BBM for Gingerbread Leaked Available Ahead of Official Launch

BlackBerry has already confirmed plans to bring the BlackBerry Messenger to Android devices out there running under the Gingerbread version of the platform, and it seems that users can now get a taste of the application before its official release.

The app will be officially pushed to the owners of Gingerbread phones and tablets starting with the next month, but a leaked build of the software is now up for grabs online, courtesy of N4BB. The BBM for Android beta APK aimed at said devices comes with a series of interface changes, with the top bar now being black (it is grey in the BBM for Android app already available for download). Moreover, the software features a “Find Friends on BBM” option, which has already been included in the BBM for Android 2.0 beta variant. However, N4BB notes that the leaked application build does not come with BBM Channels inside. The feature was recently said to arrive on Android and iOS devices in February, alongside BBM Voice.

Moreover, it appears that BlackBerry IDs are not whitelisted in this app version, which means that anyone will be able to log in without issues. BBM for Gingerbread seems to be running fairly smoothly on Android smartphones, showing that BlackBerry has been focused on ensuring great performance with it. However, it appears that users won’t be able to install the leaked app on a PlayBook device, and that converting it to a BAR resulted in force closes. At the moment, Gingerbread powers around 21 percent of all Android-based devices out there, which means that there are millions of users who will be able to download and install BBM soon.

Those who would like to try it before the official software is made available next month should head over to N4BB for a download link. Just keep in mind that it is a leaked build, and that it is also a beta version.

BBM logo
Image credits to BlackBerry

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