BlackBerry can’t catch a break. The company had to abandon plans to launch BlackBerry Messenger for Android and iOS devices over the weekend after it ran into trouble with the rollout.
BlackBerry Messenger, more widely known as BBM, is BlackBerry’s proprietary instant messaging service. It is one of the most popular features of BlackBerry smartphones, as it powers device-to-device messaging without chewing up customers’ text messaging allotment. The push service includes read receipts and, with the new BlackBerry 10 operating system, offers screen sharing and voice/video chats, too.
In May, BlackBerry announced plans to offer BBM to devices other than its own for the first time. It said that versions for the Android and iOS platforms would be available before the end of summer. Last week, the company said BBM was finally ready. The original plan was for the Android version of BBM to reach the Google Play Store on Sept. 21, and the iOS version to follow on Sept. 22. Things didn’t go according to plan.