Classic BlackBerry Devices Will Not Work After January 4. Here's Why

BlackBerry, the once iconic phone brand, is ending support for classic BlackBerry devices and legacy services for BlackBerry 7.1 OS.

Classic BlackBerry Devices Will Not Work After January 4/Credit: Pexels

New Delhi: BlackBerry, the once iconic phone brand, is ending support for classic BlackBerry devices and legacy services for BlackBerry 7.1 OS. This development, however, will not affect BlackBerry users on Android OS.

"Updated December 22, 2021: As a reminder, the legacy services for BlackBerry 7.1 OS and earlier, BlackBerry 10 software, BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.1 and earlier versions, will no longer be available after January 4, 2022.  As of this date, devices running these legacy services and software through either carrier or Wi-Fi connections will no longer reliably function, including for data, phone calls, SMS and 9-1-1 functionality," the company said in a statement.

The announcement was initially made by the company in September 2021, but as a token of gratitude, it had extended its services.

"We thank our many loyal customers and partners over the years and invite you to learn more about how BlackBerry provides intelligent security software and services to enterprises and governments around the world," the company added.

Earlier in September 2020, BlackBerry had announced it was ending support in a post that read: "In 2016, BlackBerry Executive Chairman and CEO John Chen announced that the company’s transition to a software company was complete. Since then, we’ve made great strides executing on our business strategy and today, we are focused on providing intelligent security software and services to enterprises and governments around the world."

Barring a few that run on Android, most BlackBerry devices run on BlackBerry’s proprietary OS and as of January, devices with BlackBerry 7.1 OS and earlier onboard and BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.1 and earlier and BlackBerry 10 software would not function properly.