Following a brutal Friday when BlackBerry announced 4,500 layoffs and a loss of nearly $1 billion in its second quarter, the company hit pause on the rollout of its BBM apps for iPhone and Android.
Just a few hours after launching the BBM app on the App Store in New Zealand, Australia, Malaysia, India and the United Arab Emirates, BlackBerry removed it, citing an early Android leak.
In a blog post on its website, BlackBerry explained the issue:
Prior to launching BBM for Android, an unreleased version of the BBM for Android app was posted online. The interest and enthusiasm we have seen already — more than 1.1 million active users in the first 8 hours without even launching the official Android app — is incredible. Consequently, this unreleased version caused issues, which we have attempted to address throughout the day. Our teams continue to work around the clock to bring BBM to Android and iPhone, but only when it’s ready and we know it will live up to your expectations of BBM.
Those who already downloaded BBM on their iPhones can keep using the app, BlackBerry added. However, the company disabled the leaked version of BBM for Android, and delayed its official launch. BlackBerry didn't provide a timeline for the new rollout, instead advising customers to visit BBM.com to register for updates on Android availability.
After launching a staggered country rollout of BBM for iPhone — beginning with New Zealand — at midnight local time (just after 5 a.m. ET) on Saturday via Twitter, the @BBM handle tweeted about pausing its release:
We know you’re waiting. Pausing #BBM4All rollout to fix issues caused by unreleased BBM for Android app. Read more: http://blck.by/15gqlQ9
— BBM (@BBM) September 23, 2013
Did you download the BBM app on your iPhone before it was pulled from the iTunes store? Tell us in the comments, below.
Image: Flickr, Mostafa Abdel Samie