Last week, as a part of the second major update in less than two months, BlackBerry has given their Blackberry Messenger a complete interface overhaul. Not only are a number of brand new features now available, but there have also been major improvements to their UI. Other tweaks and features have also been added, making the Android messenger feel like a brand new app.
In addition to a messenger service that is more “fun and friendly” to use, there are also improvements to settings concerning both security and privacy. With recent attacks within other messenger services and apps, no one can be too careful these days.
BlackBerry Messenger users in South Africa are participating in a rewards program that gives them a massive reduction in their monthly service fees. Some users have seen an 80% decrease in their overall bill. Because of this rewards program, users are seeing the value of the service and expectations are for more services to be launched soon in the Middle East and other African nations.
After updating the BBM, users will be able to take advantage of all the changes to the service. One such change is the new numbered badges system which will allow you to see the number of unread messages you have without actually ever having to open the messenger itself. The Discover feature see an overhaul and anyone who uses BlackBerry Messenger for reading will notice that the new web view UI is also optimized.
The Discover feature itself, used to subscribe to specific channels for shopping, videos and games, not only allows users to interact in all new ways, but also to share favorites and participate in polls. Last month, the update that was issues was primarily for the iOS app. Those changes were geared towards making the service a bit more user-friendly. The most recent update introduced both a Chatbot API, allowing channel owners to better interact with their subscribers, and Google Analytics, allowing partners to access more in-depth data that can be trusted as being more accurate.
Since BlackBerry’s competition is stiff, with the likes of WhatsApp and iMessage, they have had to introduce a lot of new features to keep up. Free voice and video calls are part of that service, and although demand for the BlackBerry devices has dropped, software sales continue to increase. Their latest update last week, available through the every popular Google Play Store, still hasn’t reached some users. It is currently available on Android.
