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BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.1.0.840 for developers now available

By Adam Zeis on 14 Aug 2012 09:27 am
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If you're riding the beta train of BlackBerry PlayBook OS', you'll be happy to know that OS 2.1.0.840 is now available. This is a beta release and meant for developers only, and as such will most likely have a good amount of bugs. If you haven't installed a PlayBook beta OS before, we suggest you steer clear and just wait for an official release. If you're a developer or just want to give the beta a go, you can do so from the link below. Just register your PlayBook PIN, sit tight for a bit and the update should be available to you. Be sure to drop a comment letting us know how it is!

Register for OS 2.1.0.840 for the BlackBerry PlayBook 
Discuss more in the CrackBerry Forums

Topics: Official Os BlackBerry Playbook BlackBerry PlayBook OS 4G LTE BlackBerry PlayBook News & Rumors BlackBerry Tablet OS

BlackBerry theme roundup - August 14, 2012 Previous
Wikitude gets updated to version 7.1.2 bringing support for the BlackBerry Curve 9320 and 9310Next
Adam Zeis Adam Zeis 3031 (articles) 2790 (forum posts)
99 comments

sk8er_tor

Can't resist. Downloading now.

Foppa_21

Same here. 460 MB. Tick tock.

Roscopcoletrain

Nice to see them release 2.1 :)

DOCTOREVIL8

Downloading. Thank you Crackberry! You guys are awesome!

ayushagnihotri

Wow, 2.1 final still is some way away...
Though, I should be happy with whatever comes us PB owners' way...
After all, it still is being supported, unlike scores of android and WP devices...

Concession

The playbook is a little over a year old and it has already had a longer support timeframe than my crummy samsung android.

mikepraba

Can someone let us know if there any other changes you see (not what described here for the developers)

sk8er_tor

The YouTube web page now plays videos again. I used to have Flash problems with the previous beta which prevented me from watching YouTube videos.

BBA Brian

Will this work on my 9900?

EchuOkan1

It's a PlayBook OS NOT a telephone one.

yunvi

lmao @ telephone. havent heard that one in a while.. All in good fun

mnhockeycoach99

Lol... Good one Brian. I laugh at the number of people that thought you were serious. :-)

BBA Brian

lol... I know... hilarious!

Toodeurep

Dig the hole, cover it with grass and branches and hide behind a tree waiting for a sucker to fall in. Funny with a hint of cruelty.

thatplaybookguy

i did that once and the guy who fell in happened to be someone who used to bully me, he broke his nose, 9 teeth and an arm. hahahahahah

NickinVA

Yeah... umm... hilarious. My sides are splitting. Typed sarcasm is always the funniest thing ever.

Camfella

Are you saying that it's funny there so many Crackberry members that don't have a clue? You troll!

polytope

Not for the faint of heart. My PB started acting up in ways unseen when the first 2.1 beta was installed.

jonty12

please elaborate

killa4luv

When I downloaded the first beta my PB crashed often, I lost the ability to use print togo,(it couldn't locate my PB) and generally the PB suffered from lots of unpredictable behavior. When awakene from standby my screen would show a negative imagee. Colors outof whack. It looked cool, but not when ur trying to do work. Other times when awakened, the screen wwould be completely black. I'd have to press the power button to put it back to sleep, and then swipe the screen again. Sometimes like 7 times. Sometimes I'd have to do a complete reboot.

Those r some of thee issues, maybe others have had others.

chucklebutte

On my Torch 9810 I upgraded to one of the new 7.1 updates and now my screen on a phone call will "show a negative imagee. Colors outof whack. It looked cool, but not when ur trying to do work."

But it quickly changes back...

Lets hope this update fixes the wifi issue~

2/3 of my PB's have a real hard time connecting to wifi

1/3 of my PB's (The one I use, and not my kids PB) will only connect to wifi if I turn off then on wifi then reboot, after reboot I must manually connect to wifi by re-enabling my saved wifi connection....

