BBM, one of the first mobile chat services, officially announced its global shutdown on May 31st, 2019. The service was highly popular in 2005 till 2012, but it started to lose out to rivals such as Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger, and iMessage in 2012.
The company wrote in their blog on April, 18, 2019:
“We poured our hearts into making this a reality, and we are proud of what we have built to date. The technology industry, however, is very fluid, and in spite of our substantial efforts, users have moved on to other platforms, while new users proved difficult to sign on. Though we are sad to say goodbye, the time has come to sunset the BBM consumer service, and for us to move on.”
– BBM Blog
Although BBM consumer service will shut down for good, the enterprise version of the app will remain. It is now available in the Play Store and will soon be in App Store as well. However, it will cost 2.50$ for a six-month subscription. These mobile and desktop versions will include end-to-end secure text, voice calls, video calls, and group chat on smartphones and desktops.
BBM in Indonesia
Up until 2015, Indonesia has been one of BlackBerry’s strongest consumer markets. An important contributor to BBM’s continued success was because they transformed into a cross-platform app, making BBM compatible on competitors’ operating systems, including iPhones and Androids. So even when Indonesian cellphone users switched to more advanced smartphones, such as iPhone and Samsung models, BBM still remained a popular messaging app. However, by the end of 2015, just like the rest of the world, BBM users in Indonesia were beginning to switch to more popular messaging apps such as Whatsapp and Line. However even in January 2018, BBM still had 68 million monthly active users in Indonesia.
In 2016, the Canadian firm Emtek has invested in a partnership with Blackberry in an attempt to bring back BBM in Indonesia and the rest of the world. But, unfortunately, BBM did not thrive and grow as expected and within just 3 years, BBM decided to shutdown its service. The reason behind its shutdown was not only for struggling to keep up with its rivals, but also for having the app cluttered with features such as games channels and ads.
An Alternative to BBM: Pinngle Messenger
While the end of BBM is unfortunate, millions of BBM users will need to turn to other messaging apps to stay in touch with their friends and family.
Pinngle Messenger is an excellent alternative to BBM for a variety of reasons.
Total privacy and security
Pinngle fully encrypts your messages using its end-to-end encryption methods and its serverless architecture. You get full security for free on Pinngle, as opposed to BBM.
Public Channels
Pinngle has spam-free, ad-free public channels that are focused on quality content. On Pinngle you can instantly see when channels post new content, like or dislike posts, and even contact channel owners directly (through call or text).
Works on any internet speed
Pinngle works well on any internet speed or connection. This makes it a reliable messaging app for any situation, including when you are connected to weak internet connections such as 2G or poor or overloaded WiFi.
Ability to operate anywhere and can’t be blocked
Unlike BBM, Pinngle Messenger has the ability to operate everywhere. It also has an anti blocking technology which allows people to communicate even in countries where voice and video calls are blocked.
File Sharing
Share files of any type and any size on Pinngle. There is no limit to the size of files you can send, unlike BBM’s limit of 16MB..
Group Chats
Pinngle supports group chats of up to 50,000 people (compared to BBM’s 250 limit)
More of Pinngle’s features
- Location sharing and fun stickers
- Higher quality voice and video call
- Optimized to use very little data and save your phone’s battery
- Affordable virtual numbers and Pinngle out calls.
Join us on Pinngle.
While there are other popular messaging apps on the market, Pinngle is the only messaging app can compare to BBM, but with even better features! Millions of people in the world are choosing to connect better with Pinngle. Join us and download Pinngle today.
