We have yet to see anything further from BlackBerry in terms of the BBM for Android release. Officially speaking BBM for Android is expected to arrive sometime before the end of the summer. As we can tell from the calendar, that means the app may not be arriving in the Play Store until as late as September 21st. But with that in mind, it does appear as if the beta test group has recently been opened up a bit wider.
BlackBerry Beta Zone members have recently begun sharing details about a “cross-platform BBM Beta” invitation. Basically, select Beta Zone members are being invited to use BBM for Android. Based on details coming from the announcement, BBM will run on Android devices with Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.x.x) or later.
Sadly though, this same invite still mentions the public release as being later in the summer. Specifically, the invite mentions how these Beta Zone members will be able to test BBM on an Android device “before it gets released worldwide later this summer.” Basically that means we are still looking at sometime before September 21st.
We have yet to see an apk leak, however we are beginning to see some screenshots surface. The folks at BlackBerryOS.com have recently shared a few and those can be seen in the gallery below. The screenshots reveal a bit about the functionality including how users will have access to chats, contacts and groups. From what we can see it looks like a clean and well set-up app, but as always some hands-on time may tell another story.
In the meantime, we are hoping to see a bit more leak and of course, see a bit more about the release from the folks at BlackBerry. Otherwise, those with an Android device and a BlackBerry Beta Zone account may want to make sure their profile is up to date by heading to the Core Settings portion under My Profile.
VIA: BlackBerryOS.com (1), (2)
The party is over for BBM….R.I.P.