Costa84

Sounds more of an issue with your router.

00stryder

Exact same thing happens with mine, but even after I converted back to the latest consumer OS 2.0 release I'm still experiencing the same problem. Sorry you're experiencing it as well, though I'm glad it's not just my PlayBook.

BarracudaBob

Nothing immediately noticeable other than AT&T and AT&T Family Locator icons. No SMS Bridge. My camera still gets gray bars. Has anyone else noticed any changes?

BB_Bmore

No new features or changes just bug fixes for folks to test on before the gold is released

sk8er_tor

I see the ATT shortcuts too. All I gotta say is ATT better be promoting BB10 when it comes out. I'm glad I was able to delete them.

RevyRah

So far, nothing on the visual front other than the at&t stuff mentioned before; however, the PB is running much hotter than usual since the update.

sk8er_tor

It always does that as it syncs and indexes everything. It should be fine after a while.

IqWaN

its 448 mb... r u sure its 460 mb??

IqWaN

BB 9780 white os 6
pin:236154FD

BB Playbook 32gb os 2.0.1.668

fanchettes

your mileage may vary depending on what version you're updating from.

fanchettes

RIM keeps promising this SMS over Bridge functionality, but with this being the second 2.1 dev build, wouldn't we have seen it yet? Could they just be stalling until the big BB10 release??

BB_Bmore

no that will come when the official is released its already in the PlayBook os we just need a bridge update.

fanchettes

Oh yeah, now that you mention it I do recall reading that somewhere. Thanks!

boman06210

I can't detect any real differences in this OS from the last one. The description said the update has bridge and multimedia enhancements. I can't tell what they "enhanced" on the bridge but it's not definitely not SMS/WIFI related. Seems solid enough to use tho, good thing I charged last night haha

BB_Bmore

I have double folders in my email lol beta

Gooner26

Left my PB at home today as had to much work to with out getting distracted, but as you can see I'm still reading Crackberry lol.

Registered so will be waiting when I get home unless I read some shocking reports, so if you downloaded keep me updated with any good or bad news please :)

jamesharmeling

Just getting in on the conversation. I freakin' love updates!

Bobert_123

Same here but I have never tried a beta before, just a little nervouse

Creaulx

Multimedia enhancements, eh? More audio/video codec support? An EQ? Can someone please post a few facts? It's great that you're "downloading now" but that doesn't do much for the rest of us.

bbaleno

lets see what bugs it fixes. on the previous 2.1 beta andriod player would fail to launch apps once in a while.

IqWaN

i hope RIM provides updates of BB10 even for the wi-fi only version.

IqWaN

BB 9780 white os 6
pin:236154FD

BB Playbook 32gb os 2.0.1.668

theninjew

All PlayBooks will get the BB10 update. (except maybe for those that are still on 1.0.x)

IqWaN

Awesome

IqWaN

BB 9780 white os 6
pin:236154FD

BB Playbook 32gb os 2.0.1.668

Joe257

That's only because they don't like upgrades :P

Ronzdaname

Ok, so with this dev version of 2.1 just being release, I guess I'm safe in saying that the "gold" version will not be released until what...October?

BBThemes

why would u be safe in saying that? theres been no info on a release date, so to speculate a random month is probably the furthest from safe ya can be ;)

Ronzdaname

Well, when you think about it, October doesn't sound like a random month. Here's why I think so...

There has been more than one release of OS 2.1 to devs, I'm sure. And it has taken at least a couple of months to get those releases out. Now, if this is the last dev release (and I say "IF"), it will be another couple of months before the "gold" version will be released to us common folk.

That will put us in October.

Now, that would be a good thing if 2.1 has some added features that would keep us happy until BB10 is released (that's if BB10 is released in January, not February or March).

