BlackBerry is ending support to its Android apps by August 2022 – Good e-Reader
BlackBerry, it seems, is slowly drifting into oblivion. For long after it had shunned the BlackBerry OS and moved onto the Android bandwagon, the company now seems to be winding up its operations in the Android domain as well. As a CrackBerry forum member John Albert found out and reported…….
BlackBerry, it seems, is slowly drifting into oblivion. For long after it had shunned the BlackBerry OS and moved onto the Android bandwagon, the company now seems to be winding up its operations in the Android domain as well. As a CrackBerry forum member John Albert found out and reported by Liliputing, some of the key Android apps that still made BlackBerry smartphones special and different from the rest would be reaching the end of life by August 31, 2022.
The BlackBerry Software Support Lifecycle website mentioned these apps as the following:
- Password Keeper
- DTEK security app
- Launcher
- Privacy Shade
- Keyboard
Reaching the end of life means the said apps will no longer be supported by BlackBerry and there won’t be any new updates made available. However, those apps might still be there in the PlayStore but aren’t likely to be of any value as such, more so since such apps are only applicable on BlackBerry smartphones and there isn’t any new hardware forthcoming from the company.
OnwardMobility, a US-based company that owns the BlackBerry brand at the moment has been promising a new 5G-enabled BlackBerry phone with a physical keyboard for a while now but what is clear is that it won’t be able to make good of the apps mentioned above. As such, it will have to offer its own alternatives if it wants its device to have the same levels of security and privacy as BlackBerry phones have always been known for.
All of this comes on the back of BlackBerry earlier announcing it is pulling the plug on the legacy services that enabled phones running the BlackBerry OS to carry on some of the most basic tasks. That included making phone calls, sending, or receiving text messages, and so on. Add to that the end of life that the company’s Android apps are set to reach and all of this likely points to the end of what we have come to know of BlackBerry so far.
Henceforth, any company – ready OnwardMobility – willing to take the BlackBerry brand forward will have to reinvent itself not only with the hardware but on the all-important software front as well. It is only this that can take the BlackBerry legacy forward or else, it is going to be just a smartphone with a physical keyboard.
With a keen interest in tech, I make it a point to keep myself updated on the latest developments in the world of technology and gadgets. That includes …….
