BlackBerry was once the giant of the chat world with BBM messenger, but with the popularity of social media platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, etc., BBM’s popularity got overshadowed. Now the Canadian firm is coming up with a new feature called BBM Video, which as of now is only available for Android users in the U.S. and Canada.
BlackBerry offers more to BBM users
On Thursday, the Canadian smartphone maker added more features to BBM, making the service even more valuable. BlackBerry has a lot to offer, and it is continuing to prove this with new apps and upgrades. Those who were loyal BlackBerry users once and still have plenty of contacts who use the service will get the most benefits from this new feature.
“We’re thrilled to announce that video is almost ready for primetime; today we’ve launched it as a beta feature for Android, as part of the latest version of BBM. Update your BBM today to get it. Video calling for iPhone and iPad users is also coming soon,” BlackBerry said in a blog post.
Making a video is simple and does not require any approval once users have the updated version of BBM. They just have to tap the call button, and it will initiate a prompt asking users if they would like to make a voice call or a video call.
BBM Video in beta now
BBM Video is currently in beta, and this means the function is not completely polished yet. Also it means there is still room for some improvements, so we can expect new features and a smoother user experience with the final version.
Users will have to update their BBM app to be able to access BBM Video. Since the Canadian smartphone maker is still monitoring performance, the update may not show up for everyone. Also people will be able to video call for free, no matter what platform they are on as BBM Video will be cross-platform.
Users have been requesting video calling features for quite some time, said the BlackBerry team responsible for BBM development. With this new video feature, BBM joins the league of apps that already have a video calling function, such as WhatsApp, Line Messenger, Hangouts, and others. These are quite popular chat apps and are all available on Android, so BBM will have a hard time overshadowing them.
