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BlackBerry World

application distribution service and application by BlackBerry Ltd

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJun 21, 2026
Entity authorityQ122381
Source-derived summary

BlackBerry World was an application distribution service (app marketplace) by BlackBerry Limited. The service provided BlackBerry users with an environment to browse, download, and update mobile apps, including third-party applications.

The service went live on 1 April 2009 (2009-04-01), originally named BlackBerry App World. It worked with BlackBerry 10 devices, the BlackBerry PlayBook, and a majority of BlackBerry OS devices. At one point in 2011, BlackBerry World had the largest revenue per app at $9,166.67, compared to its rivals ($6,562.50 by Nokia Ovi Store, $6,480.00 by Apple App Store and $1,200.00 by Google Android Market), although total revenue was lower than Apple App Store.

BlackBerry devices after 2015 (with the release of the BlackBerry Priv) no longer use the BlackBerry 10 operating system, but instead use the Android operating system with the Google Play store for app distribution instead. BlackBerry World servers alongside other BlackBerry services shut down in January 2022.

History

In 2003, Research In Motion (RIM) (now known as BlackBerry Limited) launched the Mobile Data Service to enable customers to access Java-based third-party enterprise applications using the secure real-time push-based BlackBerry infrastructure.

Later on 21 October 2008, RIM announced at the BlackBerry Developer Conference that the company would open an application store for their devices.

It was also announced that the store was scheduled to be open in March 2009, and would work in conjunction with PayPal's services.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “BlackBerry World” is application distribution service and application by BlackBerry Ltd. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through BlackBerry, World and application, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2009, 2011, 2015, 2022—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 2009. For this dossier, BlackBerry, World and application is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “application distribution service and application by BlackBerry Ltd” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q122381. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2009, 2011, 2015 and 2022.

Critical limits

The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “BlackBerry World”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow BlackBerry World primary sources, BlackBerry World archive and BlackBerry research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “BlackBerry World”?
  2. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
  3. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from BlackBerry World” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.