[conkybubs]

Scanning through this thread I did not see anyone suggest marrying up your non-BBM contacts with the BBM app. I am not familiar with the BB10 version of BBM but on OS6 I was able to connect my non-BBM user friends and co-workers to it and performed all of my "texting" actions through BBM. I preferred that environment to the SMS app. I stumbled upon it by accident and just kept using it that way. It essentially created an iMessage-like environment for all of my texts.

I did that with my 9900 as well...had non BBM contacts in BBM as well and textd them from there. Was very handy but I can't see a way to do that yet on bb10


Posted via CB10 on my Z10!

[ian8206]

Okay...

We have a family group set up, using the calendar to coordinate family events. We use the lists for our grocery list, to-do items around the house, and things we need to do for the kids. The grocery list comes in very handy since it updates in real time. If we know one of us is going to the store, the other person can check the kitchen and add things. They show up immediately on both devices.

Posted via CB10

This is the kind of thing that I hoped to get out of this thread. This sounds like an amazing feature that I'm going to have to learn more about. I can see myself using this a lot. Now I'm excited. Do i initiate a list by sending an attachment? I'm not quite familiar with this/

and Tony_11 - you're right in assuming that. I only have 4 BBM contacts at the moment

Edit: Ok I figured the list out. I Have to form a group first. This BBM is a whole new world now

[anon62607]

The big deal about BBM is:

1. Secure chat - something that no other messaging app can claim. Might not mean much to you as a consumer, but think about it from a business perspective. Makes communicating much easier knowing that your conversation can't be looked in on by others.

2. Uses data vs. SMS, meaning you can message people all over the world at no extra cost. It also provides selivery and read receipts. Yes, WhatsApp, iMessage and others do the same thing, but BBM came first. Factor this in with no. 1 above and you'll see why this is big.

3. The conversation logs are only stored locally on the phones (that I know of). AKAIK, BlackBerry does not keep logs of BBM conversations, so when it's gone from your phone and the person you are chatting with, the conversation is gone completely. This also ties in with no. 1 above. Text messages are all logged by service providers and can be called upon by authorities if required. I don't believe the same can be said about BBM chats.

4. Screen share (BB10 only). The ability to not only share your screen and demonstrate what you are talking about, but also do that securely is a huge deal, especially for businesses (BB still caters to Enterprise users). Makes collaboration and troubleshooting much easier. It's also handy for the consumer because now you can share photos, videos or whatever you want with people without having to try to send it to them. And it won't cost you any more data than a standard video conversation.

There's more, but I will stop there. BBM was, and still is, a big deal for the cell phone market. Other apps and manufacturers will try to downplay the importance of BBM, because they know how important it is, and how much better BBM is at doing those things (and more).

JB

Though this is brought up a lot I still think it should be mentioned that "secure chat" is only kinda secure.

* BlackBerry themselves say to treat the security of BBM through BIS to a device as only "scrambled", not encrypted. The reason for this is that the encryption used is well known (which is fine) but the key used is the same to all BIS devices in the world and is likely well known to any agency which performs . This does not have to be the case for devices getting data from BES, but for the general, non-corporate case it is. I am unaware of an actual on-video demonstration of plaintext being recovered but from the description BlackBerry themselves put out it should not be too difficult.

* The messages exist in plaintext form on BlackBerry's servers, at least while in transit over the service.

I bring this up to compare for example with iMessage:

* iMessage uses SSL/TLS to communicate server-to-device. The keys are unique to each device (this aspect makes it more secure than BBM/BIS)

* The messages do exist in plaintext form on Apple's servers as well, so it isn't end-to-end encryption.

I hope it doesn't kick off another long discussion about this one aspect, but my personal opinion is you should treat BBM and iMessage as safe only from casual, non-technical eavesdropping.

Af far as data vs SMS: the nice thing about SMS is it works anywhere there is a GSM network (we ran into this in Iraq, there was cellphone service but without GPRS or EDGE - but texting still worked) - however being able to fall back to a data network could be useful too if there is no cell signal available at all. I'd really like a service which could fall back on messages being carried via SMS if necessary but still delivered within the larger structure of an iMessage / BBM like service (and naturally using some kind of block cypher where the key is known only to the receiving device). That's very much an edge case though and it's utility for 99.9% of the world would be pretty limited.

[polytan02]

And also a nice feature is the ability to simply give your PIN number. And if needed, you can delete a contact of block it. No spam or harassment.

Mine is 24D7A77B for example.

Posted from my Z10 via CB10.

[CzechShark]

Groups

Thats what BBm is really all about for me, messages and posts to specific groups, calendars between certain groups and work photos for every individual group that you need to see.

