What's new in BlackBerry 10.1 MR?

The gradual roll-out of the BlackBerry 10.1 maintenance release has begun. Hooray! So, what's new?

This is all from the official changelog, but we'll add more stuff to this list if we find any other nuggets. We're hearing from the forums that iCloud sync works now, that copying SMS messages shows a verification pop-up, there's a new Gmail set-up process, and SMS sending status now shows in the Hub. Those of you that are lucky enough to have the new update, what's your favorite new feature? 

  • Next/previous message navigation shortcut: use a simple gesture to quickly move to the last or next message without having to return to the full message list. Within any message in the BlackBerry Hub:
  • Swipe to the right and then down (like an upside-down L) to move forward to the next message
  • Swipe to the right and then up (like a backwards L) to move back to the previous message
  • Keyboard shortcut for last unread message: on the BlackBerry Q10 smartphone, pressing the “U” key in the BlackBerry Hub will take you to the last unread message
  • Email synchronization: ActiveSync and IMAP email users can adjust syncing preferences to keep emails on their BlackBerry smartphone for an unlimited time period
  • Two factor authentication for Twitter and LinkedIn: to improve security, if you have two factor authentication enabled for LinkedIn and Twitter, you’ll be sent a verification ID via a text message that you’ll enter into the settings when setting up those accounts
  • Addition of a search field in BlackBerry Remember: quickly search for items in the app
  • Support for simple passwords: simplified password entry from the lock screen and work space authentication prompts. The simple password feature utilizes a reduced keyboard layout containing only numeric characters and allows you to set a numeric PIN for your smartphone or work space password
  • New interactive tutorials:
    • Tutorial topics: swipe up from the bottom to close an app, swipe down from the top to reveal settings
    • Each tutorial provides text instructions and an opportunity to perform the gesture
  • IT policy to separate work and personal accounts in the BlackBerry Hub:
    • BlackBerry Hub Work displays only work-related accounts, like a work email account and enterprise instant messaging
    • BlackBerry Hub Personal displays only personal-related accounts, like a personal email account, SMS, BBM, phone calls and social media apps
  • Input support for “strokes” for Simplified and Traditional Chinese
  • Input and UI translation for Korean
  • BlackBerry World:
    • Ability to view video previews in landscape mode via HDMI out
    • UX enhancements
    • Recently viewed:
      • See up to the last 12 pieces of content you’ve viewed
      • Clear all recently viewed items or remove individual ones by long pressing and selecting delete viewed item from the context menu
      • Enable a private browsing mode that will disable both recent search tracking and recently viewed
    • My Wishlist:
      • Add items to your wish list from a content details page
      • Add up to 48 items to your wish list. When the 49th item is added, the first item added to the list is automatically removed
    • Facebook:
      • Newsfeed UI refresh
      • Ability to create a photo album before uploading a photo and upload a photo to a specific album
      • Ability to tag friends in photos that were previously uploaded
    • Twitter:
      • Content is automatically updated in all tabs without having to manually refresh
      • Improved search for top tweets, photos and related profiles
    • LinkedIn:
      • Import and invite contacts from your personal email address to connect on LinkedIn through the new Add Connections page in settings
      • Easily view the number of unread messages and invitations from the inbox page
      • UI improvements
      • View the details of companies you follow and follow suggested companies
      • Delete and archive messages in the inbox
      • See the most recent updates from your network when the app is minimized in Active Frames
      • Change your profile photo from the You page, the full screen view of your photo or the native picture viewer
      • Search by connection name, headline and company

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