BlackBerry makes paid features of BBM app free

BlackBerry makes paid features of its instant messaging program BlackBerry Messenger free. This is evident from the most recent changelog of the Android app. Previously, users had to pay 99 cents through an in-app purchase to use the extras.

BBM users can now revoke, edit after sending, and timer messages for free so the app sends them later. Also, the secure chat feature is now free. In addition, users can now forward messages, according to the changelog. The update only appears to be live in the Google Play Store, the version for iOS last received the update on March 9.

In addition to making several features free, the update also includes other changes, such as a feature to suppress notifications for group chats and higher sound quality for BBM Voice calls.

BBM has been available for several years for platforms other than BlackBerry and has between one hundred and five hundred million installations on Android. It is unknown how many of them are actively using the app.