New Beta of the BlackBerry Runtime for Android Apps Now Available

Android AppsThe Android Runtime has been upgraded from Jelly Bean 4.2.2 to 4.3, the BlackBerry Runtime for Android apps is to enhance the overall compatibility of the runtime and add support for many highly requested features and APIs.

The latest BlackBerry Runtime for Android apps, which is now available as part of the BlackBerry 10.3 SDK beta, delivers increased compatibility and support. Here’s what’s new in the latest runtime:

  • Android Jelly Bean 4.3: The Android Runtime has been upgraded from Jelly Bean 4.2.2 to 4.3.
  • Accounts Support: Android applications that use authentication for user login can now be set up and managed from within the BlackBerry 10 accounts settings.
  • Bluetooth LE: Applications that use Bluetooth Low Energy from Android API level 18 are now supported.
  • NFC: Android applications that integrate with NFC are supported. NFC support includes reading and writing tags, as well as sharing data between NFC enabled devices.
  • Share Framework v2: The previous release of the runtime enabled Android applications that register with the share framework in Android to appear as share targets on the BlackBerry 10 share menu. In this release, Android applications can now share to BlackBerry 10 share menu targets.

For more information and to download the latest Runtime head on over to the BlackBerry Dev Blog.