BlackBerrys were once a symbol of hipness, and not just because they were worn at the hip in those godawful pouches. In recent years BlackBerry's fallen into obscurity, and Facebook has given it yet another blow by steering clear of BlackBerry phones from now on.Three years ago WhatsApp made its debut on BlackBerry phones, in a move that wasn't met with as much enthusiasm by BB users. After all, BBM was a thing and it was one of the strong points that users loved about the BlackBerry. That, and the qwerty keyboard, which even some of my friends will defend to this day.
WhatsApp peaces out first
Now, as WhatsApp celebrates their seventh birthday, they’ve announced that they will no longer be supporting the app on BlackBerrys, including the BlackBerry 10, among other antique operating systems. The entire availability of the app on the BlackBerry was less than half of WhatsApp's "age," and the question stands: will there be anyone left on BlackBerry's operating system to mourn the loss of the most popular chat app in the world?My guess is no, for two reasons:- First, the people that still use a BlackBerry are likely fans of the device, and they can still contact their friends through BBM (which is still available on Android and iOS) or other messaging apps.
- Second - and this is more important - BlackBerry supports Android apps, and the company is actually shifting towards Android as of late. Their latest phone is the BlackBerry Priv, which runs Android apps perfectly because it actually is an Android phone.