So, as you see my reasoning, October wouldn't be a random month, but a month that would make sense if everything falls in line. :)

Camfella

So, all this time/work on the 2.1 version that will only be used for 2 or 3 months? ( if BB10 comes out in Jan)

Ronzdaname

Quite possibly. But it is no ones fault but their own. I'm sure they could've had 2.1 out in June if not earlier.

But like I said, it will only be a good thing if January is the actual release month for BB10.

RevyRah

That sounds about right.

BBPandy

The 2.1 Public Beta has been out since the end of May. This is just an update to the beta.

Ronzdaname

bbpandy just proved my point for me!

zma15

Does anybody know, if we can eventually connect a USB flash drive to the playbook via a female USB? or are we going to have to wait until BB10?
thnx

Sucroid

USB support is on the BB10 roadmap.

Sucroid.com - Sweet apps for the fans

zma15

Fantastic!! Thsnks :)

lz_at

Anyone having issues with email/Gmail after update? although email app seems to be loading faster, i am receiving gmail prompts for a password - enter password, retrieve test emails fine for a while, then prompt for password again - that kind of scenario. only gmail seems to be having issues so far

f1mx

I think I'm grabbing this one. The latest official release lags my messages app very nastily

thatplaybookguy

457 mb, super slow dload...

Joe257

Everyone's probably doing the upgrade at once ;)

Hobbes2099

But how's the battery life? /drum snare
I've had no issues with 2.1.0.560; seems by the comments that this version is less stable.
Would a wipe help in any way?

sk8er_tor

Less stable? I don't think so but you may want to wait a couple of days to really know.

MB_JohnPeters

First time I've noticed that there is an option to add a 'Work Account' (Enable a BlackBerry Mobile Fusion account) under the advanced tab when adding a new email account.

lchampagnie

Well I updated to the new beta release and haven't noticed much but hwat i did notic is as follows.

Overall the OS feels snappier. as well as connection to bridge.

I also noticed that the lag that would happen to the keyboard when typing isn't there anymore. The keyboard is more responsive and i feel as if i am typing on my 9900

The browser still takes a while to load pages but i do notice less checker boarding.

mandrevar

I noticed two things in this beta: first, you can open many android apps in different windows. Great! And second: you can turn your playbook and read your mails in vertical position. Any other?

trsbbs

That was in the prior beta as well..

So far nothing new...

Promptly deleted the ATT crap.

Tim

kozmo68

both those features were in the 2.1.0.560 beta. not new to this release..

mandrevar

Sorry, I didn't know about that beta. I only downloaded official updates until now. Anyway. I like it.

kozmo68

lol.. now worries. I would agree that is a great feature. I had downloaded an app that allowed you to wright emails in portrait mode. didn't allow you to reply to any which was a pain so I was very happy with the update..

rakeem

What about language? Would love a Japanese input, can anyone check the settings to me?

jhrain

I too am having the odd gmail behavior (prompting to enter password)... will see if it eventually goes away.

matkas

I have this issue too. But it not related to 2.1 as I am on os 2.0.1.668

mikepraba

I got it updated. I am a Beta tester and I had the previous Beta as well. No Noticeable change. However, ATT Family Map and Video store Icons are new. I deleted ATT icon but the Video store I con is there permanent. If anyone knows how to delete the video store Icon please let me know. It is annoying to see there.

cyprusfire

I have noticed ZERO checkerboard problems when scrolling through webpages; even when I scroll through the crackberry site. This is a huge bonus in my opinion as I found it to be super annoying when I would see the tiling going on for no real reason (i.e. fast or slow scrolling it didn't seem to make a difference). Still waiting to determine battery consumption.

Also, Ive noticed an extra red line on the speaker volume when you're using the headphone audio boost function. I guess it serves as a warning that you could be damaging your ears. This was also available in .668

What the heck? I just hit the update software tab and I had a 3MB update from 2.1.0.840 to 2.1.0.840 so it's the same OS. What could that have been?

axllebeer

* BlackBerry by choice *
Did you delete some app that was a part of the update?

cyprusfire

No actually I have not. I've been too busy testing out the browser before I thought of deleting any excess junk that I don't want.

