BlackBerry 10

It is based on QNX, a Unix-like operating system that was originally developed by QNX Software Systems until the company was acquired by Research In Motion in 2010. BlackBerry 10 supports the application framework Qt (version 4.8) and in some later models features an Android runtime to run Android applications. Prior to version 10.3.1, BlackBerry 10 also supported the Adobe AIR runtime. The user interface uses a combination of gestures and touch-based interactions for navigation and control, making it possible to control a device without having to press any physical buttons, with the exception of the power button that switches the device on or off. It also supports hardware keyboards, including ones that support touch input.

BlackBerry began to deprecate BlackBerry 10 in 2015, announcing a pivot towards Android devices with the BlackBerry Priv, and gradually discontinuing BB10 devices and software. The OS was officially declared end-of-life on January 4, 2022.

History

The operating system was originally called BBX, but this was changed when BlackBerry was blocked from using the BBX trademark after legal action from BASIS International, who already used it for their software.

On November 12, 2012, CEO Thorsten Heins announced a 30 January 2013, launch of the BlackBerry 10 operating system version 10.0 and the first smartphones running it. The operating system, as well as two devices, the Z10 (a full touchscreen device), and the Q10 (a device equipped with a physical keyboard), were announced simultaneously around the world on January 30, 2013. The company also announced that the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet would receive an update to BlackBerry 10 later in 2013. Subsequently, BlackBerry stated when releasing their Q1 2014 financial results that the BlackBerry PlayBook would not be receiving an update to BlackBerry 10, citing that the hardware would not provide a good experience of BlackBerry 10 and were focusing on future devices. BlackBerry continued to support and develop the PlayBook with its separate Tablet OS.

On 12 May 2013 BlackBerry OS 10.1 was launched. This brought improvements to many features requested by users.

On 13 September 2013, in Asia, BlackBerry announced the launch of BlackBerry OS 10.2 and a new BlackBerry 10 device, the Z30, providing performance increases over the previous BlackBerry 10 devices.

On October 26, 2015, BlackBerry Limited announced that there were no plans to release new APIs and software development kits (SDKs) or adopt Qt version 5. Future updates, like versions 10.3.3 and 10.3.4, would focus on security and privacy enhancements only. At the same time, the company introduced its first Android-based device, BlackBerry Priv. The BlackBerry Leap was the last smartphone released on the BB10 platform. After BlackBerry Limited ceased making smartphones in 2016, its successor BlackBerry Mobile by licensee TCL abandoned the platform and only developed devices based on Android, starting with the BlackBerry KeyOne.

On December 15, 2017, BlackBerry CEO John S. Chen announced that there would be at least another two years of support for BlackBerry 10 and BlackBerry OS devices; in August 2019, however, BlackBerry stated in a press release that they would continue to support "critical infrastructure" for BlackBerry 10 beyond the end of the year. BlackBerry 10 became end-of-life effective January 4, 2022.

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Features

Controls

The touchscreen is the predominant input method of BlackBerry 10, in addition to hardware keyboard for devices that have one. Users can use gestures and keyboard shortcuts to navigate around the system. For instance, a user can unlock the device or return to the home screen by swiping from the bottom to the top. Some gestures offer additional modes of interaction when they are used differently. For instance, the same gesture can be used to show unread notifications when the user swipes from the bottom edge to somewhat the middle and slightly to the right and also keep the finger on the touchscreen. Similarly, when the finger is moved from the bottom to the right in a curved motion, the user can enter BlackBerry Hub immediately. Devices with a hardware keyboard can use keyboard shortcuts to reach applications or perform specific functions more quickly.

Multitasking

When a user returns to the home screen from within an application, the application is minimized into a so-called "Active Frame". An Active Frame is a miniaturized window of the application that keeps running in the background. A user can return to such an application by tapping on the Active Frame or close it by tapping on the X icon. Active Frames can have widget-like functionality and show small bits of information, similar to widgets on Android. For instance, the calendar application can show upcoming events and meetings. BlackBerry 10 limits the number of active applications and it varies per device.

