So, you’ve figured out your BlackBerry for the most part and are ready to venture past the “just-out-of-the-box” functionality of the phone, but you’re not quirt sure how? No worries, it’s very easy. Click the link to continue reading and to learn how to add third party applications to your phone.

First things first, it is best to download BlackBerry App World. This can be found by going to BlackBerry’s mobile website for BlackBerry devices at mobile.blackberry.com. One of the first links visible once this page loads it a link to the download page for BlackBerry App World. Click this link and you will go through a few pages asking for your language and asking to accept the terms of use. When you finish going through these pages you will be at a download that looks like the one below. This is the generic BlackBerry Browser download page. When you click the “Download” button at the bottom of the page, the application will begin to download and install itself. If you have a device running 4.6 or greater your application will install and the icon can be located in your designated default download folder. For operating system versions prior to 4.6 the icon will simply be placed at the very bottom of your Application screen.

BlackBerry Default Download Page

Find this App World icon and click it. After the application loads you will be at the home page which has some tabs at the bottom of the screen and a scrollable featured applications list. To download and install a free application simply locate the application and click the download link. For paid applications, you will need a PayPal account, and depending on where you live you may or may not be charged taxes on the application. When you use App World, unlike downloading an application straight from the browser, you have peace of mind in security (you know the app is coming from a reliable source), and you will also get an archive so if you delete the application later on you can reinstall it in a much easier fashion.

The other way to install a third party application is to go through the BlackBerry Browser and go to the application developer’s website and find the download link. This will pull up a web page much like the above with the “Download” or “Cancel” options at the bottom of the screen. Also, there are application catalogs like the Mobihand App Store which usually provides different ways to install the applications you get through them. In most cases it will give you an OTA (Over The Air) download link and will take you through the above process. In other cases you may want to download the .zip file provided and install through your computer.

When choosing to download the .zip file, you will need to use Desktop Manager to install the application. You first need to extract the files from the .zip file. Run Desktop Manager, plug your phone into the computer, and click the “Application Loader” tab, then click “Add/Remove Applications” tab. You will then see a list of all the previously added applications and some system files installed on your BlackBerry. At the bottom of the window you will see a button that will allow you to browse the files on your computer. What you must do is locate the .alx file from the .zip file you downloaded and extracted. Once located, click next and Desktop Manager will finish the process. Using Desktop Manager is usually the easiest and quickest way to install/uninstall multiple applications. If you are only installing or uninstalling one application from the BlackBerry, I would stick to doing everything from the phone.

The last way to install an application is to save the .jad and .cod files to your microSD card and install directly from the phone. This is a little more advanced and I typically use this when I’m creating themes and testing them out. Any other time I use one of the previous methods. To do this, first save the files stated to the microSD card. On your BlackBerry go to Media, press the menu key, and select “Explore”. Locate the .jad file and click it. This will load the default download page in the BlackBerry Browser and will locally install the file. Only do this if you’re moderately versed with BlackBerry’s and you know what you’re doing. Otherwise, I would stick to the easier methods.

If you have any more questions about how to install a third party application feel free to email me at taylor[at]bberrydog[dot]com.