As we get ready for the holidays and to close out the year, it seems as though BlackBerry has decided to do a little housekeeping. A new post on the Inside BlackBerry Blog from Alex Thurber has laid out the status of monthly updates for the Priv as the device has now moved well beyond the two years of monthly software updates BlackBerry originally committed to.

When we introduced our first Android device more than 24 months ago, we committed to delivering 2 years of monthly software updates for the PRIV. True to our word, we fulfilled this commitment though in truth, the PRIV's built-in security posture had little need for many of the updates we delivered in conjunction with partners such as Google and Qualcomm.

Having now stepped outside the original 2-year window, we will no longer be delivering monthly updates for the PRIV moving forward. That said, we continue to support our loyal users as follows:

First, we will of course fulfill all warranty obligations for the PRIV.

Second, as outlined above we believe our phones are inherently more secure because of the way they've been designed with security features from the inside out.

Third, should a critical vulnerability be exposed we will engage our partners as needed to develop and deliver necessary patches.

Fourth, we are thrilled to announce that with our partners at BlackBerry Mobile we will soon be introducing a trade-up program for current BlackBerry customers who are still using the PRIV as well as those holding onto BB10 and BBOS devices. Stay tuned for details and get ready to upgrade to a BlackBerry KEYone or Motion, the most secure Android smartphones on the planet.

Arguably, one could say the timing here was inevitable given BlackBerry already announced the Priv would not be upgraded to Nougat, but surely there's still going to be some folks out there who are upset at this decision. Even while on our CrackBerry UNSTOPPABLE Tour, I spoke with many Priv owners who felt the device should still see more upgrades, but Priv has had one major software upgrade (Lollipop to Marshmallow) and then the two years of security updates BlackBerry committed to, so it has had plenty of support.

Interestingly, Thurber notes a BlackBerry trade-up program for current BlackBerry customers still using older devices in the works, which is something many folks have been asking for, so it'll be great to hear more about that but for now, details are slim. In any case, I think it's safe to say many expected this day was coming but alas, let us know in the comments how you feel about it or hop into the forums to discuss it more.

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