BlackBerry had announced to introduce BlackBerry Messenger for Android on September 21 and BlackBerry Messenger for iPhone on September 22. The Apple iPhone users got the BBM for iPhone on time but region-wise. However, the BBM for Android build got leaked just couple of hours before it was supposed to go live at the Google Play Store. BlackBerry stated that the unreleased version of BBM for Android caused issues and eventually paused the global roll out of BBM for Android and iPhone.
BlackBerry Messenger was expected to arrive for the Android and iPhone platform two days ago. Mixture of excitement and curiosity spiked when the BBM for Android version 1.0.0.42 build got leaked. This build got leaked way before the BBM for Android was expected to show up in the Google Play Store. The leaked build got shared and spread like a wildfire amongst the Google Android based device users. BlackBerry noted on the official company blog that over 1.1 million active users were using BBM for Android in first 8 hours. This was way before the BBM app for Android was launched.
We luckily got hands on the BBM build before it was disabled from the BlackBerry server-side. The BBM for Android is exactly like the BBM for BlackBerry 10 devices. One has to either register with BlackBerry to create a new BlackBerry ID or can login using existing BlackBerry ID. Setting up takes a while to fetch if there were any contacts backed up. Of course, the BBM Voice and BBM Video are most missing features. Right to left swipe reveals the settings and left to right swipe reveals the Menu options.
First time users will find it very difficult to locate their BlackBerry PIN and it will take the Android as well as iPhone users a while to get accustomed with the message delivery features.
BlackBerry has promised to make the BBM for Android and iPhone available when the BlackBerry software team is done testing. The rollout of the BBM for Android and iPhone would again be region-wise and in a phased manner.
BBM for Android leaked, causes issues for BlackBerry
BlackBerry Messenger for Android leaked and over 1.1 million users were using it even before the official build went live in the Google Play Store.
For the latest tech news and reviews, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel.