BlackBerry may be the struggling for relevancy in 2014, but they still have a couple of valuable properties, including their BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) service, which is now on iOS and Android. Earlier this year, BlackBerry announced that a version for Windows Phone was also on the way, and July was last reported as the due date.
With that introduction, it should not be surprising to find the private beta of the app hiding out on the Store under the BlackBerry Limited publishing name. However, like all good things, you cannot download it yet. Private beta means you have to be on the tester list, and that involves using your Microsoft Account ID. As a result, you can look at the app on the Store, but you can not download.
BBM for Windows Phone can bring more parity between iOS and Android when released. As to how the app looks, we still don't know. Windows Phone Central reported earlier that Modern UI elements would be present, while preserving the familiar BBM design:
"…BBM going forward will strive to maintain a healthy balance between BBM maintaining its own identity while still honoring the best practices of platform's guidelines. In other words, BBM users moving between platforms should recognize and know how to use BBM in an instance, while at the same time the app should still look and feel like the best native apps on the platform. For Windows Phone, expect BBM to feature its own live tile and panoramas."
The release of BBM for Windows Phone is most likely just days, if not weeks away. Windows Phone Central is attempting to verify that this is this real BBM app, even if a private beta.
Update: We have confirmed that this is the official BBM app from BlackBerry. The app is not coming out tonight, but BlackBerry will be extending the beta to some users in the near future. BlackBerry will announce details about that beta soon.
Via: reddit
