Why I'm excited about BBM going cross platform

BlackBerry was 'in' a few years ago, but we all gave up when it couldn't catch up with its competitors. I was a loyal BlackBerry user for a little too long, only because I loved its BBM feature. Sure, there are alternatives like WhatsApp but the recent announcement about BBM on Android and iOS devices have got many like me excited. Why - here's a bunch of reasons why BlackBerry is a better messaging service.

There are no delays in getting messages on BBM. I've noticed that messages get delayed by hours and even days on WhatsApp and it's definitely not for emergency situations. Any day, I'd rely more on BBM.

BBM gets its Delivery reports and Read reports right. What about the 2 tick marks on WhatsApp, you say? It doesn't necessarily mean they've read it. Check WhatsApp's FAQ, it clearly states, "This does not indicate that the message was read, just that it was delivered."

BBM allows you to choose who you want to add on your messenger - unlike WhatsApp, where anyone who has your number can add or ping you
even if you shared numbers 8 years ago at a random baby shower. Besides, I can't be added to a 'Group' without authorization on BBM. Yes, we have an option to block users on both but BBM makes ignoring people guilt free.

WhatsApp displays the time and date when a user was last active. This is a privacy issue for me when I'm ignoring people and pretend
like I'm not active on WhatsApp.

Call me old fashioned but I like BBM's simple user interface with no extra features like graphics, background etc. It displays only the info I need.

This point is almost not valid but exchanging BBM pin is so much cooler than phone numbers!

The only drawback I noticed is, it was traditionally tied to BlackBerry devices. But now, anybody starting up on Android or iOS will get their own unique PIN numbers. New users also sign up for a BlackBerry ID, which provides more traditional e-mail-based log-in to BBM. While upgrading devices, you can back up your contact list on cloud and restore it on the new device. A drawback would be building to build contacts from scratch, but I prefer taking this effort to the contact dump WhatsApp comes with.

What do you like or dislike about BBM? Do share your opinion on which messaging service you prefer.