BBM for Android and iOS Put on Hold as Leak Overwhelms Blackberry

BBM for Android was supposed to launch yesterday and never did. As many waited patiently (though, I don’t know why) throughout the day without a release or update from Blackberry, a leak from the night before continued to circulate, giving many a first-hand look at the messaging service. By the late afternoon, Blackberry announced that they would not be launching because that leak had caused them problems. With over 1 million users installing the leaked app in such a short time, Blackberry could not keep up and has put it all on “pause.” 

Here is the statement from Blackberry:

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.

As soon as we are able, we will begin a staggered country roll-out of BBM for Android and continue the roll-out of BBM for iPhone. Please follow @BBM on Twitter for the latest updates and go to www.BBM.com to sign-up for updates about BBM for Android and iPhone. These issues have not impacted BBM service for BlackBerry.

I’m just curious, what would they have done had they gone live and a few million people installed it? Maybe that leak was a blessing in disguise.

Via:  Inside Blackberry