Blackberry’s new Android smartphone, the BlackBerry Priv will be rolling out with Android 5.1 Lollipop out of the box. The phone is currently available to a few users in the US but will definitely be expanding to other markets as time goes by. Since Android Lollipop is not the most updated version, BlackBerry has promised to update this phone to Android 6.0 Marshmallow early next year.
BlackBerry has not given a timeline as to when users should expect to get this update but is only quoted saying it will happen “sometime in the new year.” Given that one year has over 300 days, it is hard to pin point the exact date users should expect this update. I just hope that BlackBerry does not delay the update for so long.
Android 6.0 Marshmallow has only been around for a few weeks and at this point, LG is the only big manufacturer that has been able to roll out the update to its devices. The company already rolled out the update to the LG G4 in Poland and South Korea.
If BlackBerry manages to get the latest Android updates to the Priv on time, it will definitely settle well with Android enthusiasts. On the other hand, if it doesn’t manage to do this, BlackBerry will be seen as a less serious player on the platform and this will not be attractive to many Android users.
As for security patches, BlackBerry revealed that it will strive to roll out the monthly Google patches to the Priv 30 days after Google issues them.