This week, the OS 10.2.1.1055 was dropped and I am pretty sure some of you have heard of it, whilst many have loaded it up already. There’s quite a few people asking where they can find Android apps to install using the new OS 10.2.1 leak. Now that the leak is available to all devices it should make for a big community effort to see what works. Kris Simundson on the CB forums have uploaded a load of apk’s onto his SkyDrive which has some of the hottest Android apps that work such as all the top hits like CandyCrush, Starbucks, GMaps, Vine, etc.

His sky drive is available here.

To make things crazier, B1aze has created a whole list of apk’s of working android app markets for the latest OS 10.2.1.1055. Let us know what you find that works!

• 1Mobile
• Amazon App Store
• AndAppOnline
• AndroidPIT App Center
• Anzhi
• AppChina
• Appland
• AppsLib
• Aptoide
• D.cn Games Center
• F-Droid
• GetJar
• gFan
• Google Play
• Hamiapps
• HiAPK
• LENOVO
• Mobango
• NexVa
• N-Duo Market
• NOOK Apps
• Opera Mobile Store
• PandaApp
• Pdassi
• Samsung Apps
• SlideME
• SK T-Store
• Soc.io Mall
• SnappCloud
• Tencent App Gem
• Taobao App Market
• Yandex.Store

Note that all of the above requires you to have BlackBerry OS 10.2.1.1055 loaded on your device first. You can load them up with the links below. Note that these are FULL OS Auto-Loader which means ALL of your data will be wiped if you load it without backing up!

BlackBerry Z10
BlackBerry Q10
BlackBerry Z30

Ronen, over at BerryReview, managed to speak to Alec regarding the new OS 10.2.1 and when asked on the purpose of OS 10.2.1 here’s what he had to say:

The focus was on improving compatibility and the overall BlackBerry 10 experience. Most of that comes from the updated Android support with Jelly Bean 4.2.2 and opening up native headers, mapping, Bluetooth (LE coming later), share framework, and more.

So, why BlackBerry did not just open up the runtime and allow users to install APK’s at launch?

With OS 10.2.1 they are finally seeing that around 90% of applications work just fine without any changes. This is a huge improvement over the original average of 30-50%. They found that a huge portion of the top requested Android apps work just fine on OS 10.2.1 so they decided to simplify the process of making them available to users.

Now, since OTA installation of android files are available now, is BlackBerry performing any sort of security check on Android apps that are installed through the browser?

Currently they are not. On the other hand this change does not change the secure work perimeter for enterprise devices at all so this is not a risk for enterprise data. Just make sure you trust the source of your Android apps and ensure you are installing legitimate ones.