More for business i assume, although i do have a family group as well for chore schedules and such

As mentioned above if this is something u use you will never want to leave it again.

[R_from_Toronto]

There's no value in BBM if your friends are on other platforms.

When I had a long contact list on BBM I appreciated the ability to easily send media and verify that your messages were read. However, BBM has become less important to me on the z10 as most of my contacts have moved on.

Functionality wise, there is no comparison between whatsapp and BBM as BBM is
superior in every way but I'd argue that whatsapp is more important to me and probably a majority of users now that numerous BBM contacts have moved on to other platforms...

Posted via CB10

[ErinnM]

So I've made the switch about a month ago from iPhone. I was never a "fan boy," I always hated iTunes among other things but this isn't why I'm making this post. Now I'm a big supporter of BB and the Z10 (I am on CrackBerry after all)but being new to these devices there's something that isn't quite clear to me...

What is the big deal about BBM? This feature is something I always heard about, more so than any other feature from a different platform (but the live weather apps from Samsung were big too). I have played around with it and its usefulness is lost on me.

Don't most people have unlimited text messaging? In fact don't most smartphone plans have this? All I really see is the ability to put up your own profile picture, put a cute little status message and see that your friend has read your BBM message. Were there features removed from BB10 that were on older operating systems? Or has BBM become antiquated with the introduction of unlimited texting? Because honestly the friends I have on BBM I just text because at least that way it contributes to the accumulation of Fido dollars (which is BS in itself but we won't get into that).

I like BBM because you can send as long as a message as you want without it being separated into pages which is annoying through regular texting (to me).

You actually need other BB users of course, otherwise it'll be useless.

[sooman54]

So the underlying lesson in all of this thread is that.....

1. BBM is superior to all/most other text messaging.

2. We need to convert our friends / family / coworkers / cute chicks (or cute guys) / general public to Blackberry so we may add to our contact base.

[Camelhmpz]

We need to convert our friends / family / coworkers / cute chicks (or cute guys) / general public to Blackberry so we may add to our contact base.

^^^^^^^^^
THIS!

[hyfi2001]

Let me explain to you all why BBM is so huge!

First BBM chat has a section called status updates that works more like push notification
for what ever your contacts are doing. Its more like a live stream of your contacts activity.
If you have more than 20 contacts, you'll appreciate that status updates section as it almost turns
BBM into a social app similar to the likes of twitter and facebook. If you have 100 contacts, you'll be addicted
To your status updates. Your contacts easily know what music you are listening to on your phone,
What movies you are watching, what pictures you have on even where you are. Its crazy I tell.

BBM is the only messaging app with that and its a huge advantage! Over here in Nigeria
Where we have so many people on blackberry, the status update section is the most important
Part of BBM and its one addiction that would keep BBM going. Ladies use it to flaunt there most sexy pictures,
We use it to keep up with recent happenings with friends and local environment.

Imagine when U go out on the streets and you see recent happenings around you,
Before you count to 5 someone snaps picture and updates his status update. 200 or so contacts on his phone
See it at once with pictures and information flies in an instant. Its that addictive. Whatsapp and Imessage can't come close.
Small scale businesses even use the status update section to market products to clients on BBM.

Another huge plus for BBM is how it interacts with other social media apps like facebook and twitter.
The integration is quite deep,so much so that an update of your twitter activity of facebook post could immediately
Serve as your status update on BBM. This integration takes social interaction on blackberry to another level that Imessage and whatsapp can't touch.

The other features of BBM are just added bonus on what is a very good messaging app.

hyfi2001

[PH_BB]

BBM Money

[bmercer94]

If you would like, send me your PIN and i can fire off a group invite with a few people (19) and we can help you get acquainted with BBM. Same goes for everyone else

Posted via CB10

[JerBru]

I use BBM when ever I can. Both for business and personal.
I know someone has received AND read my text.(that's what the little "r" is for). No need for a reply such as "get back to you later with the answer".
Perfect for communications.
BTW I did not use BBM for months after getting my BB

[EauRouge]

I like seeing when my messages are delivered and not simply lost

[Justthecrack]

Here is another reason as far as video chat posted here while ago

Why BBM Video Chat is Better than Skype and Apple's Facetime | The Gadget Masters

[3_M4N]

Back in the day, before I had an unlimited text plan, I was able to keep my phone bill down by BBMing for everything. I had the minimum minutes I could purchase and the minimum texts and it was awesome. That was the major upside for me personally. Also I liked the fact that you could give people a way to message you without having to give out your phone number. I also liked the added security of knowing my conversations were secure. It just gives you that extra warm and fuzzy feeling while you're shooting out messages to people all over the planet I still don't have a Z10, but I can only imagine all the cool new features and benefits that I don't have on my current Storm II. Lol!

