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BBM for Android APK leaked with launch under a week away (but you still can’t use it)

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bbm for android

We’re getting extremely close to the “by the end of summer” date Blackberry promised us when mentioning the launch window for Blackberry Messenger. If a couple of previous leaks weren’t enough to convince you, then perhaps this useless APK that leaked today is. That’s right — you can download Blackberry Messenger for Android and install it right now.

And no, I didn’t call it useless as a way of saying no one living in 2013 will care to use it (as many of you echoed in an earlier poll of ours). The APK is actually quite useless as it won’t connect to Blackberry Services, the network used to push all these bits and bytes around in real time.

You’ll have to use it on a whitelisted device in order to get it to work, though we imagine there aren’t many of those running around far outside of Waterloo, Canada at this point.

We saw the application leaked on video a couple of weeks back, with one lucky user giving us a nice run through of everything we can expect. It’s full-on Blackberry, with the company’s design time ditching Holo for an experience that matches what you can find on their own devices.

You can download it anyway if you just want to check it out. Grab it here, poke it a few times,then let it rest as we await the real deal in the days to come.

[XDA via Reddit]

Quentyn Kennemer
The "Google Phone" sounded too awesome to pass up, so I bought a G1. The rest is history. And yes, I know my name isn't Wilson.

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27 Comments

  1. I think regular texts will do just fine in the mean time.. or all the time.

    1. Yeah… I just don’t get the appeal of closed messaging platforms. To me, they’re almost always a solution in search of a problem. Sure, I use Hangouts to talk with my kids sometimes when they’re using a tablet, but only because it doesn’t have SMS capability.

    2. I disagree. What if I don’t want to pay $10 for international texting to talk to family worldwide? I would use What’s App primarily, which is not a regular texting. It involves downloading and paying for a service.

  2. Too bad it didn’t leak, like 3-5 years ago…… ZING! ;)

    1. I guess thats one way to put a negative spin on a positive news story, you BB bashers have great imaginations.

      1. Relax. Just having a spot of fun. But seriously, too bad they didn’t open this up earlier and maybe work to monetize it before Whatsapp, Kik, etc took off. I understand why, BBM was one of the reasons to stay with BB, especially outside the states where they are still getting killed over text messaging fees. But……. in the end, it is a bit late.

        Personally, I’m still on the hunt for an all encompassing cross-platform messaging service that defaults to sms (much like iMessage, but open). Maybe hangouts will get there… probably not though.

        1. Facebook messenger already does this. I don’t use it, but it does this. Problem is you can only send pics through Facebook, it won’t send them as MMS.

          1. Yeah… I’ve tried FB Messenger, but the problem I found is, unlike text when reaches people everywhere all the time, many people “do facebook” differently. If I’m out and about meeting up with someone, I’m not going to facebook message them… they might not get it until they get home that night and hop on facebook, you know? I know facebook has made great mobile strides, but there’s a confidence factor that’s still missing in mobile messaging.

            I think that’s why classic SMS is still such a tough nut to crack!

      2. Nobody is bashing anybody here. You personally don’t think they are late with this product?

        1. BES10 now manages iPhones and Android, their enterprise servers did not mange them 3-5 years ago.
          Its makes sense to open it up now because they can manage multiple OS’s rather than 3-5 years ago….ZING! :)

      3. Chill out bro! Sheesh!

  3. WhatsApp 30 billion messages a day
    BBM 10 billion message a day
    Not bad seeing as BBM currently isn’t on android and iphone.
    Wanna guess whose going to be the king of messaging by the end of 2013?

    1. Well it certainly won’t be BBM.

      1. Care to elaborate?
        If they can reach 1/3 of WhatsApp with <4% of the market having access to their product is it much of a leap suggesting BBM grow exponentially when Android and iPhone users get access to it….Samsungs current promotion of BBM is very encouraging too.

        1. It’s not just gonna be WhatsApp who they will comepte with, you have to take into account Viber, FB Messenger (yes really) as well as other solid messenger apps.

          1. BBM engages users like no other messaging system, thats why they generate so much more traffic per user, if the comptetition were better they would have higher usage rates….viper,fb etc, none have more engaged users.

          2. Sorry pal, it’s too little too late. It just won’t happen.

    2. Whatsapp will be.

      1. Time will tell…thanks for providing some numbers to back up your claim.

        1. You provided numbers and said it to guess. I did just that. Don’t be sensitive about it.

  4. Too little too late.. I wish there was an open messaging platform that would catch on in popularity.. I don’t think I’ll pay for WhatsApp after it expires.

  5. I loved my bb…minus the buggy touch ui i loved it for its time…bbm was the one thing holding me back from moving on to the og droid when it came out but i made the switch and havent looked back…if bb offered me bbm on android for even a buck a month or something stupid i woulda paid it bc thats how much i loved bbm…but yeah that was back in 2009…lil to late is the truth and im not hating on bb at all

  6. the file was removed any altirnative link

  7. Leaked link for Android BBM
    http://goo.gl/Xo6zmu

    Only u can register,
    thats all what you can do until now!

    1. мy coυѕιɴ ιѕ мαĸιɴɢ $51/нoυr oɴlιɴe. υɴeмployed ғor α coυple oғ yeαrѕ αɴd prevιoυѕ yeαr ѕнe ɢoт α $1З619cнecĸ wιтн oɴlιɴe joв ғor α coυple oғ dαyѕ. ѕee мore αт…­ ­ViewMore——————————————&#46qr&#46net/kAgk

      I think regular texts will do just fine in the mean time.. or all the time.

  8. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/blackberry/10320097/BBM-for-Android-and-iOS-to-launch-this-weekend.html

    Previously exclusive to BlackBerry smartphones, BBM will be available as a free download in Google Play and the App Store. Customers will also be able to download BBM by visiting http://www.BBM.com from their smartphone browser.

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