Despite all the apparent negativity and indifference surrounding the release of the BlackBerry Messenger app on Android and iOS, the third-party messaging app has racked up over 10 million downloads over the two platforms in just its first day. It has to be mentioned, though, that not all 10 million+ people may be using the app yet as many will still be in the sign up queue. But even so, regardless of whether people are interested in the app for nostalgia’s sake, genuinely interested or here to give it a go, the sheer number of downloads is still an impressive feat.

Even with this successful release, the launch hasn’t been without controversy: while the app is currently rated a very impressive 4.2, Android Police pointed out earlier today that quite a large number of the 5-star ratings on the Play Store appear to have been automatically generated, all bearing eerie similarities to each other. BlackBerry has denied any part in this and has been working with Google in investigating the source of these fallacious ratings, but its unknown how many of these 5-star ratings are of this nature.

Controversies aside, BlackBerry Messenger is out now and if you want to try it, it is available at the Play Store; Play Store links below. Who is using BlackBerry Messenger now and what are your thoughts about it?

Application: BlackBerry Messenger

Play Store Link

Price: Free

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Full Press Release

Over 10 Million Downloads of BBM for Android and iPhone in the First Day

BBM achieves top ranking in the App Store in over 75 countries within the first 24 hours

Waterloo, ON – In just 24 hours BBM™ has been downloaded over 10 million times by Android™ and iPhone® users, one of the bestsingle-day openings for a mobile app to date. BBM, the premier private social network from BlackBerry® (NASDAQ: BBRY; TSX: BB), is available for free in the App Store℠ and Google Play™ for immediate download.

BBM also quickly rose through the rankings on the App Store to be the number one free app in more than 75 countries in the first 24 hours, including the US, Canada, the UK, Indonesia and most of the Middle East. User ratings in both the App Store and Google Play are overwhelmingly positive, earning BBM 60,000 five-star reviews on Google Play from about 87,000 reviews.

“This has been an incredible launch for BBM across Android and iPhone devices. The mobile messaging market is full of opportunity for BBM. We intend to be the leading private social network for everyone who needs the immediate communication and collaboration of instant messaging combined with the privacy, control and reliability delivered through BBM,” said Andrew Bocking, Executive Vice President, BBM at BlackBerry.

BBM users, old and new, are enjoying the following features:

 

• BBM Chat – Enjoy real, immediate conversations with friends on Android, iPhone and BlackBerry smartphones. Not only does BBM let people know their message has been delivered and read, it also shows them when a contact is responding to a message.
• More than chat – With BBM, customers can simply and instantly share files such as photos and voice notes. Multi-person chats are a great way to invite contacts to chat together.
• Get in the Group – BBM Groups lets users invite up to 30 friends to chat together, as well as share photo albums, calendars and files.
• Post Updates and stay in the know – BBM lets people post a personal message, profile picture and a current status, and lets contacts see statuses instantly in Updates.
• Your unique PIN – Every BBM user has a unique PIN that maintains privacy, so users are not required to ever give out their phone number or email address to a new or casual contact.

 

Android and iPhone users will have access to BBM Voice and Video calling, as well as the new community building tool – BBM Channels – in the near future.

For more information on BBM, or to download BBM, please visit www.bbm.com. Follow @BBM on Twitter for the latest news and updates.

About BBM

BBM has more than 60 million monthly active customers, with more than 51 million people using BBM an average of 90 minutes per day. BBM customers collectively send and receive more than 10 billion messages each day, nearly twice as many messages per user per day as compared to other mobile messaging apps. Almost half of BBM messages are read within 20 seconds of being received; indicating how truly engaged BBM customers are.