We review the latest and occasionally greatest apps
across all the available mobile platforms.
BBM
Too little, too late. That’s our Rating on BlackBerry’s BBM
instant messaging client, which has recently launched on the iOS and Android
operating systems.
In its heyday, BBM was the envy of other mobile platforms,
combining the immediacy of SMS with next-gen features like read receipts,
in-progress alerts and group messaging. In fact, a lot of people bought
BlackBerrys just to be able to use the BBM messaging client.
However, the world has moved on since then. Rich chat
clients such as Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp Messenger now offer the same
variety of features on multiple platforms with a much larger user base than the
flagging BlackBerry can hope to match.
BBM has recently
launched on the iOS and Android operating systems
BBM on Android and iOS is nicely designed, but it doesn’t
offer anything new. If anything, it’s lagging behind its competitors, with no
location sharing, no options for sending contacts and calendar items, and no
voice or video calling function. The version of BBM on BlackBerry 10 does offer
a couple of advanced features, such as screen sharing, voice calls over Wi-Fi,
and BBM-connected apps, but these are sorely missing on the iOS and Android
clients.
The process of adding friends to your contact list also
seems antiquated. You have to know someone’s BBM PIN in order to add them to
your contact list, and there’s no option to search for friends using their
email address or phone number, as is the case with most other instant messaging
apps.
BBM on Android and
iOS is nicely designed, but it doesn’t offer anything new
Is BBM worth a download? Sure, if you happen to have friends
or colleagues that are still using a BlackBerry, or you want to take advantage
of BBM’s best-in-class encryption technology. But if you’re looking for a
multi-platform client that will connect you to as many friends as possible,
you’re better off sticking with one of the more deeply entrenched players like
Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp Messenger. BBM’s userbase of 80 million active
users around the globe simply doesn’t compare to WhatsApp’s 400 million or
Facebook’s active user base of more than a billion.
BBM is worth a
download if you happen to have friends or colleagues that are still using a
BlackBerry
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Specs
and price
·
Price: Free
·
Developer: Blackberry
·
Platform: Android, iPhone
Rating
·
Ease of use: 5/6
·
Features: 3/6
·
Value for money: 6/6
·
Overall: 3/6
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