BBM Android app release date is Saturday, iOS Sunday
BlackBerry has finally confirmed the release date for the BlackBerry Messenger app on your iPhone or Android phone.
The BBM Android app hits Android phones on Saturday, and the iPhone on Sunday. BlackBerry has confirmed the release date for the BlackBerry Messenger app that lets you chat to friends even if you don't have a BlackBerry any more.
After a long wait, you'll finally be able to download BBM and install the app on your Android device on Saturday 21 September or iOS device on Sunday 22 September.
The new cross-platform BBM app swaps instant messages with other BBM users no matter what phone they have, allowing you to once again connect with BBM buddies -- that is, if you haven't been won over by WhatsApp or Viber.
The new BBM app has typed instant messages and group chat from the get-go, with voice calls and video to follow at a later date.
BlackBerry made the belated BBM announcement on the same day it unveiled the 5-inch Z30, the biggest BlackBerry ever -- and at the same time as phone fans are scrambling to download Apple's iOS 7 software update.
Since BlackBerry announced it was bringing BBM to other phones, wrong'uns have targeted impatient ex-BlackBerry owners with fake BBM apps, fooling many into downloading impostor apps that targeted them with ads, spam or worse.
And in another bizarre twist, Samsung Nigeria tweeted this week that the BBM app would be exclusive to Galaxy devices for three months from Friday, prompting denials from BlackBerry.
BlackBerry has struggled against the iPhone and more affordable Android phones in recent years, and even the attraction of the free and hugely popular BBM IM service has faded in the face of rivals like WhatsApp or Samsung ChatOn -- which, like the belated BBM app, already work across different devices so you can chat with friends and family even if they have different phones to you.
Will you return to BBM or has another chat app won your heart? What's the best IM service? And now you don't actually need a BlackBerry phone to use BBM, has BlackBerry just killed off the last reason to actually buy one? Tell me your thoughts in the comments or chat away on our Facebook page.