BlackBerry completely revamps the AtHoc mobile app to accelerate critical incident response

BlackBerry has introduced a completely rebuilt mobile experience for BlackBerry AtHoc, its Critical Event Management platform, aiming to improve how real-time intelligence is gathered, how evolving situations are interpreted, and how actions are coordinated during emergencies — as well as in daily operations.

According to the company, this is not just a superficial update: the new app features a deep architectural overhaul, built with modern frameworks, offering a clearer interface and a simplified interaction model to make usage more intuitive even under pressure. The goal is to reduce friction during moments when “information rarely moves as fast as the situation,” a recurring challenge when multiple teams, jurisdictions, and disconnected systems are involved.

More field intelligence with fewer steps

The main change is in the “back-and-forth” communication with personnel on the ground. BlackBerry assures that it’s now easier for participants and teams to send status updates, observations, images, and controlled location sharing through more direct workflows designed to withstand operational stress. The aim is to turn more users into a steady source of valuable signals, preventing information from arriving late or getting lost in unstructured messages.

In practice, this redesign seeks to increase both participation and data quality: the lower the “cognitive load” to report, the more likely people are to respond quickly, with fewer errors and more frequently. This improvement also impacts the “situation awareness” shared among command teams, which need to see trends and changes without relying on delayed summaries.

Better “sense making”: understanding what’s happening earlier

BlackBerry frames this update as a way to strengthen , i.e., the ability of teams to make sense of what’s occurring as the incident evolves. The idea is that by better organizing field input and making it more actionable, blind spots are reduced and a more accurate interpretation of the affected environment’s true state is achieved.

This approach aligns with a pattern many organizations already recognize: during complex crises, the challenge is often not a lack of willingness or personnel, but the difficulty of maintaining a common, coherent view as everything changes minute by minute.

Mobile orchestration, without “returning to the command post”

The modernization also impacts execution. The company emphasizes that authorized users can review assignments, direct activities, confirm instructions, and communicate status directly from their mobile devices. Additionally, incident reporting from the field and safety status checks for individuals under their responsibility are simplified, with an option to share location when “mission-critical.”

The core message is clear: in distributed operations — or when infrastructure is degraded — relying on returning to a PC or command center can cause delays. The app aims to eliminate that dead time, speeding up decision cycles and maintaining coordination.

Now available on iOS and Android

BlackBerry confirms that the new mobile experience for AtHoc is already available for iOS and Android via the usual app store updates, and current customers will receive it without any changes needed to their deployment or security settings.

Strategically, this update reinforces BlackBerry’s focus on software for environments where resilience, control, and security are fundamental requirements — sectors such as government, critical infrastructure, defense, or industry. The company aims to differentiate itself from consumer communication tools that are not designed for adverse scenarios or sovereignty demands.