samsungs-tizen-os-the-worst-code-ive-ever-seen http://appleinsider.com/articles/17/04/05/researcher-calls-s... https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/07/12/samsungs_tizen_no_longer_worst_ever/ https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/07/12/samsungs_tizen_no_l...
- Apocryphon 9y ago
  Ah, then maybe Sailfish will survive as a regional niche.
  - amiga-workbench 9y ago
    I think there is a good chance of that, the Russians seem to have a very rational distrust of western hardware and software.

mycall 9y ago

What will happen to QNX?

Apocryphon 9y ago
It'll be fine. It's used in automative systems and my bet is it will allow BB to reinvent itself as a car company.
- ogdoad 9y ago
  It'll then go out of business again, because nobody will want to drive with a trackball.

horatiocain 9y ago

Blackberry's app store is still running? That is baffling.

m-p-3 9y ago

So we know that the newly-released Uber app for BB10 will last around two years.

pjmlp 9y ago

I wonder how much from Cascades framework has been given back to Qt.