Classic BlackBerries are finally losing suppport as company shuts down services

By Sahas Mehra Published January 5, 2022

After kickstarting the smartphone era, BlackBerry’s classic devices and services are finally shutting down. No, not the Android-powered modern BlackBerries such as the KeyOne, Key2, and Key2 LE, but anything that ran a BlackBerry-branded operating system. Whether this is a classic QWERTY keyboard powered by BlackBerry 7, or the iPhone-inspired BlackBerry 10, or even the forgotten BlackBerry PlayBook OS — it’s all shutting down this month.

“As another milestone in the BlackBerry journey, we will be taking steps to decommission the legacy services for BlackBerry 7.1 OS and earlier, BlackBerry 10 software, BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.1, and earlier versions, with an end of life or termination date of January 4, 2022,” the company announced. “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 911 functionality. We have chosen to extend our service until then as an expression of thanks to our loyal partners and customers.”

BlackBerry Key2. Credits: BlackBerry official. — BlackBerry bids farewell to its longtime customers. Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

It’s the end of an era for what was once a distinguished product that defined the market a decade ago. Even predating iMessage, the BlackBerry instant messaging service — BBM — was a great selling point for the product line. As iOS, Android, and WhatsApp began to dominate, BlackBerry devices began to fall by the wayside.

Recommended Videos

The company tried to rejuvenate its smartphone business by launching its own touchscreen phones and later its own operating system in 2013, but had little success. Unable to keep up,ity stopped the creation of smartphones in 2016 and licensed services to TCL Ltd. between 2016 to 2020. BlackBerry promised to launch a smartphone by the end of 2021 in partnership with OnwardMobility, but that hasn’t panned out.

The company has now shifted its focus to selling software. It briefly had a nostalgia-fueled increase in its share price this year, which later nearly returned to its original price. While the market has been saturated with multiple companies claiming a stake in the smartphone pie, hopefully, BlackBerry manages to return to some form of relevance with its current partnership.

Former Sahas Mehra | Mobile Writer, Digital Trends

Sahas is a freelance writer who specializes in writing on Tech, Health & Wellness, and Gaming. He covers the Mobile…

Topics

Computing

Android desktop mode made me miss my laptop in record time

I tried writing and publishing from Google’s phone-to-monitor setup, and the future of mobile computing immediately started sweating.

Computer, Electronics, Laptop

Android 17 desktop mode has a very simple pitch. Plug your phone into a monitor, add a keyboard and mouse, and watch the slab in your pocket pretend to be a computer. I wanted to give that pitch a fair shot, so I tried using it for an actual workday instead of a cute demo.

The goal was boring on purpose: write an article, edit it, build the page in WordPress, upload whatever needed uploading, and publish the thing without running back to my laptop like a coward.

Phones

After test-driving iOS 27, my iPhone still doesn’t feel like it has made a substantial leap

Siri learned new tricks. Safari got smarter tabs. My morning routine didn't change at all.

iOS 27 new star rating feature in Photos

Every June, after Apple wraps up its annual WWDC keynote, I install the latest iOS beta on my iPhone, watch the progress bar crawl to completion, and wait for the inevitable restart. For years, picking up my phone afterward felt almost identical to how it did before the update.

I saw the same grid of icons, the same Control Center, and the same version of Siri until iOS 26 finally broke that pattern in 2025.

Phones

Android 17 makes a strong case for ignoring Android version numbers entirely

When the most noticeable change is a better Quick Settings button, the annual update cycle starts looking more like branding than progress.

Android 17 finally separated the Wi-Fi and mobile data buttons, and I hate how much that improved my mood. For years, Android treated internet access like one mysterious blob, as if Wi-Fi and cellular data were emotionally codependent. In Android 17 Beta 3, Google split the old combined Internet button into separate Wi-Fi and mobile data tiles, making each connection easier to switch off with a single tap.

That’s a good change, which is also why it’s a little damning. When one of the cleanest wins in a major OS update is “the buttons make sense again,” the celebration gets awkward fast.