While people may not be interested in BlackBerry handsets, there is one product release a lot of folks seem to be looking forward to: BlackBerry Messenger for iOS and Android. The company confirmed earlier this year that the apps are in the works.
CEO Thorsten Heins has since said that the cross-platform Messenger software will be out before the end of the summer, which is rapidly approaching. But we must be getting close to launch, because BlackBerry just posted user guides for the two apps…
The user guide, first spotted by TechCrunch, details how the service works, its available features, and explains how to create an account. It also offers an overview on icons and troubleshooting. It’s pretty standard stuff, but it’ll be useful to newcomers.
“With BBM, you can chat and share in real-time with your BBM contacts and groups. For example, you can share pictures, see when someone has read your message or is typing a reply, and update your BBM status or picture. Share your news with multiple people using multiperson chats and group chats.
With BBM Groups, you can plan events, track to-do lists, share pictures, and chat with up to 30 people at the same time without needing to add them all as BBM contacts.”
BlackBerry Messenger launched back in 2005 as one of the first platform-specific messaging services. And, despite the company’s continued struggles, it still remains extremely popular with over 60 million active users detected using the app monthly.
There’s no word on when exactly we’ll see BBM hit iOS and Android, but given the fact that BlackBerry started beta-testing the app earlier this month, we imagine it can’t be too far off.