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We have a couple of Blackberry apps and are now trying to prepare them for BB 10. These apps are made in Java via Eclipse and/or RIM IDE tool. However, when I went to https://developer.blackberry.com/platforms/bb10, I saw that there is no even a mention of Java SDK. Take a look at image below.

So how am I supposed to update Blackberry app to BB 10? Any ideas?

sandalone
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    RIM dumped the Java API and there's no way to run old java apps on BB10. You could still reuse some code if you use the Android Runtime. – Mister Smith Oct 16 '12 at 12:34
  • @MisterSmith I have the Android app as well. Do you suggest that I recompile Android app as porting old RIM to BB10 is impossible? – sandalone Oct 16 '12 at 12:48
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    That seems to be the quickest way to get your app on BB10. Still you might face compatibility issues. Main platforms in BB10 are going to be C++ and -by some time at least- webworks. – Mister Smith Oct 16 '12 at 13:13
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    There was a recent dev conference presentation on Porting BlackBerry Java Apps to BlackBerry 10 that might help, too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DD7UbveZgy4 – melle Oct 16 '12 at 20:13

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You have to decide what to do with your applications. If you have an Android version, one option is to repackage the APK to a BAR using the provided tool set so that it will run under the Android player. There are many good Android applications that provide an acceptable or even good user experience this way. Another option is to port your BlackBerry Java application to Android (if there is no existing Android version) then package the Android version for the player. This would also allow you to market the application to Android users. The final option is to port the BlackBerry Java applications to the Native SDK, Cascades, HTML5 or Adobe Air.

The best way forward depends on how tightly integrated into the BB10 system you want to be. While there are facilities provided in BB10 that are the equivalents to those is BlackBerry OS, there have been significant changes required to enable the improvements everyone wants to see on the new platform. If you see BB10 as a significant part of your future business then porting to Cascades would be very worth while.

Richard
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  • Thanks. Do you know if this Android Player works as apart of BB10 or as some kind of emulator (like Wine on Linux)? will Android app converted for BB still be native in respect of will its icon be among other icons, will it run in its own screen like virtual machine or it will run inside BB10 like any other native app? – sandalone Oct 16 '12 at 13:20
  • No it will not be native at all. It is an Android application running inside Dalvik VM in a linux process running inside an Android VM running in BB10 (the so called Android Runtime). – Mister Smith Oct 16 '12 at 16:02
  • I mean there's an extra layer on top of the Dalvik VM, but the look and feel should be as a regular app (icon in desktop, no need to open an "emulator" first). – Mister Smith Oct 16 '12 at 16:11
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    The user will see an application icon the same as for a 'native' BB10 application. When the app is running there is some extra chrome and gestures that provide for Android input differences from BB10. It will look like an Android application, but there is no need to launch the player first then run your application like the standard VM experience with VMWare or VirtualBox. Each Android application runs in its own player. I will have to find confirmation but IIRC the Dalvik emulation runs directly on QNX there is no linux/Android VM layer. – Richard Oct 16 '12 at 19:06
  • @Richard Then is it a custom Dalvik VM implementation, just like Alien Dalvik? – Mister Smith Oct 17 '12 at 09:21
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    I don't know that it is a custom implementation or just a port. Apparently the first Alpha versions of the Android player were VMs running the full OS. But that was never the plan since QNX is fully POSIX compliant and the aim was to allow Android app vendors to easily migrate their products to the Tablet OS and BB10 and provide a 'Native' look and feel. The process is so simple and easy that you don't even need the original source code, which is why third parties have (until now) been able to provide BAR files for the Kindle app and others. – Richard Oct 17 '12 at 11:35
  • can i use blackberry java sdk 7.1.0.10 for bb 10? – Nam Vu Sep 18 '13 at 05:52
  • No. There is no support for any BBSDK Java APIs on BB10. – Richard Sep 18 '13 at 11:29