Marshmallow is continuing to make the rounds to more and more smartphones, with Sony having sent out the software update to the Xperia Z3 earlier this month. BlackBerry Priv owners have been given the privilege to test out the software in a beta status similar to the way Sony was testing it for Xperia models, and as of today, BlackBerry has announced that the Priv is now officially beginning to receive the update to Android Marshmallow so long as customers purchased their device through BlackBerry’s online shop. Having said that, updates are likely not going to hit every single Priv model today and may take a few days to reach all users.
As for the carrier model variants of the BlackBerry Priv, some subscribers are newly part of the beta and are already using Marshmallow on their device. Priv users on T-Mobile are reported to have started seeing invites to download the beta software as of April 24th. While the BlackBerry Priv models that were picked up from BlackBerry’s online store are starting to get their updates from today, BlackBerry mentions that those who have a carrier model of the device won’t be left out of the fold for too much longer, and that all major carrier variants of the device will start to see the update to Android 6.0 Marshmallow come in starting on May 3rd which is just next week Tuesday.
While the BlackBerry Priv was already an Android device that was centered around security, the inclusion of Marshmallow will bring an even more secure state to the device. As with all other Marshmallow devices, the Priv will also get more granular control over permissions, and features like Doze Mode and app standby for increased battery life, as well as Google Now On Tap will be making their way onto the device following the update. BlackBerry Priv specific features coming in this update include more gestures for the keyboard and BlackBerry made improvements to the cursor control and the word prediction for typing. The BlackBerry launcher has also been improved with this update and the camera software now includes recording at 24fps in 4K resolution, as well as the ability to use slow-motion video.