Connect with us

Apps

The consumer version of BlackBerry Messenger is shutting down in May

The enterprise version will live on to tell the tale.

Blackberry messenger shut down
Image: BBM

I don’t want to be the bearer of bad news but you might want to hold on to your emotions while reading this one. Emtek ( the company which is running BBM) announced via a blog post that it will be ending support for the BlackBerry Messenger on May 31.

The company states that the reason for the discontinuation of the app is the decline in the number of users using the app over the past years despite their efforts to keep the app updated with new features.

Per BBM’s blog post:

“We are proud of what we have built to date … The technology industry, however, is very fluid, and in spite of our substantial efforts, users have moved on to other platforms, while new users proved difficult to sign on,” it further went on,“Though we are sad to say goodbye, the time has come to sunset the BBM consumer service, and for us to move on.”

In an emotional ending, the blog post read,

“We hope you will cherish many fond memories of BBM consumer service that helped shape messenger platforms to become what they are today.”

However, not all is lost. The enterprise version of the app, called BBMe will still continue to operate normally. You can download the enterprise version of BBM of Android and iOS for free but to use the app you need to pay a $2.50 subscription fee every six months. The main difference between the consumer version and the enterprise version is that BBMe offers end-to-end encryption and the ability to edit or unsend your message.

But it might just be about time to move on from BBM to more used messaging apps like WhatsApp, Slack, literally almost anything else.

Are you surprised Blackberry Messenger lasted this long? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

Follow us on Flipboard, Google News, or Apple News

Murtaza is a Computer Science student who takes immense interest in mobile technology. He believes the future of computing lies in smartphones because ARM architecture will eventually take over. He also loves to tinker with ROMs and kernels keeping up with the latest in smartphones.

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More in Apps