BBM Will Come Pre-Installed on Select Android Devices

We’ve heard it before from various OEMs in India and other emerging market, but now it’s confirmed by BlackBerry as well. The Canadian company has just announced that BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) will come pre-installed on a wide range of Android devices.

Well-known OEMs from Africa, India, Indonesia, Latin America and the Middle East will be allowed to pre-load BBM for Android on their devices. BlackBerry has confirmed that, starting next month, the following devices will have the popular instant messaging application pre-installed: Be, Brightstar, Celkon, EVERCOSS, IMO, Micromax, Mito, Snexian, Spice, TECNO, TiPhone and Zen. Furthermore, BlackBerry has reiterated the fact that BBM will continue to be available as a free download from Android app stores, including Google Play. “It is clear that smartphone customers see BBM as a must have app for active conversations. The uptake we have seen for BBM since the launch on Android and iPhone is amazing.

“We're thrilled to be working with leading Android smartphone manufacturers from across the globe to help bring their customers the best out-of-the-box experience with BBM preinstalled,” said Andrew Bocking, executive vice president for BBM at BlackBerry. BBM for Android comes with only a handful of the features that are now available on BlackBerry version, but the Canadian company has promised that it will continue to improve the application and add these features in the future via major updates. The last update for BBM arrived on Android platform less than two weeks ago and added support for BBM Contact Categories, more options for sharing BBM PIN Barcode and more.

BBM proved to be more popular on Android and iOS operating systems than on BlackBerry, which is understandable if we take into consideration the fact that these platforms have well above 75% market share combined on the smartphone market. Hopefully, BlackBerry will add more important features like BBM Voice and BBM Video, which are currently missing from the Android application. Stay tuned for more updates on the matter.

BlackBerry Messenger logo
Image credits to BlackBerry

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