BBM finally lets you add friends from your local contacts

BlackBerry wants you to add more friends to your BBM list. In an update to its BBM app for iOS and Android, BlackBerry has added a new Find Friends feature that will essentially remove the need to share PINs while adding each other.   The feature works pretty much like the friend-finding features on any other cross platform messaging app. The feature will scan your phone’s contact list and show you a list of your friends already using BBM. You will then be able to add some or all of them to your contact list on BBM. Of course, for those on your contact list who have not downloaded BBM yet, you can send out an invite using the Find Friends feature too.   In a blog post on Inside BlackBerry announcing this new feature, Jeff Gadway, Head of Product and Brand Marketing for BBM wrote, “We know how important it is for you to connect with your closest friends, family and colleagues. With this update, we’ve made it easier to find and invite them quickly and easily. You’re always in control of your contact lists.”   The move comes slightly in contrast to BlackBerry’s older stance of making PINs a central way of letting users add friends to their list. The method of sharing 8-digit PINs was considered to be an elite way of adding friends a few years ago. With its transition to iOS and Android, PIN sharing became slightly inconvenient with other messengers allowing users to add friends using their contact list.   With the new Find Friends feature, BBM is edging its way back into the race against the likes of WhatsApp, WeChat and Viber. This way of adding friends will only help BlackBerry increase its user base and encourage more conversations. It could also help BlackBerry achieve maximum impact **when BBM Voice and Channels launch on the two platforms soon** . You can download BBM for Android and BBM for iOS from the app stores.