BlackBerry, in a response to WhatsApp’s and Facebook’s decision to end native app support for BB10, said it made its best efforts but could not make them reverse their decision.
In a blog post, the Waterloo-based company said, “We are extremely disappointed in [Facebook’s] decision as we know so many users love these apps. We fought back to work with WhatsApp and Facebook to change their minds, but at this time, their decision stands.”
Tries to compensate with great apps
BlackBerry said that despite its refusal to reverse their decision, it has worked hard to ensure the best experience for its end users and has continued its search for alternate solutions. The Canadian firm added that there has not been any change in its commitment to BB10 and developers. Expressing its gratitude to developers, the company said it intends to support them and promote new apps.
“We know our developer community continues to be one of the strongest proponents of BlackBerry 10 and they are creating thousands of apps every month,” the Canadian firm said.
BlackBerry has decided to launch a new initiative called Great Apps to compensate for the loss of two core apps. Under the initiative, every two weeks BlackBerry World will feature a new selection of 20 compelling native apps in a similar manner as how it features apps on the BlackBerry World Carousel.
Ensuring other apps don’t leave BlackBerry
BlackBerry also said it is making strategic investments to ensure other popular apps such as Twitter do not abandon its OS. The company said it recently updated the Twitter app with important fixes. Another update will come in a month with new features.
BlackBerry has asked passionate users to tweet their discontent with Facebook and WhatsApp for withdrawing native app support using the hashtag #IloveBB10Apps.
The company concluded the blog post saying: “We look forward to new apps and new customers on BlackBerry 10 and thank our developer community for their continued strong support!”
On Thursday, BlackBerry shares closed at $8.10. Year to date, the stock is down by over 13%, while in the last year, it is down by over 17%. The stock has a 52-week high of $11.09 and a 52-week low of $5.96.
