Blackberry users have always felt like the black sheep in the mobile world. While most companies have had access to a large market of apps and devices, the size of the Blackberry market wasn't enough to convince many app developers to take the time to make ones for the Canadian telecommunication company. However, a recent update may have made things a lot easier for the small user base.
Blackberry announced on Friday that the latest Blackberry OS update, Blackberry 10.3.1, will be available for most compatible phones on that day. Alongside multiple updates to the interface and operating system, the Blackberry OS will also gain access to the Amazon Appstore and a large market of Android apps.
Before this point, Blackberry could only download apps from the Blackberry World app. This incompatibility was enough to get Blackberry CEO John Chen to use the current debate about Net Neutrality to argue that developers should create apps for Blackberry.
If the added Android compatibility wasn't enough reason for Blackberry users to be excited about their latest update, the update would also bring the new Blackberry Blend feature to all compatible devices. Blend is a feature that lets users streamline data between their Blackberry phone, tablet and computer. That way, users can respond to messages on the Blackberry phone without having to pull it out.
The update also brings Blackberry Assistant, Blackberry's version of Siri, to all compatible Blackberry phones.
