Before flashing, verify your model number. The STV100-1 (AT&T) has a locked bootloader and cannot be modded. STV100-2, 3, and 4 (International/Unlocked) are fair game.
Custom ROMs can inject new life into the Blackberry Priv by delivering newer Android versions, reduced bloat, and customization. Success depends on choosing compatible ROMs and vendor blobs, careful bootloader and recovery setup, and realistic expectations about potential hardware regressions. For users seeking updated features with reliable hardware function, prefer builds from active communities and always keep a tested stock restore option available.
If you are among the 0.1% with an unlocked engineering Priv, here is the status of the only semi-modern custom ROM:
| ROM | Android Version | Stability | Bugs | Link | |------|----------------|-----------|------|------| | LineageOS 14.1 (Unofficial) | 7.1.2 Nougat | 40% | Camera fails, Slider keyboard works partially, No VoLTE, Battery drain high | XDA thread (archived) | | Slim6 (Unofficial) | 6.0.1 | 80% | Physical keyboard backlight broken, GPS slow | Lost binary | Blackberry Priv Custom Rom
Do not ask for builds. The maintainer (npjohnson on XDA) abandoned the project in 2018 due to blob incompatibility from the BlackBerry Venus kernel.
Since a true custom ROM is off the table, here is the definitive guide to maximizing the stock Marshmallow ROM:
The Blackberry Priv was Blackberry’s first Android smartphone (released late 2015). It combined a sliding physical keyboard with a high-resolution AMOLED display and Snapdragon 808 hardware. Interest in custom ROMs for the Priv stems from three main motivations: extending software support beyond official updates, removing carrier or OEM bloat, and tailoring performance, privacy, or feature sets (e.g., newer Android versions, deodexed builds, custom kernels). Before flashing, verify your model number
Before you install a Custom ROM on the Blackberry Priv, you must accept the compromises:
Remove or disable useless BlackBerry/Google apps via adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 <package>. Critical list:
com.blackberry.bbm (BBM – dead service)
com.blackberry.keyboard (BlackBerry keyboard – keep? optional)
com.google.android.apps.maps (if you use alternative)
com.amazon.kindle (Amazon bloat)
Warning: Do not remove com.blackberry.privacy or com.blackberry.bbbm (core services). Since a true custom ROM is off the
Do it if:
Don't do it if: