Remember BlackBerry? It's still around, of course, and the Priv is actually quite an impressive piece of hardware.
Unfortunately, it's BlackBerry's own software that seems to be getting left behind now. After losing WhatsApp support, BlackBerry is now losing Facebook too.
The social media network decided to discontinue its support of APIs essential to the Facebook app running on BlackBerry 10 and BBOS.
Facebook acquired WhatsApp a while back for a whopping $19 billion, and the popular messaging app has since grown its user base to more than 1 billion monthly active users.
A result of its revised strategy for more hyper growth, WhatsApp isn't only leaving BlackBerry. The app will soon discontinue support for other devices and operating systems as well, such as the Nokia S40, Nokia Symbian S60, Android 2.1 and 2.2, and Windows Phone 7.1.
"We are extremely disappointed in their decision as we know so many users love these apps. We fought back to work with WhatsApp and Facebook to change their minds, but at this time, their decision stands (but let them know how you feel on social media, using the hashtag #ILoveBB10Apps)," shares BlackBerry in a blog post regarding its loss of Facebook's support.
Facebook's decision does not mean that BBOS users will not be able to access Facebook at all, but they will lose support for contact syncing with the social network. BlackBerry Hub integration with Facebook will also be off the table, and users will no longer be able to seamlessly share on Facebook via the share button.
BlackBerry will replace the Facebook app with a native app of its own come March 31, and guide users to the Web-based version of Facebook instead.
WhatsApp users, however, will likely be more affected. It was just late last month that WhatsApp turned a full seven years old, celebrating its journey as one of the most popular messaging services worldwide. When the messaging company first started out, the mobile device landscape and the app ecosystems surrounding them were quite different from what we have today.
Then, Apple's now industry-leading App Store was but a mere few months old, while mobile OS from Nokia and BlackBerry dominated the market. Times have changed, and the old front-runners are barely in the race. That's why WhatsApp is changing, too.
"While these mobile devices have been an important part of our story, they don't offer the kind of capabilities we need to expand our app's features in the future," the messaging company stated when it revealed about dropping support to aging and unpopular operating systems.
Currently, the Canadian company's answer and only solution is BlackBerry Messenger. It's gone back to encouraging BlackBerry users to give the native app another shot after losing WhatsApp.
"Despite this, we have worked hard to ensure our end users have the best experience in light of this decision, and are continuing to search for alternate solutions," BlackBerry assures its customers.
Photo: Kārlis Dambrāns | Flickr
