If you were waiting for BlackBerry Messenger on your iOS or Android device, you will have to wait a bit longer. BlackBerry has suspended its rollout to fix some issues caused after a leaked copy of the Android app went public and was downloaded by over one million people.
“Prior to launching BBM for Android, an unreleased version of the BBM for Android app was posted online. The interest and enthusiasm we have seen already – more than 1.1 million active users in the first 8 hours without even launching the official Android app – is incredible,” BlackBerry said in a statement.
“Consequently, this unreleased version caused issues, which we have attempted to address throughout the day.”
The iOS app was released at 12:01am earlier today to Australians, but it has since been pulled. The Android app was not released at the same time as the iOS app. However, those who have the unofficial Android app and the iOS app will still be able to use them.
The move for BlackBerry Messenger to Android and iOS can be seen as growing acceptance that BlackBerry’s hold on the enterprise market is gone. There are some enterprises that still use BlackBerry and BlackBerry Messenger, and having them able to communicate with their colleagues on Android and iOS devices is great news for them.
However, given that there are many other alternatives such as Whatsapp, who has better cross-platform support than BBM, and Facebook Messenger; BlackBerry Messenger has entered the field a little too late.