TongueDar

Hurray! Flash video works again. :)

There are so many videos I enjoy watching on my PlayBook that come out once a week and I've had to go to my computer since the plug-in stopped working with a prior update.

Now I'm just waiting for 11.2 plugin and 3.4 for AIR and I'll be one happy mofo.

Bobcat665

I updated and I've noticed that several of the native apps are a lot snappier and more reliable. The browser scrolls with little, if any, checkerboarding. The native mail app is much snappier and more responsive and my Facebook messages aren't such a pain to load anymore. I had a minor problem with duplicate messages but it was easily fixed by deleting all the accounts and then re-adding them. The calendar works good. The Android apps load more reliably and are much more stable. I just love it, so far! :D

EmanueleBB88

Installed after a swipe.
The system seems to be smoother then before, and the touch more responsive in every securation. Faster also the portrait/landscape management, and Android emulator seems really robust. I think this is the most reliable release by now, but still I have to test it better.

P.S.: I noticed less checkboard problem in the browser, but the page scroll doesn't seems so smooth to me

EmanueleBB88

Installed after a swipe.
The system seems to be smoother then before, and the touch more responsive in every situation. Faster also the portrait/landscape management, and Android emulator seems really robust. I think this is the most reliable release by now, but still I have to test it better.

Bug(?): Facebook birthday not showing in calendar?

P.S.: I noticed less checkboard problem in the browser, but the page scroll doesn't seems so smooth to me.

Camfella

People on here are always talking about how great the Playbook is, but now an update comes out and you hear the truth about the problems with the Playbook, lag, checker boarding, etc.

EmanueleBB88

It is still a beta... anyway, yes: Playbook is great and gettin' always better! <3

kravata

Are you trying to say that our competitors don't have any bugs in their OS? There is yet to be a perfect OS and a perfect tablet. Don't be so negative.

Tools not toys!

Pard

I am very happy to report that this update fixed my Comcast email issues. I have been working with level 3 tech support since March and it was kicked up to software development and we could not get it to work as intended. The last beta update fixed the email but I was getting a new error message. You must connect to Wi -Fi to send and receive email. Then it would show in accounts that I was not connected even though I was sending and receiving email. This update resolved the issue. Thank God!!!

Pard

By the way I can not say enough about BlackBerry tech support. They are as good as Apple. I am as happy as a pig in shit.

wtaudy

awesome flash video works again

johnsaldivar

is anyone able to side load seams i am no longer able too.

SC457

Browser definitely seems faster and less checkering, good improvements from previous beta build I was using. Keyboard does seem to be working better also as others mentioned.

Conjureone

Updated from v2.0.1.688 - Size 481MB

Under General

Applications increased by 8 (though I can't find any noticeable ones except AT&T FamilyMap)
Music files got duplicated
Flashplayer updated to v11.1.121.63 (from v11.1.121.42)
AIR updated to v3.1.0.63 (from v3.1.0.42)

Other then that much of what everyone else has been mentioning
Android apps seem to launch quicker
Email app and browser seems snappier

zar1964

I'm also very happy with this update.

Graheem

I registered, been waiting 3 hours and still no update.

Ronzdaname

I'm just waiting to hear some new news about this OS update. Everyone seems to have gone dark about it.

crackfeen16

I updated, the only problem for me is when i go on twitter. It crashes and closes the browser. :@

europolska00

Upgraded and my Browser seems sluggish and horrible now. I'm doing a security wipe and I hope things work better. Is anyone else having browser issues?

Does anyone know if they've finally fixed the Networked Folder issue? I remember when I first bought my PlayBook it was so easy to make a Networked Folder on my Windows 7 desktop to my PlayBook but that feature disappeared in an update and now it's always a "work around" to try and find my PlayBook with my PC or Laptop.