[Update] BBM For Android Now Live – Well Almost!

Okay, you got me. There’s no official announcement from BlackBerry, no Google Play store link to share, so what the f*** is going on?

Yeah well, like all other android owners, I too, was curious to get my hands on the very famous BlackBerry Messenger or BBM. As it turns out, I came across an apk file supposedly a genuine leak of official play store version. It’s a hefty ~14 MB download (hefty for an app), the like of which has been shared below.

Now onto the main job, tired of waiting for formal announcement from BlackBerry officials, I gave the leaked app a try and voila! Yep, it got working, not the first time though but the next time, it did work without any issues.

Just to take you through the initial setup, it isn’t a real challenge, you’ll be initially greeted with a welcome screen from where either you login with an existing account or create a new one. Once you do create a new account, you’ll be assigned the famous “BBM PIN”, from here on you are free to flaunt and chat away with anybody and everybody you like!

So without much ado, get started with BBM, enough of waiting around. Until BBM sees the light of the day, give this version a shot and see how it works out for you 🙂

P.S – One of the screenshots above has my BBM PIN, feel free to add me 😉

Download BBM Apk File

UPDATE: Finally an official statement from BlackBerry. In a nutshell, they have put on hold roll out of both BBM for Android and BBM for iOS. Read on,

Prior to launching BBM for Android, an unreleased version of the BBM for Android app was posted online. The interest and enthusiasm we have seen already – more than 1.1 million active users in the first 8 hours without even launching the official Android app – is incredible. Consequently, this unreleased version caused issues, which we have attempted to address throughout the day.

Our teams continue to work around the clock to bring BBM to Android and iPhone, but only when it’s ready and we know it will live up to your expectations of BBM. We are pausing the global roll-out of BBM for Android and iPhone. Customers who have already downloaded BBM for iPhone will be able to continue to use BBM. The unreleased Android app will be disabled, and customers who downloaded it should visit www.BBM.com to register for updates on official BBM for Android availability.