BlackBerry is working on making its BBM messaging app "more convenient and fun," and is currently exploring alternatives to pull it off.
The move comes after WhatsApp's announcement that it's ending support for BlackBerry, Nokia, Windows Phone 7.1 and old Android versions. With WhatsApp soon out of the picture, BlackBerry is trying to find new ways of keeping its users engaged.
It's worth pointing out, however, that WhatsApp will be dropping support for the aforementioned platforms, including BB10 and BBOS, at the end of this year. This means that BlackBerry users still have some time left to enjoy WhatsApp before it's gone. By then, BlackBerry should be able to come up with a more engaging BBM to make up for the lost WhatsApp support, but it remains to be seen whether it will pull it off.
WhatsApp is one of the most popular cross-messaging platforms in the world, with more than 1 billion users and counting. On the other hand, it is not really making money. This may have something to do with its latest decision to drop support for some platforms.
Considering the wide popularity of WhatsApp, it's understandable why BlackBerry is now striving to find alternatives. Losing such a big platform deals a heavy blow, especially since BlackBerry was already struggling and bleeding customers.
The Canadian company recently reiterated its commitment to BBM and BlackBerry 10 OS amid increasing concerns that it was moving to Android altogether and ditching BB10, and now it's trying to reassure its customers that losing WhatsApp will not leave them out in the cold.
BBM already received several updates in 2015 and BlackBerry will continue upgrading the platform to improve the experience. More "key security updates" are set to roll out later this year, and the company also promised to make BBM more fun. The company also confirmed that its latest BlackBerry Priv handset, which runs on Android, will continue to support WhatsApp.
1/2 @WhatsApp on #BB10 & BBOS til end of 2016. We are working on other options.
— BlackBerry (@BlackBerry) March 3, 2016
2/2 @WhatsApp continues on #PRIV. And have you checked out the secure, cross-platform @BBM lately? — BlackBerry (@BlackBerry) March 3, 2016
No additional details are available at this point regarding the alternatives BlackBerry is exploring with WhatsApp out of the picture, but we'll keep you up to date as soon as we learn more.
