BBM For iPhone Submitted For Review, Waiting Approval

The Android world was recently filled with news and leaks pointing to an impending release of the long-awaited BlackBerry Messenger app, but it appears that the iOS version has silently been progressing as well. BlackBerry has confirmed that the iPhone BBM app has been submitted for review and is just awaiting approval.

BBM has had quite a long, and rather turbulent, journey. But there has been a resurgence of late regarding the app nearing a release on both Android and iOS. In May, BlackBerry announced that the app will be coming this summer, which still leaves them a few good days to make a release. But when they do, the question on everyone's mind is whether it will make a difference.

The company is banking on BBM's historical popularity, citing figures that show the service's still large number of active users. Of course, there has been talk of BlackBerry splitting itself and spinning off into different markets, including a standalone BBM service. However, by the time it arrives on the scene, it will be facing not only established giants like Apple's iMessage or Google's Hangouts, it will also be up against services like WhatsApp, Viber, and LINE, whose popularity has been growing at a rapid pace.

For better or for worse, BlackBerry seems unfazed and will still be pushing through with its BBM plans. It already has a landing page set up and a representative has now posted on Twitter that the BBM for iPhone was submitted for review 2 weeks ago already. That should give them enough time to make the promised summer release happen.

Interestingly, the post explicitly mentions iPhone only, which means the company hasn't changed its position on not doing a simultaneous release for the iPad. Now we just need to wait and see if the release will have the effect that BlackBerry hopes it would or if it's too little too late for the struggling company.

VIA: Apple Insider