Why should I use BBM on my iOS device

[ukmight]

http://gadgeup.com/eng/2013/10/23/why-should-i-use-bbm-on-my-ios-device-android-device/

 

[melbsteve]

... so what did you get paid for this?

 

[ukmight]

Lol. Why would I. I am not a fanboy dude. Use it only if it works for u.

... so what did you get paid for this?

 

[ukmight]

that is because I use a BlackBerry and am active on the CB forums.


PS: I also appreciate all Apple products. Use an Macbook Air myself

I won't doubt the motives of the OP because it was a very well written post. But it is a new account that has a total of three posts and all are about bbm.

 

[GingerSnapsBack]

Re #6 Pinging -

I deleted any and all users who pinged me when I was still on BBOS. If I didn't respond right away, it wasn't because I was avoiding you. It was because I was busy and I didn't need my phone going spastic with a dozen pings from someone trying to get my attention.

If it works for you, fine. If it doesn't, fine. I'm still sticking with Kik.

 

[estroh]

It works when you know the other persons PIN number - the glitch has always been for me that if they change devices it doesn't work. I'm fine with iMessage and Viber.

 

[Just_Me_D]

I'm with Karen. The OP's posts was well-written, and I am indeed giving it an honest try. So far so good, but the only contacts I have listed are a few Ambassadors & Moderators. I don't know anyone outside of iMore who uses a Blackberry anymore or BBM so I doubt I will be using it exclusively or even outside of iMore. Finally, although it is performing okay, it still doesn't feel the same as it did when I used it during my Blackberry years nor does it fits the look of iOS 7, in my opinion....

 

[kataran]

Great read

I like it and have been using it a lot in the last 12 hours. I always wanted to use BBM but wasn't willing to get a BB to do it

Works great for me but i do have a Question since the country list is so big I'm assuming I can BBM with anyone from any of those countries that are also using BBM. Is this Correct??


Sent from my iPhone 5

 

[ukmight]

It works when you know the other persons PIN number - the glitch has always been for me that if they change devices it doesn't work. I'm fine with iMessage and Viber.

That was an issue earlier but with latest BlackBerry ID update, BlackBerry IDs took precedence and if users changed devices, the contacts were automatically mapped to new pin.
The users who recently left BlackBerry to iOS or Android were able to get back their entire contact list and their friends didn't have to add them again when they signed in with the same BlackBerry ID on their iOS devices.

 

[ukmight]

Re #6 Pinging -

I deleted any and all users who pinged me when I was still on BBOS. If I didn't respond right away, it wasn't because I was avoiding you. It was because I was busy and I didn't need my phone going spastic with a dozen pings from someone trying to get my attention.

If it works for you, fine. If it doesn't, fine. I'm still sticking with Kik.

It can get irritating at times. BlackBerry should provide an option to enable that for selective users.

 

[Just_Me_D]

Great read

I like it and have been using it a lot in the last 12 hours. I always wanted to use BBM but wasn't willing to get a BB to do it

Works great for me but i do have a Question since the country list is so big I'm assuming I can BBM with anyone from any of those countries that are also using BBM. Is this Correct??


Sent from my iPhone 5

​You are correct, sir...

 

[anon3230140]

Great read

I like it and have been using it a lot in the last 12 hours. I always wanted to use BBM but wasn't willing to get a BB to do it

Works great for me but i do have a Question since the country list is so big I'm assuming I can BBM with anyone from any of those countries that are also using BBM. Is this Correct??


Sent from my iPhone 5

You can send a message to anyone anywhere in the world as long as they use BBM too. It's not only those list of countries. As long as they are connected to a network whether it's a mobile carrier or via wifi they will connect to the BB servers and u can BBM them.

Even though I am a BB user one thing I would like is for them to have more emoticons, emoji's and stickers like other platforms do. WhatsApp on BB does emoji's and there are third party apps that we use to send stickers in BBM for BB10. Not sure why BlackBerry does not just make this built in since it does support it.

 

[qbnkelt]

... so what did you get paid for this?

He didn't get paid anything. He is a member at Crackberry and is enthusiastic about BBM for all platforms.

I've always said over at Crackberry how wonderful and friendly folks are at iMore. I hope I will be proven right..

