BlackBerry has made it official about their plan to make BBM available for the first time to iOS and Android users this summer, (subject to approval by Google Play and the Apple App Store, as applicable). This means that, once available, you can welcome your friends and family using these other mobile platforms to connect over BBM and share in the Team BlackBerry love.
CEO Thorsten Heins claims the time is just right “to bring BBM to a greater audience,” but investors are probably feeling a little uneasy as evidenced by a 6% drop in BlackBerry’s share price, the biggest decline in a month after the renewed optimism brought by BB10.
The messaging service currently has more than 60 million users, who send and receive some 10 billion messages every day. Opening up to other platforms will certainly help that figure grow, but that’s still some ways off from overtaking current mobile messaging leader WhatsApp, which claims 200 million active users.
BBM FOR IOS AND ANDROID FEATURES : ↓
- The immediacy of BBM chats.
- Multi-person chats.
- Voice note sharing.
- BlackBerry Groups, where BBM users are able to set up groups of up to 30 people and share calendar, photos, files and more.
