BBM comes to iPad, fixes battery draining issue in Android
BlackBerry has released an update for its BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) app that extends support to the iPad and fixes a few bugs in its iOS and Android apps.
BlackBerry swiftly expanded its BBM user based from 60m to 80m after the October release of BBM for iPhones and Android, and it may win a few more installs with its latest update, which adds support for iPads and iPods running iOS 6 and higher.
The update also also fixes a few important bugs the app had on the iPhone and Android phones. For the iPhone, BBM was dropping BBM contact names for some users, while the Android app was draining the battery for some.
The app now lets people share the BBM PIN barcode on social networks — the PIN being BBM's alternative to sharing contact details like email or phone numbers. BlackBerry has also improved group list sorting and filtering on Android apps.
While adding support for iOS and Android grew the BBM user base, its late arrival leaves it with a lot of room to catch up with dozens of rival messaging apps that have emerged, such as such as WhatsApp, Viber, WeChat and Kik, popular on the Windows Phone app store.
Unlike some of these BlackBerry is yet to support the growing number of Windows Phone as well as Android tablets. The app only supports Android devices 7-inches or smaller.
The updated apps are available at the App Store and Google Play.