[TheScionicMan]

This BBM is a whole new world now

BB Groups change everything.

[crackcookie]

So I've made the switch about a month ago from iPhone. I was never a "fan boy," I always hated iTunes among other things but this isn't why I'm making this post. Now I'm a big supporter of BB and the Z10 (I am on CrackBerry after all)but being new to these devices there's something that isn't quite clear to me...

What is the big deal about BBM? This feature is something I always heard about, more so than any other feature from a different platform (but the live weather apps from Samsung were big too). I have played around with it and its usefulness is lost on me.

Don't most people have unlimited text messaging? In fact don't most smartphone plans have this? All I really see is the ability to put up your own profile picture, put a cute little status message and see that your friend has read your BBM message. Were there features removed from BB10 that were on older operating systems? Or has BBM become antiquated with the introduction of unlimited texting? Because honestly the friends I have on BBM I just text because at least that way it contributes to the accumulation of Fido dollars (which is BS in itself but we won't get into that).

I believe back in the day a company could have everyone on BBM, and thus saving the company from having to pay for texting plans. In fact they didn't always give you a voice plan either, sometimes they just paid for data. Imagine being a small business, knowing all of your transactions and communications are not only secure and instant with read and responses so you can tell if someone got something (accountability) but you save 20 a month for texting

[lorax1284]

Why would I pay for text messaging when I have most of the people I talk to on BBM? I'm already paying for my data which BBM uses.

See how that can go both ways? lol.

I refuse to pay $5 per month to piggy back SMS messages on ambient cellular network traffic, and like you say, I'm already paying for 6 GB per month of DATA why should SMS messages that should already be free be separate and $5? People paying extra for plans with unlimited text are proof to carriers that they can **** the subscribers around and subscribers will beg for more.

[BlackStormRising]

Can I explain? Not in words...but I can show:

http://forums.crackberry.com/groups/

PIN sharing groups - it's huge

And hopefully someone from the middle east can chime in with the idea behind the BBM QR PIN code bumper stickers?

[w0lfgang]

I agree with the posters saying that people aren't trolls just because they don't bow down and do the BB bootlick on command.
I like BBM, but I only use it with my wife. I do NOT like the fact that my wife is the ONLY BBM contact I have, and I have to "normal" text all others....yeah...that's what <5% market share gets ya
So, when BB ruled the world I'm sure BBM was more fabulous than now....that being said....TWO MORE WEEKS and Verizon Z10 baby will be in my arms...yay!

[3hb78ftg]

I live in Puerto Rico and we have unlimited data but the smaller islands in the Caribbean do not. I have a lot of customers in the Caribbean who I provide technical support to and being that they are banks, BBM is a crucial utility in my field of work with them because of its security.

[xBURK]

This is starting to become a lot more clear. I should have specified, I wasn't able to use imessage because my phone was unlocked + jailbroken so I couldn't do updates.
I think the problem is I need more BBM contacts for it to be used to it's full potential. I never even considered the fact it's free over borders (no international contacts, however, but still a great feature).

@Berry_Pink - Mini forum is a great way to describe how BBM groups work. I can see how I'd use this feature now, like a distribution list.

And thanks to those sticking up for me. I'm not a troll... For God sakes I said I disliked my iPhone and love this Z10. I just wanted people with experience using BBM to describe its uses in plain terms. So thanks to those who answered, next time I'll have to take a picture of me holding my device with a big smile on my face to prove I'm asking honestly.

Ya, that was only one post that stated the troll thing. Deleted now. I'm not sure how he or she thought that? Strange. Anyway, welcome to the z10. I learned a great deal from your post. Thanks.

Posted via CB10

[Dextermutt]

I've tried imessage and what's app and after using BBM there's no comparison. Unlike imessage in BBM you can't disable the delivered and read receipts. My wife's family absolutely love its social aspect with profile pics and status updates, and something someone mentioned earlier that I hadn't really considered is its based on the phones pin# and not an actual cell #. That and like someone already said, you can send BBM with poor service and 99.9% of the time that msg gets delivered. BBM is one of the main reasons I can't switch my wife loves it too and since she is my most often texted person its a no brainer. We will be BlackBerry until there is no BlackBerry

Posted via CB10

[blackburberry]

I didn't see this advantage posted here. BBM allows you to send files, not just picts or videos. That's another big advantage.

And although I cant quantify it, by comparison to imessage and whats app, it seems to be the smoothest and fastest.