BBM For Android Beta Tests Return

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If all else fails, try again, and it looks like that’s what BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) is doing yet again. The company’s popular BBM app is now available again for beta testing on the Android platform. BlackBerry Messenger has been rolled out just to those who are part of the beta testing groups, according to Adam Zeis of Crackberry.

BBM For Android Beta Tests Return

New BBM for Android looks better

Initial reports from Crackberry indicate that there are some big changes in place compared to the previous version—changes which go beyond the usual bug fixes. There’s a new welcome screen which explains the app notifications it now offers. BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) has also made it possible to disable the constantly running notifications if users choose to do so. In addition, beta testers told Crackberry that the entire user interface just looks more polished than it did before.

When will BBM for Android be out?

Of course there is still no indication of when BBM for Android will be released from beta testing and rolled out to the broader user base. It’s been about two weeks since BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) originally said BBM apps for both Android and iOS would be out. The company paused the rollout of both apps when an unreleased version of the Android app was posted on a file sharing site. It said that version caused big problems because it was having trouble blocking it completely.

Since then, a few iOS users have apparently been able to keep using BBM for iOS, but Android users were cut off from the app completely. Of course that didn’t keep developers from putting up fake versions of the app in the Google Play store. It looks as if Android keeps removing them, but today there are even more fake versions of the BBM app than there were a couple of weeks ago when BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) actually said it was about to release the app.

Interestingly enough, BlackBerry is also planning to roll out a Windows Phone version of BBM. It showed off the app last week, although it did not provide a launch date for that version either.

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