At the beginning of the month, BlackBerry released their first update for the BlackBerry Priv. Since this is the first handset of the company based on the Android operating system, they will supposedly release updates periodically with security patches to keep their promise of making this one of the most secure phones. These updates might include some bug fixes and performance improvements and that is the case for this new update. It was first available for the unlocked phones bought from BlackBerry’s site, but now, the update is rolling out for AT&T users.
This was communicated by Michael Clewley, Director of Software at BlackBerry on his Twitter account. Users can expect the notification to pop up in order to install the update, or they can check if it’s available by going to the About section on the Settings menu and then tap on Software Updates. The update for the unlocked BlackBerry Priv weighted around 475 MB, so this one could be similar in size and it includes some significant changes. For those who don’t know what those changes are, the update includes some improvements to the camera app, as it will now launch faster and take better pictures in low-light conditions. The software was tweaked a little bit to improve the whole system’s performance. Some adjustments were also made to prevent the software to crashing or freezing, so it is now more reliable. Of course, it includes the security patch for December, so it would be better to update as soon as possible.
When the update was announced, the company also mentioned that they would be updating some of their apps that are already in the Google Play Store and some users are already getting these updates. The updated apps include support for 16:9 pictures in the camera in addition to new filters, there are more languages and emoji for the keyboard, Whatsapp can now be integrated into the Hub & Contacts apps, and the app that brings an extra level of security to the phone called DTEK will now have more notification options to alert users when some apps use some of their personal information.