It’s time to bid adieu to BlackBerry, this time for real. The smartphone maker has announced that support for the flagship BlackBerry OS will expire on January 4, 2022. As a result, the company will no longer provide significant services for its current devices.
BlackBerry was one of the most successful smartphone brands before the high-end phone sector became prominent. It would stop supporting BlackBerry 7.1 OS and older versions, BlackBerry 10 software, BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.1, and preceding versions.
From January 4, smartphones will be devoid of provisioning services. It means they will be unable to perform several activities such as WiFi connections, data, phone calls, SMS, and 9-1-1 calls.
“We thank our many loyal customers and partners over the years,” the company said in a statement.
Blackberry reign
The smartphone, which reigned the IT market years ago, featured a sleek keyboard-centric design. Also, it was a big appeal with business executives and working professionals who relied on BlackBerry services to keep their information private and anonymous.
The OS for smartphones is coming to an end. But BlackBerry Link, BlackBerry Desktop Manager, and BlackBerry Blend applications will have limited functionality, according to the company.
BBM Enterprise and BBM Enterprise for Individual Use (BBMe) will continue to be available on other platforms.
According to recent shutdowns and modifications, BlackBerry may be on its way out. The corporation has previously faced a gradual market downturn.
BlackBerry attempted to reboot itself with a new OS in 2013, but it failed. Then, the business attempted to migrate to Android smartphones in 2015. But that, too, failed.
BlackBerry stated in their most recent release that the modifications to their 7.1 OS and older programs, as well as the service changes, will have no effect on customers’ ability to access their Password Keeper data, which is stored locally.
“If you are looking to move to another Password Management Application or BlackBerry Password Keeper for Android, you will need to manually create new entries on your new smartphone,” the company added.
