Free BBM download for Android, Apple: Testing times for fans of BlackBerry app

Officials have dismissed rumours that BlackBerry has shelved plans to launch the BBM on Android and iOS.
A person in the know, from BlackBerry UAE, said the beta testing is still on and people are still being encouraged to sign up for BBM messenger.

“The rumours are not true. We have not shelved the plan,” the person said.

BlackBerry almost stopped short of releasing the apps for the two popular operating systems in September.
What’s more, an unofficial app for BBM was released even before BlackBerry could release the official one and was downloaded by more than 1 million Android users.

BlackBerry immediately held back on its release and has since been working on a redesign.

CrackBerry.com recently confirmed that the BBM app for Android has been redesigned and is currently in BETA test mode.
Explaining the changes CrackBerry said, “According to some of the emails we've received, the latest beta has some changes in place from previous versions aside from the normal bug fixes.

“A new welcome screen explaining the app notifications is now present, the persistent notification running in the status bar can now optionally be disabled and finally, the UI as a whole has received some more polish.”

Those interested can continue to sing up for an update on the BBM release at the BBM portal.

The rumours that BlackBerry could shelve plans to release its BBM app for Android and iOS came after reports that suggested that the company might move away from its focus on consumers towards serving businesses and governments.

Meanwhile, according to latest reports on the company’s sale, Bloomberg is now reporting that the company might be split into different business units before it is sold off in an effort to attract additional income.

Currently the only available deal the US$4.7billion which Fairfax Financial Holdings has offered to buy BlackBerry.

According to the report BlackBerry thinks it can get much more and therefore the consideration to split it up.

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