If you’ve been using smartphones since before the iPhone, you more than likely got your start with a Blackberry. The once “email-only” devices grew into smartphones with web browsers, games, apps and more, but Blackberry’s most popular feature to date is arguably still Blackberry Messanger, or BBM, as it’s known for short. BBM made its way onto Android sometime last year and has been out of a beta status for a while, but something quite exciting has happened to BBM even more recently. Today in fact, BBM went through an update which brought along a completely new UI, featuring material design to bring it forward with the rest of the apps who have a UI inspired by the Lollipop design guidelines.
For existing BBM users, you should already have seen the update hit your device sometime earlier this morning as the update went live earlier on in the day, however it does take time for updates to roll out for everyone so there is a chance it might take through the weekend before it shows up for some people on their devices. You’ll notice all the material design features that make up this particular style, like the floating action button for new messages, the slide out hamburger menu, the overflow menu as well as the vibrant use of colors and matching header color.
Material design wasn’t the only thing added in this latest update however, as Blackberry introduced a new subscription feature in the app for $0.99 a month which grants users new controls like private chats, timed messages and pictures, the ability to retract messages and pictures, and the option to edit a message should you need to tweak a few things. If BBM is your primary form of communication on your phone when it comes to messaging, the edit and retract options will be a welcomed addition for those who may have sent a message out without thinking before. BBM is always on and connected so you can always expect messages to flow through, although this isn’t new by any means. Other new features include the ability to hide sticker packs you aren’t using and a cool new feature to “quote” messages by referencing and replying to older messages in your chats.