BlackBerry Hub

BlackBerry 10 collates emails, SMS/MMS, calls and notifications into the BlackBerry Hub. It shows all messages and notifications in a continuous list, sorted by date. The user can filter results by application or, in the case of email, also by inbox. The user can create, view or act upon messages or notifications directly from the Hub. For instance, when the user opens a Facebook message, the Hub will open a small part of the Facebook application and allow the user to perform the same actions as the Facebook application itself. Applications need to support the Hub specifically to use most of these features, which is only possible for applications written with the native SDK. Notifications from unsupported applications are collated in the generic notifications tab.

Miscellaneous

Other notable features of BlackBerry 10 include:

A virtual keyboard with support for predictive typing and several gestures.
Voice control and BlackBerry Assistant (10.3.1 and later), a virtual assistant, with which the user can perform various tasks by voice input or typed queries.
BlackBerry Balance, with which the user can separate personal from work data, if enabled by the device's enterprise server. The user can switch between two workspaces, each with their own applications, files and accounts.
BlackBerry Link, with which the user can synchronize data between the device and a computer, update the device or make backups. It supports iTunes and Windows Media Player.

Applications

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BlackBerry 10 has a number of applications that help users perform various tasks and activities. These include a web browser, as well applications for notes, reminders, calculator, clock, music, media, weather and file management. Cloud services like Box and Dropbox are also integrated by default. In addition, BlackBerry's messaging service BlackBerry Messenger is included, which supports video chat, VoIP and screen sharing.

Third-party applications

BlackBerry 10 can run applications that were written with its native SDK, Android applications compiled for API levels 10–18 (Android 4.3 "Jelly Bean") (support varies per version) and applications written for Adobe AIR (only supported until version 10.3.1). Apps could be downloaded via the BlackBerry World app store, or sideloaded. Beginning on version 10.2.1, Android apps can be sideloaded directly from APK files (unlike previous versions, where Android apps had to be packaged within BlackBerry 10's native app package format). In June 2014, BlackBerry announced a partnership with Amazon to bundle its Amazon Appstore with the BlackBerry 10.3 update, adding an additional source of Android apps.

At release in January 2013, BlackBerry 10 had 70,000 third-party applications. At the 2013 BlackBerry Live conference, BlackBerry announced that they had more than 120,000 applications.

Some developers have offered applications to access the Google Play Store, although this is not sanctioned by BlackBerry or Google. Applications that depend on the Google Play Services framework may not run. Similarly, Android applications that require a newer API level than 18 cannot run on BlackBerry 10.

Devices

BlackBerry Limited released ten devices running BlackBerry 10, including devices with a slate form factor, and devices similar to the BlackBerry Bold line with smaller screens and physical keyboards (with the BlackBerry Classic going further and also including the trackpad and buttons from the Bold).

Canceled devices

BlackBerry Colt, originally planned as the first QNX-powered BlackBerry smartphone
BlackBerry Café, a 4.5" all-touch model intended for emerging markets, possibly a successor to the BlackBerry Z3.
BlackBerry Kopi, a 3.1" QWERTY model intended for emerging markets. "Kopi" is Indonesian for coffee, implying that the device may be primarily targeted for the Indonesian market.

Developer activities

Engagement strategy

Building up to the launch, the company made substantial changes to how it had previously engaged developers, being substantially more active at courting developers, solving issues and being transparent about development updates. The company sent two teams to engage developers. The first, focused on acquiring premier applications from third parties. The second team focused on engaging the broader development community and building the platforms application count.

Prototype smartphones

In May 2012, the company released a prototype touch screen smartphone to BlackBerry developers as part of the BlackBerry 10 Jam Conference in Orlando, Florida. The Dev Alpha A device, which resembled a small BlackBerry PlayBook, ran an early version of the operating system and was provided as a means for developers to develop and test their applications on a physical device.

