BlackBerry surprised many when it came in with the BlackBerry Priv smartphone based on Android 5.0 Lollipop rather than BB10 or a newer version of this revered mobile operating system.
Following its poor sales in the recent years, the Canadian company turned to its neighboring country for help. Google took the company in with open hands and as at the time of this writing, there are even more Android-powered BlackBerry smartphones in the making in readiness for a release later this year.
At a time when almost Android-powered smartphone flagships released last year have been updated with the latest Android 6.0 Marshmallow, the BlackBerry Priv has been busy with Android beta tests. However, just last week, the company announced that all units of the Priv that were bought from the company’s official ShopBlackBerry site in Canada, the U.S., UK as well as France will be updated with the latest Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow OS.
As far as Canadian buyers are concerned, the news is even better as the leading carrier in the country – TELUS – has scheduled the BlackBerry Priv Marshmallow update for a May 3 release date. In short, users of the Priv on TELUS should start receiving the Marshmallow update as from Tuesday this week. Of course, this is an upgrade plan like any other else, so don’t be surprised if there is a sudden change of plan. Users also have the option of checking the availability of the update for their devices via the Settings.
When the BlackBerry Priv was released, company CEO John Chen was quick to point out that the Priv was the most secure device in the entire Android ecosystem. Perhaps this was meant to reiterate the fact that BlackBerry has been always about security. In the latest Marshmallow update, the BlackBerry Priv will let users customize app permissions where they determine the kind of data an individual app can access. In addition, users of the updated Priv will enjoy enhanced notifications settings where they only see notifications associated with a particular app. For enhanced email security, there is a new S/MIME support that lets users encrypt their emails.
There are more emojis in the updated version of Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow as well as the Doze feature to better the battery life of the BlackBerry Priv.
While those on the BlackBerry Priv are patiently waiting for the Marshmallow update, those using 2014’s Samsung Galaxy S5 are set to receive this update beginning today. However, the same update is expected to come to Samsung Galaxy Note 4 later on May 23.