Sky is set to launch mobile apps for Android and Windows phones after posting strong download results for BlackBerry and iPhone apps.

Sky’s general manager for mobile, David Gibbs revealed at the Mobile Monday event in London that the company had posted 10.2m app downloads via Apple platforms.

He said: "It's important if we're going to make a real commitment to mobile, we need to be ubiquitous as possible. It's important that we spread ourselves across all of the platforms. That can be quite expensive, but if you're committed to it, you have to invest."

Gibbs said the success of Sky’s Blackberry apps meant the broadcaster was looking into developing both Android and Windows Phone apps in the future.

But Gibbs hinted at security issues around Android-based streams that could delay official apps being made available until the late months of 2011.

He said: "We can't protect those streams to meet the obligations for our rightsholders. There will be a solution around September-time, but it's a challenge: we're optimising someone else's [DRM] solution and putting a wrapper around it. We would like to have been there earlier, as we are aware there is a significant number of Android customers."

Gibbs talked up the importance of smartphones and tablets in Sky's future. He concluded: "We see them as the third screen, and increasingly becoming the second screen for our customers."