 

[Eileen89]

Thread cleaned. Guys, the topic here is "BBM on my iOS device", not post counts. Please stick to the thread topic. Thank you.

 

[projectman]

You can send a message to anyone anywhere in the world as long as they use BBM too. It's not only those list of countries. As long as they are connected to a network whether it's a mobile carrier or via wifi they will connect to the BB servers and u can BBM them.

When I used a BB I used BBM. I used it exclusively for all my texting actions, whether to a BB user or not. If I remember correctly I simply had to set up the preferences to include...whoever I wanted into the BBM app. Am I correct in understanding (those of you who are using it on iOS) that you definitely cannot use it to "text" with non-BBM users? I understand that functionality of BBM specific features would be limited if communicating with non-BBM users.

 

[ukmight]

if you were using it to text it to non-BB users earlier, it was only an additional functionality that allowed you to combine your text messages within the BBM app and the text was routed as a regular sms and was billed by your carrier. To be honest I never turned this feature on as I always preferred to have a stand alone inbox for my texts.

The cross platform BBM app released does not provide this functionality and is a IM service over your data plan like WhatsApp that allows you to text any user across the globe (using BB, Apple or Android) without any additional cost (other than your data plan of course) if he is a contact on your BBM list.

When I used a BB I used BBM. I used it exclusively for all my texting actions, whether to a BB user or not. If I remember correctly I simply had to set up the preferences to include...whoever I wanted into the BBM app. Am I correct in understanding (those of you who are using it on iOS) that you definitely cannot use it to "text" with non-BBM users? I understand that functionality of BBM specific features would be limited if communicating with non-BBM users.

 

[Chris Parsons]

I won't doubt the motives of the OP because it was a very well written post. But it is a new account that has a total of three posts and all are about bbm.

ukmight just wants you all to enjoy BBM as much as possible, if you find it's something you wish to try out.

 

[Jaguarr40]

Like me and short answer... You should not or be pressured to if you don't want to!

 

[Jaguarr40]

I'm with Karen. The OP's posts was well-written, and I am indeed giving it an honest try. So far so good, but the only contacts I have listed are a few Ambassadors & Moderators. I don't know anyone outside of iMore who uses a Blackberry anymore or BBM so I doubt I will be using it exclusively or even outside of iMore. Finally, although it is performing okay, it still doesn't feel the same as it did when I used it during my Blackberry years nor does it fits the look of iOS 7, in my opinion....

Now read this and ditto or CC it with me...LOL and you know why I did not install BBM because I left it as far behind as my BB 2 years ago and my iPhone has been very good to me. Thank you for your personal explanation 'D.

 

[Jaguarr40]

So what is so exciting about BBM in the saturated IM market that should make me install it on my phone.
There might be something within BBM to give it a try. Try it if you think any of these are important to you. Ignore it if any of it is not important to you.