In September 2012, a second developer prototype was released in September 2012, known as the Dev Alpha B. It included a faster processor and a number of internal improvements.

A third developer device, the Dev Alpha C, was announced on November 29, 2012, and was the first developer prototype to demonstrate the physical keyboard capabilities of BlackBerry 10. Acquisition of a Dev Alpha C device was based around a point system, meaning that developers who had previously developed apps for BlackBerry, or who already received the Dev Alpha A/B devices, had a higher chance of receiving a Dev Alpha C device than a new BlackBerry developer. It was released at the BlackBerry Jam Europe 2013 event in February 2013.

Portathons

Pre-launch "Portathons" held by BlackBerry received up to 19,000 applications submitted per weekend.

Reception

Reviews of BlackBerry 10 were mixed. David Pogue of The New York Times noted that the software was, "simple to master, elegantly designed and surprisingly complete. It offers features nobody else offers, some tailored to the corporate world that raised BlackBerry aloft in its glory days." Walt Mossberg of The Wall Street Journal referred to the operating system as "logical and generally easy to use." Mossberg praised the virtual keyboard, camera software, and messaging hub; but criticized its application ecosystem, cloud capabilities and the immaturity of some features. Gizmodo's Kyle Wagner states that BlackBerry 10's home screen "gives BB10 the single best implementation of multitasking of any mobile OS right now." Wagner goes on to say that the Hub "works out to function a bit more like a junk drawer." He also reports what he refers to as the "Tragic Flaw": "Unlike every other major OS right now, BlackBerry does not feel fully integrated."

In comparison to that, at launch, CrackBerry.com viewed the new features more positively and took into account the fact that the OS is brand new. It said that the BlackBerry Hub "is a polished solution to efficiently managing the influx of messages we have coming at us...". It goes on to mention minor discrepancies and finally pointing out that many of the problems are getting fixed in future updates (some now released, e.g. battery life improvements, call ringtone disabled in bedside mode). It criticizes the limited customization options compared to BlackBerry OS (Alert tone volumes, alert light colour). Regarding the apps in BlackBerry World "really impressed by the quality of apps BlackBerry World has to offer", it notes that the application ecosystem is not as large as Android and iOS because of its age (brand new) and finishes with "doubtlessly many more will come around once they see the Z10 getting traction in the wild." Its general summary of BlackBerry 10 (with thought for its predecessor) "is that BlackBerry 10 really is the best of the old and the best of the new assembled seamlessly into an elegant, practical, and integrated package."

BlackBerry 10 added a compatibility layer for Android software, which allowed developers to repackage their Android apps for distribution on BlackBerry World. This feature was received poorly as the Android apps "performed abysmally on the phone. Sluggish, ugly, and disconnected from the core OS. In fact, because these apps are being run in a software emulation of Android — Gingerbread no less (that's version 2.3) — they bear little to no relationship to the rest of the operating system". Later versions added the ability for users to manually install Android app packages. Beginning with the BlackBerry Passport, Amazon Appstore was bundled with BlackBerry 10 to provide an additional source of third-party Android software. BlackBerry CEO John S. Chen hoped that Amazon's own smartphone, the Fire Phone, would bolster the adoption of the Amazon store and attract more major developers to it, and in turn, BlackBerry's ecosystem. The Fire Phone was a commercial failure, however, which led to BlackBerry's decision to develop an Android phone of its own, resulting in the BlackBerry Priv.

Version history

BlackBerry BBX

During the BlackBerry DevCon Americas Conference in San Francisco held from October 18–20, 2011 RIM announced the future platform for devices as "BlackBerry BBX", a development fork of the QNX Neutrino RTOS version 6.5.0 platform. On May 1, 2012 it was announced at BlackBerry World 2012 held in Orlando that it would be instead be called BlackBerry 10.