At The Practice, we were strangely excited when we heard the news that BlackBerry had developed BBM compatibility with iOS and Android. Perhaps we were experiencing a little tech nostalgia, but whatever the reason, we hit the App Store straight away to download.

For a company who’s sadly been eclipsed in popularity, the success of Blackberry’s latest move comes as a surprise. After all, do we really need BBM when we have WhatsApp? And surely BBM for iPhone seems strangely incongruent?! Thirdly, BlackBerry had to contend with none other than nemesis, Apple, announcing its new iPad Air at the same time. Despite all this, the company tweeted that its app generated a staggering 5 million downloads just eight hours after launch, and 10 million within 24 hours. To add to the momentum, it subsequently became the number one free app in more than 75 countries including the US. So why the hype? For us anyway it was sheer curiosity, coupled with the fact that we were keen to see how it compared to WhatsApp. Finally, we wanted to remember those good old BlackBerry PINs! Likewise, we imagine the same is true for many an ex-BlackBerry user; after all, BBM was an exemplary model and one we’d like to use at some point regardless of how much we love WhatsApp.

But why now? Perhaps BlackBerry are trying one last attempt to add something positive to their legacy other than sad losses to the tune of $965 million. Perhaps they’re trying to remind smart phone users that they still exist. Or perhaps it’s just a poorly timed marketing move. If this is the case, might the app have saved Blackberry from disaster had it been released at a different time? TechCrunch writer, Natasha Lomas, makes a good point when she says: “If BBM had launched on Android and iOS back in 2010, how many users might it have now? And how many might mobile messaging giants like WhatsApp not have?” It’s true that BlackBerry are very late off the mark to develop BBM for all devices, but equally, had they launched it a few years ago this could have been even worse. Why? Well, if you’re like us, the main purpose for not transferring from our BlackBerry smart phones to iPhones was BBM- if the app was available back then, we’re certain BlackBerry sales would have plummeted harder and faster than they already did.

Fast-forward 3 years later, and we’ve downloaded the app, received our all-important PINs, and are ready to start connecting. The only problem is that amongst our contacts, everyone is still devoted to WhatsApp! And this is the other fact of the matter; BlackBerry may finally be able to boast of impressive download figures, but the real measure of success will be if and when those subscribers become long-term users.

Were you a fan of BlackBerry Messenger? And will you be using it once again or sticking to WhatsApp and other messaging apps? We’d love to hear your opinions on Blackberry’s latest development, so please tweet to us @PracticeDigital and share your comments on our Facebook page.