BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) finally rolled out its BBM app to iOS and Android after a meaningful delay. Now the company says it will be bringing ads to the new app very soon. Along with those ads, however, the company said it will bring a number of new features and also keep the service free.
New features coming to BBM
One of the new features BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) will be launching is BBM Channels, a social networking feature which is in beta. Other services which are coming to the iOS and Android versions of BBM are video and voice chatting services, which are currently only available to BlackBerry users. The ads which are coming to BBM are expected to come along with these new features.
BBM recovers from a troublesome launch
Today BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) said on its official blog that it continues to see stellar response to BBM for Android and iPhone. The new apps launched a week ago, and the company reports that more than 20 million new users have signed up for BBM. It said BBM now has more than 80 million monthly active users across the BlackBerry, iOS and Android platforms. BlackBerry reported 10 million downloads just one day after it launched BBM on the competing platforms
During the first week of BBM’s launch on iOS and Android, it was the top free app overall on Google Play in 35 different countries and in the App Store in 107 countries. According to BlackBerry, BBM still holds a strong position in the company’s key markets of Canada, the U.S., the U.K., Indonesia and the Middle East.
BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) did roll out updates for both iPhone and Android over the weekend, adding more features and enhancing the apps’ performance.
BlackBerry deals with fake reviews
There was no update today on the fake reviews which have been plaguing BBM for Android since the launch. The company denies any involvement in the posting of the apparently fake five-star reviews and said it is investigating.