We’ve already told you that the upcoming BlackBerry OS 10.2.1 will bring a number of UI changes. The most important change, however, will be under the hood where a new Android Runtime will be running, all with support for Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean.
According to BlackBerry, increased compatibility improvements will include:
- Android Native Support – for Android apps that use shared libraries written in native-code, such as C and C++. Support is limited to the recommended system headers and APIs as documented by Google.
- Bluetooth – so that Android apps can use / connect to Bluetooth peripherals. Unfortunately, Bluetooth LE only got supported in Android 4.3.
- MapView v1 – added support using OpenStreetMaps. Support for MapView v2 API is being planned for a future release.
- Share Framework
- Spellcheck – support for spell checking and correction, as well as the ability to add words to the BlackBerry 10 dictionary.
The BlackBerry 10.2.1 SDK will be arriving soon when developers will be able to test and submit their apps to BlackBerry World. We’ve no idea when BlackBerry smartphones will get the updated platform, though.