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Could it be that maybe there's some kind of quirk in the BB API that turns out to be conducive to developing BlackBerry apps in a declaritive fashion? So like,

Could it be that maybe there's some kind of quirk in the BB API that turns out to be conducive to developing BlackBerry apps in a declaritive fashion? So like, what if you dump a bunch of API calls into a table, and then aggregate the varying permutations with a SQL query, and wrap it all up in appropriate XML markup, programatically, and the call each variant an "app"? The reason I'm pondering this, is because I think Microsoft has a similar situation, where even something as trivial as an RSS feed might be counted among the "app" statistics: http://www.itworld.com/software/369727/microsoft-updates-windows-phone-app-studio-after-developer-projects-soar http://www.itworld.com/software/369727/microsoft-updates-win... ...and then there's also Firefox OS to consider. Where do you draw the line between an "app" and somebody's crappy web page?

YokoZar 13y ago
In the Ubuntu "App" Store, a good chunk of the content are simply PDF magazines. There's no other place to purchase them (eg a dedicated book store), so they got rolled into packages programattically and put into their own section of the store. I imagine something similar could be going on with Blackberry -- wrapping content as an app.
Someone 13y ago
That is a tricky line, indeed. Assuming http://photos.appleinsider.com/App%20Store%20Review%20Guidelines%20-%20App%20Store%20Resource%20Centerai.pdf http://photos.appleinsider.com/App%20Store%20Review%20Guidel... is the real deal, Apple tries to do it with the following rules: 2.20: Developers "spamming" the App Store with many versions of similar apps will be removed from the iOS Developer Program 12.4: Apps that are simply web clippings, content aggregators, or a collection of links, may be rejected Notice the 'may' in that last clause.
- Aqua_Geek 13y ago
  Sadly, I don't think Apple enforces these guidelines very much — the top three (by number of apps) developers in the iOS App Store are [1]: * Libriance Inc (2,100 apps): http://itunes.apple.com/artist/libriance-inc/id336845065?uo=5 http://itunes.apple.com/artist/libriance-inc/id336845065?uo=... * NTT Solmare (1,600 apps): http://itunes.apple.com/artist/ntt-solmare/id291585690?uo=5 http://itunes.apple.com/artist/ntt-solmare/id291585690?uo=5 * Tobit.Software (1,300 apps): http://itunes.apple.com/artist/tobit.software/id284971906?uo=5 http://itunes.apple.com/artist/tobit.software/id284971906?uo... A lot of the apps for each of these companies are very similar or are basic web clips. 1 — Source: iTunes Enterprise Partner Feed dump from a month or so ago.

YokoZar 13y ago

In the Ubuntu "App" Store, a good chunk of the content are simply PDF magazines. There's no other place to purchase them (eg a dedicated book store), so they got rolled into packages programattically and put into their own section of the store. I imagine something similar could be going on with Blackberry -- wrapping content as an app.

Someone 13y ago

That is a tricky line, indeed. Assuming http://photos.appleinsider.com/App%20Store%20Review%20Guidelines%20-%20App%20Store%20Resource%20Centerai.pdf http://photos.appleinsider.com/App%20Store%20Review%20Guidel... is the real deal, Apple tries to do it with the following rules: 2.20: Developers "spamming" the App Store with many versions of similar apps will be removed from the iOS Developer Program 12.4: Apps that are simply web clippings, content aggregators, or a collection of links, may be rejected Notice the 'may' in that last clause.

Aqua_Geek 13y ago
Sadly, I don't think Apple enforces these guidelines very much — the top three (by number of apps) developers in the iOS App Store are [1]: * Libriance Inc (2,100 apps): http://itunes.apple.com/artist/libriance-inc/id336845065?uo=5 http://itunes.apple.com/artist/libriance-inc/id336845065?uo=... * NTT Solmare (1,600 apps): http://itunes.apple.com/artist/ntt-solmare/id291585690?uo=5 http://itunes.apple.com/artist/ntt-solmare/id291585690?uo=5 * Tobit.Software (1,300 apps): http://itunes.apple.com/artist/tobit.software/id284971906?uo=5 http://itunes.apple.com/artist/tobit.software/id284971906?uo... A lot of the apps for each of these companies are very similar or are basic web clips. 1 — Source: iTunes Enterprise Partner Feed dump from a month or so ago.