It might be a year or three late, but BlackBerry’s world-famous BBM application is now finally available for Apple’s iPhone and Android devices… almost. Because a BlackBerry launch isn’t a BlackBerry launch without a little bit of drama, the company had to halt its initial BBM rollout after an influx of Android devices using a leaked version of the app caused issues with BlackBerry’s BBM servers. Curiously, however, the rollout didn’t continue as planned even after the leaked app was blocked, and BBM is instead rolling out to Android and iPhones on a slower schedule than BlackBerry had initially announced.
UPDATE: BBM is now available to download on both platforms. Here is a link to the iPhone version in Apple’s iOS App Store, and here is a link to the Android version in Google Play.
BlackBerry on Monday announced new launch details for its soon-to-be cross-platform messaging service for the iPhone and Android. Basically, users will be able to download the apps starting Monday but they won’t be able to use the service right away. Instead, users enter a queue and will be able to begin using the app once BlackBerry adds them to the service.
Here’s what to do, according to BlackBerry’s blog post:
- Download BBM – the easiest way is to visit BBM.com from your Android or iPhone browser
- Once you install the app, open it, and enter your email address to hold your spot in line
- We will email you as soon as you reach the front of the line and can start using BBM
BlackBerry Messenger pioneered a new type of mobile messaging service that countless other companies have copied over the years. Unfortunately for BlackBerry, several of those copycats grew to become cross-platform messaging behemoths that may have doomed the company’s new BBM app for Android and the iPhone before it even got off the ground.
Then again, perhaps nostalgia will win over the hearts and thumbs of legions of former BlackBerry users and spur a wave of adoption that makes BBM a real contender.
Both new versions of BBM are completely free.
