New BlackBerry Blend beta invites going out

BlackBerry Blend is without a doubt one of my favorite additions that came with BlackBerry 10.3 and up but to be honest I've been bit miffed at the fact it hasn't gotten any real love since release. The last update to the desktop apps was back in December I believe and since then they've remained untouched despite some pretty obvious and annoying bugs.

Don't get me wrong, I still use BlackBerry Blend EVERY SINGLE DAY and I think it's the best thing since sliced bread plus, the device apps have been updated more frequently, but it needs some love in a bad way. Thankfully, someone at BlackBerry spotted that fact as well and now, there's a new beta available with invites being sent out as you're reading this.

The changelog and known issues list isn't huge but at this point any update to the desktop versions of BlackBerry Blend is appreciated.

New in this release:

  • The BlackBerry Blend dashboard has been redesigned. You can now access the apps and settings on the left navigation. The dashboard also includes a more comprehensive calendar view.
  • You can view the progress of your file transfers, cancel a transfer, and view previous transfers.
  • When you receive a notification for a new message, BBM chat, or calendar entry, you can respond to it from the notification itself.
  • You can use BlackBerry Blend in portrait mode for tablets.
  • Overall performance has been improved.

If you're using BlackBerry Blend in an organization:

  • An informational message has been added that BlackBerry Blend doesn't support S/MIME or PGP protected email messages. Messages are sent without a digital signature.
  • If an administrator turned on BlackBerry Balance, you cannot copy, cut or move text, files, or images from your work space to your personal space. You cannot download attachments from your work email account to your personal work space or computer or tablet.

It's hard to say right now how widespread the beta invites are as they've just started to roll out but, if you've been invited you should be getting an email sent to you. Now might be a good time to update your Beta Zone profile if you haven't done so in a while.

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