The moment has finally come for BlackBerry Messenger fans. If you grew up using the popular messaging service, but have now switched over to iPhone or Android, BlackBerry is about to shake up your social messaging activities in a big way. The company has announced that it will bring BlackBerry Messenger over to Android and iOS, as a free download this Summer.
You heard that correctly – a free download. Given the popularity of the app, BlackBerry could have perhaps charged a small fee for the privilege of using it on other platforms, but that won’t be the case. It now means that when Summer arrives, you’ll be faced with the difficult decision of perhaps letting WhatsApp go, in favor of returning of to BBM.
WhatsApp has easily become of the most popular messaging mobile apps in the world. It is now considered number one by many consumers and it is generally the app that the younger generation will look to download first upon a new smartphone purchase. Having said that, BlackBerry Messenger is the sole reason why consumers continue to stay on BlackBerry.
With that in mind, is it perhaps a double-edged sword in the fact that this move could now tempt BlackBerry veterans to move over to Android and iOS, and continue using BlackBerry Messenger? Some consumers will certainly be contemplating this very move now, especially since it looks like BlackBerry will be making the full features of BBM available on all platforms now.
There’s also the argument that this has come a few years too late though. Perhaps if this was announced two years ago, there would be a bigger reaction. With WhatsApp and Google’s Babel service coming soon though, are you willing to drop these in favor of BlackBerry Messenger?
Give us your reaction to the news and whether you intend to return back to BBM if you have now moved over to Android and iOS.
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