Amazon and BlackBerry have announced that the Amazon Appstore, a third-party alternative to Google Play on Android, will be heading to BlackBerry 10 devices this fall.

Thanks to in-built support for Android apps, BlackBerry 1o managed to offer more apps than other new operating systems right from the start. However, gaining access to Android apps hasn?t been easy for users, mainly because app developers haven?t shown much interest in publishing their apps on BlackBerry?s native app store, and because the OS lacks direct access to Google?s application store.

To address this issue, BlackBerry has announced that the BlackBerry 10.3 update will have the Amazon Appstore pre-installed, instantly giving BlackBerry users access to the 240,000 Android apps currently available on Amazon?s app marketplace, in addition to the approximately 130,000 native apps available on BlackBerry World. BlackBerry will be helping the developer community migrate their apps to the Amazon Appstore so they can ?benefit from the store?s powerful promotional tools that enable maximum discoverability and profitability.?

?Making the Amazon Appstore available on BlackBerry 10 devices will help BlackBerry continue to meet two essential needs: greater app availability for our smartphone users and enhanced productivity solutions for enterprises,? said BlackBerry Executive Chairman and CEO John Chen. ?We?ve listened to our customers and have taken this important step to deliver on their needs, while executing on our strategy.?

This move won?t exactly see consumers rushing to buy BlackBerry devices just because they will now have access to popular apps like Candy Crush Saga or Netflix, but for existing customers, it will certainly go a long way in addressing the app gap on BlackBerry 10. It will still fall short of what Google Play and Apple?s App Store offer, but then again, that?s not exactly an issue exclusive to BlackBerry.