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BlackBerry announces BBM for iPhone & Android available today with reservation system

Update: The app is now live on the App Store.

After the BBM apps prematurely started rolling out for iPhone and Android and were abruptly pulled late last month, BlackBerry finally confirmed today that it’s officially kicking off the roll out of the apps. In a blog post, the company announced that the BBM apps will be available for both iPhone and Android within the next few hours through the App Store, Google Play, and Samsung’s App Store:

The demand for BBM on Android and BBM on iPhone continues to be amazing. About six million people signed up for information about BBM at BBM.com. As you know, in just seven hours, about one million Android users were using the unreleased version of BBM for Android. What you don’t know is that more than one million people have found creative ways to “side load” BBM on their iPhone. This is incredible.

While the app is available to download starting today, it will utilize a staggered rollout that will see users reserving a spot in line by entering their email address. BlackBerry says users that signed up previously through its website can start using the app immediately, but we’ll have to wait to see how many people sign up today in order to estimate how long the queue will be. 

Late last month the BBM apps appeared in the App Stores and BlackBerry said that over 1 million users downloaded just the Android version of the app within 8 hours. However, shortly after the app’s release the company said it pulled the apps and paused the launch in order to “fix issues caused by the unreleased BBM for Android app.”

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Comments

  1. JPfromDC (@JPfromDC) - 10 years ago

    WOO HOO! I can now text people who have BlackBerrys……wait…

  2. Tiago Mota (@TiagoMota) - 10 years ago

    I fail to understand how an iOS and Android BBM app is relevant. As a matter of fact, I don’t understand how anything BlackBerry related can still be relevant.

    • Stephen (@StephenBB81) - 10 years ago

      BlackBerry is still relevant to Governments and Enterprise users around the world. BES10 is being used to manage iPhones and Android devices on over 20,000 Enterprise networks.

      BBM is relevant because it was the birth of Mobile instant messaging over data. and While the version that is currently out is but the basics of BBM as a Group collaboration tool and instant messaging app, in the pipe is also a socialnetwork called channels which quite possibly will be the first socialnetwork where your content isn’t available via Internet searches.

      Other relevant aspects are BlackBerry’s primary concern has been security, PIN based messaging apps add a layer of privacy between your contacts and your personal life. used to be very useful in business when most people had BlackBerry devices. It hasn’t been as useful in the last 12-18 months but the uptake already in just 24 hours is making it a potential to being that useful portable messaging client no matter what country I am traveling to or what phone SIM I have in my device.

  3. Darren Milligan - 10 years ago

    Were is the link to download this app on IPHONE? its not in the app store

  4. grandstyl - 10 years ago

    That’s good news,hope it won’t be pulled out again like before

  5. grandstyl - 10 years ago

    Reblogged this on grandstyl's Blog and commented:
    Finally

  6. sory but: for what i need install this app in my iphone ? for invite my friends to bbm community & then chat with ? did they now me have imassage?

  7. Daniel Shaw - 10 years ago

    had it for a month already lol have fun in the que

  8. beyondthetech - 10 years ago

    Not to be a party pooper, but it’s pretty pathetic for a multibillion dollar company to do a delayed, half-assed rollout after a very publicly failed launch. WhatsApp with 300M users and Tango with 75M users can handle their loads and signups quite well, you’d think the second launch would’ve been handled a bit better instead of this “sign up and we’ll see how it goes.”

    • Stephen (@StephenBB81) - 10 years ago

      WhatsApp published today that they Grew 50Million users in the last quarter, that means they did an average of 250k users per day, BlackBerry is trying to process 10million + users on the first day.
      Apple has back logs and problems when they launch their new OS every time, and that is JUST downloading no registering, and no reshaping of traffic.

      WhatsApp, KIk, Tango, none of them have had the uptake BBM is going through.

  9. Hamza Sheikh - 10 years ago

    I am no more interested in BBM on my iOS or any of my Android device. Last month, I tried BBM on both OSes, and it sucks!

  10. standardpull - 10 years ago

    Whoa, BBM mobile users are really HOT looking. Maybe I will download and use this app. If THOSE people will be my friend, I will be awesome. Add that to my NEW APPLE TV UPDATE with BBM and I am a golden child!

  11. Michael Greer - 10 years ago

    Um…. Why?

  12. Ida Nurhayati - 10 years ago

    Not compatible with galaxy note 8 jelly bean 4.2.2 . Not work anymore.

Author

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jordan Kahn

Jordan writes about all things Apple as Senior Editor of 9to5Mac, & contributes to 9to5Google, 9to5Toys, & Electrek.co. He also co-authors 9to5Mac’s Logic Pros series.