BlackBerry OS 10.3.1 Official Feature List Leaks Ahead of Release

Now that BlackBerry Passport has been released in some markets, fans have been able to take advantage of some of the new stuff added in the new version of BlackBerry operating system, namely 10.3.1.

The Passport is the only smartphone (the first one too), that runs an official version of BlackBerry 10.3.1, but the Canadian company plans to release it as an update for all compatible handsets later this year. We expect most of BlackBerry fans to not be taken by surprise by the release of the OS 10.3.1, as various builds were already leaked several weeks ago and many users are already running these versions that, while official, are not final. We’ve already covered some of the most important changes in the BlackBerry 10.3.1 in our extensive article, but for those who prefer to wait until the Canadian company releases the new OS as an update, here is a short list of new features and improvements that you will get, courtesy to N4BB:

• Notifications Profiles (similar to BeBuzz and Hub++ apps);
• Internal & External Out of Office replies;
• Ability to specify which contacts folders within Exchange to sync;
• More robust Calendar reminder dialogs;
• Task Recurrence;
• Workspace Camera;
• Ability to mark a Picture or Video as “hidden”;
• Map View of Pictures (requires Geo-tagging of photos);
• Customizable Hotkeys from Home Screen (requires physical keypad);
• Battery Saving Mode;
• Ability to grant/deny permission for applications to continue running while minimized;
• And more!

Keep in mind that this is a short list of some of the highlights of BlackBerry 10.3.1, which means the full changelog is much more extensive.

The new OS should be released as an update in the coming weeks

BlackBerry has yet to announce when the OS 10.3.1 update will be pushed to compatible smartphones, but word is that this will happen close to November, whatever that might mean. Until then, the Canadian company is expected to launch another smartphone that will be powered by the latest version of the operating system as well, namely the BlackBerry Classic. It won’t come as a surprise if BlackBerry will launch the OS 10.3.1 update along with the Classic, though this is just a speculation that has yet to be confirmed.

BlackBerry 10.3.1 is one of the most important OS updates released by handset maker given the amount of new features and improvements it brings. Let’s hope the upgrade will be released by BlackBerry sooner rather than later.

BlackBerry 10.3 logo
Image credits to BlackBerry

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