BlackBerry World Paid Apps Removal Scheduled For April 1

BlackBerry is alerting developers that it will be removing paid apps from its BlackBerry World app store starting on April 1. It's the latest move away from the BlackBerry 10 platform — though BlackBerry World isn't going away, it will be switching to a free-only library, leaving little of interest for the few remaining BB10 users out there.

BlackBerry has started alerting developers with paid apps in the BlackBerry World store through an email. According to the message, which was recently published publicly, BB10 users won't be able to purchase anything from BlackBerry World starting on April 1 when the paid content will be removed.

A look at BlackBerry World as it exists right now reveals that most of the paid content appears to be mobile games, with other content mostly centering around random third-party free apps for popular services like WhatsApp and Instagram. Developers who currently have paid content in that app store have the option of switching it over to the "Free" category.

That switch from paid to free must happen by March 31; any paid content that hasn't been converted will simply be removed altogether on the next day. Developers who only have free content on BlackBerry World don't need to take any action, the company says in its note.

Of note, developers can continue to offer free content that is monetized via BlackBerry World, but there's a restriction: the payment aspect of that monetization must exist within the app because BlackBerry is removing all payment mechanisms from its app store starting April 1. Customers who have previously purchased paid apps will continue to have access to them.

SOURCE: Twitter