BlackBerry Messenger coming to Android and iOS

James Vincent

BlackBerry’s popular messaging system BBM (BlackBerry Messenger) will be downloadable for iOS and Android users from June 27th.

The new was first announced by BlackBerry CEO Thorsen Heins last month, but the specific date of the release was not known until T-Mobile UK tweeted the announcement.

The move is the first time that BlackBerry’s messaging service has been made available to non-BlackBerry devices.

Speaking about the move at BlackBerry Live 2013 Heins said “It’s a statement of confidence. We are confident the time is right for BBM to be independent.”

The phone-makers also announced that they would be working with handset manufacturers to have the messaging program pre-installed on phones, though no specific companies have been mentioned.

BBM took early ground as a free messaging service but in the last couple of years has been overtaken by the likes of WhatsApp and Viber. Blackberry still have an active user base of around 61 million using their app, but WhatsApp’s user base is closer to 200 million.