1. Security: So you must have heard from a lot of people saying BBM is a secure service and might wonder why is it more secure than other services what does it have to do with my normal daily conversations. All of BlackBerry's servers are routed only through the BlackBerry servers unlike other services such as Whatsapp which use Google Cloud services or Apple's servers for routing the messages before they reach their servers. This makes BBM much lesser susceptible to phishing since there are much lesser points of attack. It is for this reason and Googles mandates for always on services, that you see the BBM icon in your notifications all the time. Secondly, BlackBerry uses highly secure encryption algorithms to which even they do not have the decryption keys (except for countries such as India whose Government forced BlackBerry to alter their algos for security purposes) that makes it nearly impossible to spy on your conversations. Further, BBM does not store your messages on the server once they are delivered to your device. You have heard of a recent news of some Pro-Palestenian hackers attacking WhatsApp but would have never heard such a thing for BBM. The iMessage may also be a secure service (I would not compare the securities of it against BBM) but cannot be in the same category since it does not allow you to communicate with your friends on other platforms.
   You can be at ease while sharing any information within your family such as passwords, Credit card numbers, etc over BBM. Over WhatsApp, I would be a little concerned.
2. Privacy: I am sure a lot of you out there love updating your display pics and statuses over the IMs such as WhatsApp or BBM, but would not want a lot of people to see these updates. FOr example, you have lied to your boss for a leave and want to update your status telling your friends you are having a great time on the holiday. You could land up in an awkward position due to updates just because your boss had your phone number and you could not hide your status update from him. With BBM, only those people whom you approve to be friends on through Pin sharing can view your updates. Using BBM would also put an end to the messages coming from random people who have your number.
3. Engaging: BBM has always been praised for its messaging speed and its reliability along with the iconic D and the R. This as against only a delivery note on WhatsApp is much more engaging. iMessage has implemented this as well but then is again a single platform service. Another aspect is your online status shown by WhatsApp or Hangouts. The apps give away your status of being online only if you use the app (you dont even have to read the message) that would imply that you are trying to ignore the senders chat (not so pleasing for the sender). On the other hand, with the D and the R, you can chose to ignore the message and the sender would only think that you are too busy to read his chat since he hasn't received the R yet.
4. Status Updates: BBM has an exclusive tab for updates of your friends that gives you a much better experience to find out what is on your friends minds than going into the profile of each and every friend to find out their status and picture updates.
5. High resolution Pictures: By default BBM will send a low res picture when shared to save data which is a pretty smart implementation IMO. After receiving the picture, the receiver can chose to request for a High Res which only on approval by the sender will be sent. WhatsApp on the other hand always compressed pictures when being shared.
6. The Ping: Ping is an effective way to catch the attention of the receiver.
7. BBM Voice and Video and possibly Screen Share: This is going to be implemented in future updates and will surely be an amazing feature where you could speak to your friends over BBM. For sure Skype and other apps do this cross platform but they do not provide a great mobile experience as of now. They are already implemented on the BB10 devices and do work amazingly well. You could take a demo on any of your friend's BB10 devices. Whether screen share would come to your device or not is not known, but it would great if you wanted share contents with your friends without having to share attachments that are huge in size or too privy to be shared. This feature is already implemented in the BB10 devices but it is yet to be confirmed if it would be coming Cross Platform (although I dont see the harm). Let us hope it makes the leap.
8. BBM Channels: BBM Channels is an exciting service that is currently in the Beta stage for the BB10 users and is an interesting concept of Social Networking. It allows you to create multiple channels to share content based on your interests. You can also follow many Channels without any of your friends actually finding out what you are following. (The creepy social network many of you might have always wanted!!) It is an interesting concept to follow and share your likes and going to come pretty soon the same BBM app as an update in the coming months. Stay tuned.
9. Nostalgia: And the last one would be nostalgia. I am sure a lot of you have been BlackBerry users at some point of time in the past and it sure was exciting to get those pings in the past. Using BBM on your favourite devices of the present will surely light up the nostalgia.

I am sure there may be many more reasons that might compel you to use BBM and feel free to share the same. The app is not yet perfect and needs a bit of a tuning on the UI. (For example: the Action Bar on the Androids should be hidden when the keyboard is brought up reducing the screen space to only two to three lines of chat is really frustrating). The app is too BlackBerry 10 and it needs to balance a bit of the native experience of Android and iOS to reduce the huge difference when one opens the up. Subtlety would be more acceptable IMO than the huge differences present as of now. That will definitely come by sooner or later depending on the users' feedback. For one thing that I can be sure of is that BlackBerry is listening this time as they have brought about a lot of features in the BB10 updates purely based on the user's feedback.

Some may complain that it does not support multiple device sync for messages but you have got to realize that this is a trade off for security since the messages are deleted from the server immediately on receipt of the same by your device (and hence they cannot be delivered to any other device that might make BBM on multiple devices redundant). Storing it on servers may expose the data to vulnerabilities. I am sure a desktop client is on its way allowing you to connect your phone to your laptop to send and receive BBM on your desktop, thus maintaining the same delivery point.

BlackBerry has ensured that it's BBM arm is going independent and even if any buyer comes along and tries to sell off BlackBerry in parts, BBM will surely be retained as it is because it is its most important asset as of now. BBM is here to stay. Period.

For what BBM offers over the other platforms, it surely is an exciting app and if any of the above matter to you download it at BBM. Now on Android and iPhone.
It might work for some and might not for others.

This is a very well written post, Not for me anymore. I DON'T OWN A BB ANYMORE!