As a play to improve the company’s relevance as consumers flee from its handsets, BlackBerry announced earlier this year that it would be bringing its BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) service to iOS and Android phone owners through a new app. Last month, the company released its iOS app, and a leaked copy of its Android app made it onto the web as well. The result was disastrous: the service failed as users blitzed the company’s servers.
Now, Blackberry reports that it will be officially re-launching its BBM app today in the iTunes App Store, Google Play store, and select Samsung app marketplaces. But, once you download the app, you’ll still have a while to wait before you can get access to Blackberry’s service. The company has instituted a reservation system, where you hand over your email, and then you’ll get a message to let you know you’re next in line.
Reservations have become a tried-and-true method of easing a bunch of people onto a service while maintaining uptime. There’s also an added bonus–by creating scarcity, it’s possible to increase the interest in a product beyond what it would otherwise draw. But there’s still an outstanding question: can BlackBerry keep the people who join its service, and steal people away from messaging services like WhatsApp and Snapchat?
As of right now, the app hasn’t made an appearance in Google Play or iTunes, but Android users beware: there are a number of apps attempting to masquerade as Blackberry’s official offering. Be sure to check the developer behind the app before downloading to make sure you don’t open yourself up to something unpleasant.
