BBM for Android, iPhone coming this weekend: All you need to know

BlackBerry has launched its popular messaging app BlackBerry Messenger for Android devices and Apple’s iPhone. The Android version will be available from 21 September whereas the iOS version will be out on 22 September. And yes, both apps will be available as a free download. So, what is BBM offering users? • Notifications on when your message is delivered and read. Most other messaging apps don’t give an indication if your message has been read. [caption id=“attachment_1119169” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] BBM for Android and iOS opens for downloads this weekend. Screengrab.[/caption] • BBM allows you to choose your contacts via a PIN. This means you don’t have to give your phone number or email address to anyone else. • Users can also share videos, photos, and voice notes in a chat. • Group chat: BBM Groups lets you invite up to 30 friends to chat together, and go a step further than multi-chat by sharing photos and schedules. It also has the option to Broadcast Message, where users can send a message out to all BBM contacts at once. Andrew Bocking, Executive Vice President for BBM at BlackBerry, said in a press release, “With more than a billion Android, iOS, and BlackBerry smartphones in the market, and no dominant mobile messaging platform, this is absolutely the right time to bring BBM to Android and iPhone customers.” BBM will be available as a free download for Android smartphones running Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean (Android 4.0) and above beginning at 7AM EDT on September 21. BBM for iPhones running iOS 6 and iOS 7 will become available for each market on the App Store schedule of 12:01 AM local time on September 22. BlackBerry will also introduce BBM Channels for conversations between users and brands, celebrities, artists, etc later on. Subscribing to a Channel will let users join conversations with people who share their interests. BBM Video calling and BBM Voice calling will be rolled out later to Android and iPhone.