Sideloading apps is supposed to make things easier for developers. It gives them a way to quickly and easily load their apps onto test devices so that bug can be worked out before they’re uploaded to app stores. But for RIM, it appears that sideloading is causing more harm than good — and that’s why PlayBook users won’t be able to do it for much longer.
According to RIM’s Alec Saunders, the are some high-profile developers that have flatly refused to bring their apps to the BlackBerry platform unless sideloading is done away with. Saunders confirmed that’s going to happen very soon, possibly even in the very next update to PlayBook OS. It’s important to note that only consumer sideloading is being done away with — developers will likely still be able to do so. Locking down access should be as simple as RIM associating PlayBook PINs to developer accounts and only allowing an install when there’s a match.
Why the need for a change? Right now, one of the biggest uses of sideloading on the PlayBook is installing Android apps that have been converted to the PlayBook’s BAR format by the community. With popular apps like Kindle, Netflix, Hulu, and Mint still nowhere to be seen, many PlayBook enthusiasts have taken it upon themselves to do the conversions rather than wait for official ports to arrive in App World. Even if an app is free, this practice can be construed as piracy — and that’s why those big-time devs that RIM is courting want sideloading removed.
On his Twitter feed, Saunders goes so far as to state that 25% of Android apps are pirated. He doesn’t note where that figure comes from or if he’s talking about on the PlayBook or the Android ecosystem as a whole. A Yankee Group survey late last year revealed that 53% of developers do think piracy is a problem on Android and that the same number think Google is far too lax about trying to prevent piracy.
RIM wants to avoid being perceived that way by developers — and they have to, if they’re ever going to get missing big-name apps uploaded to App World.
