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  3. Desktop App 7.7 (Windows), 2.6 (Mac)
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  5. BlackBerry AtHoc desktop app for Windows

BlackBerry AtHoc
 desktop app for Windows

What’s new in this release?

Each release consists of new and enhanced features and resolved and known issues for the BlackBerry® AtHoc® desktop app.

7.7 – October 2024

  • Desktop support for custom CAC certificate attributes
    :
    BlackBerry AtHoc
     now supports the ability to specify custom attributes for CAC (Common Access Card) certificates. Users can configure these attributes when selecting Smart Card as the authentication method for the desktop app. This enables customers to use their CAC certificates even if the format differs from the default supported format. The Custom Attribute field is not mandatory, supports up to 100 characters, and does not allow the use of < and > special characters.
  • LDAP authentication enhancements for the desktop app
    : The desktop app now supports a custom LDAP URL field on the User Authentication page. This allows users to override the LDAP root node when using LDAP authentication. The custom LDAP URL field is formatted to accept only valid URLs in the format LDAP:// <DOMAINNAME>.<TOP-LEVELDOMAIN>:<(Optional) PORT#>. For more information, see "Assign authentication methods to applications" in the guide.

7.6 – March 2024

Desktop Popup behavior options
: For Desktop Popup delivery templates, in the Popup Settings section, the option to choose "None" for the Entrance Motion was added. When this option is selected, the alert immediately appears in the selected location of the screen without motion. The Exit Motion option was removed.

7.5 – October 2023

Patent notice
: The BlackBerry patent notice was added to the About Us page.

7.4 – December 2022

  • Desktop app crash
    : An issue was fixed where the desktop app crashed when multiple users were logged in, and individual desktop client instances were trying to write a log at same time where one instance already locked the logger session and the other was attempting to write to the log.
  • Pop-up timeout
    : A timer that checks the status of alerts and automatically closes alert pop-up notifications for ended alerts was added.

7.3 – May 2022

  • Branding updates
    : The following BlackBerry branding updates were made for the desktop app:
    • The desktop app is installed in the "BlackBerry" folder.
    • The Windows Start menu displays the desktop app as "
      BlackBerry AtHoc
       Desktop Notifier."
    • In C:\Program files\, the folder name is "
      BlackBerry AtHoc
       Desktop Notifier."
    • In C:\ProgramData\, the folder name is "
      BlackBerry AtHoc
       Desktop Notifier."
    • In Add/Remove Programs, the publisher is "BlackBerry."
    • When the desktop app is not connected, when hovering-over the icon, "
      BlackBerry AtHoc
       Desktop Notifier" is displayed.
    • When the desktop app is connected, when hovering-over the icon, "
      BlackBerry AtHoc
       Desktop Notifier -
      organization-name
      " is displayed.
  • Failover improvement
    : The desktop app was updated so that failover URL values are returned to the desktop client as part of GetUpdate. Previously, updated failover URL values were downloaded to the client as part of the base URL call. If an operator updated the failover URL, the change was not downloaded to the client until a client machine was restarted, went offline and then back online, or a session became invalid.
  • Multiple browser sessions
    : The desktop app no longer launches a new browser window in incognito mode. When multiple desktop app editions are running on the same computer, you must close the browser window for one edition before you can launch a browser window with a different desktop app edition.
  • Self Service menu items
    : A new "Access My Profile" menu item was added. This menu item opens the My Profile page in Self Service in read-only mode. The "Access My Profile" menu item appears in the system tray by default.
  • 508 compliance
    : The About menu option screen was updated to improve screen reader capabilities on the About and System Information tabs.

7.2 – December 2021

  • Support for multiple certificates
    : Support was added for multiple certificates for CAC authentication. This enables users in multiple-user environments to authenticate on a shared computer.
  • Support for multiple desktop client editions
    : Support was added for multiple client editions on the same computer.  When requesting a new desktop app, there are now multiple editions available for
    BlackBerry AtHoc
     and
    BlackBerry Alert
    . Multiple editions can run on the same computer and can point to different organizations on the same 
    BlackBerry AtHoc
     system or on different systems. Multiple instances of the same edition on the same computer are not supported.
    The following client editions are available:
    • BlackBerry Alert
      : 0_BlackBerryAlert
    • BlackBerry AtHoc
      : 1_BlackBerryAtHoc
    • BlackBerry AtHoc
       Alt: 2_BlackBerryAtHocAlt
    • BlackBerry AtHoc
       Aux: 3_BlackBerryAtHocAux

7.1 – June 2021

Internet Explorer dependency removed
: The desktop app 7.1 for Windows is no longer restricted to using only Internet Explorer and can now also be used with Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Firefox. The desktop app now uses the user-defined system default browser when:
  • Self Service or any other URL is launched from the desktop app menu.
  • A desktop alert is delivered to a browser. Deep links in a desktop alert to Self Service or the live map also open in the user's system default browser.

7.0 – June 2021

  • BlackBerry AtHoc
     release
    :
    BlackBerry AtHoc
     desktop app release 7.0 or later is compatible only with
    BlackBerry AtHoc
     release 7.14 or later release.
  • Registration process
    : After installing the Windows desktop app, if the Defer to Self Service authentication method is configured, users are redirected to Self Service to generate a registration code to complete the registration process and connect.
  • Update from previous desktop app versions
    : Users cannot upgrade to
    BlackBerry AtHoc
     desktop app version 7.0 from previous 6.x releases. Users must uninstall any existing 6.x desktop app clients before installing 7.0.
  • Localization
    : The About screen and its tabs are fully localized.
  • C++ client migrated to C#
    : The desktop client was updated from using C++ technology to using the C# language. This update enables support for .net framework 4.5 and later releases and simplifies creating the desktop client MSI.
  • 508 compliance
    : 508 compliance improvements were made in the following areas:
    • Screen readers (for delivered alert content, response options, and desktop app contents)
    • Color contrast ratio
    • Mouse navigation
    • Keyboard navigation