1. spacemanspork's Avatar
    So what arguments would you make for BBM over the competition?

    The reason I'm asking is I don't get why it's any better. Don't get me wrong, I like it, but I don't particularly see any huge benefits over the other ones and I see some disadvantages. I do like the check (sent), D (other phone received), R (other person has seen) markers, but many chat apps do read receipts now too. I like group messaging, but everything else does that now too.

    I understand that BBM is more secure, but if the NSA or anyone else reads my messages, they'll probably be bored out of their minds.

    One of the big reasons I'm asking is because I pretty much FORCED a bunch of my friends to join BBM. They used it on and off with me (and only with me). I then tried to get a group thing going for sharing pictures. After a while, ALL of them complained about how unintuitive BBM was and how lousy it was with group picture sharing that they forced me to install Whatsapp (which I was reluctant to do but did so anyways because it's not really fair to force other people to install an app they don't want to install and refuse to do the same when they ask you). Now they moved one of the group discussions from BBM to Whatsapp. I have a feeling they're going to rarely use it now if they use it at all.

    From what I've seen the flaws of BBM are
    • No sharing of anything but voice messages in group chat. To share other files you have to go to groups. Groups in BBM are confusing (relatively) and they don't work too well in iOS/Android versions. Groups are more for serious collaboration vs just simple sharing pictures with a group. This is done better in pretty much every chat app. Though for serious collaboration, BBM is the best (though... honestly those who are using BBM not for work don't need that).
    • Emoticons aren't as nearly as fun as stickers.


    I don't really see any big advantage that would make my friends start to use it again regrettably. The only advantage I see over Whatsapp (which I only just installed 2 days ago) is Whatsapp says they'll charge after a year.
    12-06-13 02:04 PM
  2. zocster's Avatar
    This is only the initial BBM offering, channels and voice/video calls are coming. Free over wifi.
    12-06-13 02:07 PM
  3. Dunt Dunt Dunt's Avatar
    Because it is from BlackBerry!



    Right now I wouldn't try and talk anyone into BBM. The few I got to try it all left and I can't blame them. It has been buggy and doesn't have most of the features of the competition. Wait until they have improved it, made it stable and got more features and integration built-in. Then maybe it will catch on.

    The only reason to use it right now would be if you live in a market where BBM has a large following already.
    12-06-13 02:11 PM
  4. prplhze2000's Avatar
    You can send pdf and word files

    Posted via CB10
    12-06-13 06:18 PM
  5. spacemanspork's Avatar
    Because it is from BlackBerry!



    Right now I wouldn't try and talk anyone into BBM. The few I got to try it all left and I can't blame them. It has been buggy and doesn't have most of the features of the competition. Wait until they have improved it, made it stable and got more features and integration built-in. Then maybe it will catch on.

    The only reason to use it right now would be if you live in a market where BBM has a large following already.
    Yeah. My friends showed me the Android version and yeah things that work fine on my Z10 freezes and doesn't work on their Android and iPhones. D'oh.

    Posted via CB10
    12-07-13 02:37 PM
  6. rdaex's Avatar
    The weird thing about the Ios and Android build is it still KINDA behaves like cascades... just kind of a mindfark. lol
    12-07-13 05:01 PM
  7. spacemanspork's Avatar
    This is only the initial BBM offering, channels and voice/video calls are coming. Free over wifi.
    The problem with this is

    1) Channels; most people don't find this useful with so much other social networking stuff out there.
    2) Voice/Video calls.... most of the other ones do this. BBM is doing catch up.
    3) Free over WiFi - they all do this except Whatsapp, but as all my Whatsapp friends point out "We've been using it for a long time and they never charged us".

    I think I did make the mistake of trying to get my friends on it too early. No group picture share is a huge no no for them (especially since that's one of the most useful features of group chat).

    I tried to make up for it by using groups, but the iOS and Android versions don't let you swipe through pictures. You have to hit the back button, and then select a new picture. All of them complained about that. Also the tabs on the bottom are highly unresponsive. My friend showed me and sure enough you can tap the chats/groups tabs and nothing happens half the time.
    12-07-13 06:00 PM
  8. kevxn's Avatar
    I have similar experience. There is no way for BBM to compete if there is no in-chat picture sharing for group chat. It is a shame for me to have persuaded my friends to join BBM.

    Posted via CB10
    spacemanspork likes this.
    12-07-13 06:07 PM
  9. anon(5639363)'s Avatar
    BBM, like the BlackBerry phones, is just more elegant. Simple as that, for me anyway.

    Visit Geek Lite!
    12-07-13 09:56 PM
  10. rayzian's Avatar
    it's terrible on other platforms
    12-08-13 12:25 AM
  11. anon(153966)'s Avatar
    As a BlackBerry user I will say this:

    1. BBM conversations BlackBerry to BlackBerry seem flawless.
    2. BBM conversations BlackBerry to iOS and Android seem to not be 100%. And this was one of the reasons I was hesitant when BlackBerry announced offering BBM to iOS and Android.

    Sad really. I really wanted BBM to run smoothly on both iOS and Android. Now, as for WhatsApp, well let's just say I deleted it today after the recent security concerns...

    I say stick to text messages, period.


    Sent from my iPad using CB Forums mobile app
    12-08-13 12:34 AM
  12. iN8ter's Avatar

    I say stick to text messages, period.


    Sent from my iPad using CB Forums mobile app
    Ironic, isn't it?


    Sent from my Galaxy S III using Tapatalk 4
    anon(153966) likes this.
    12-09-13 12:03 AM
  13. iN8ter's Avatar
    That being said, there are other solutions that work and are secure. The world doesn't revolve around bbm and whatsapp.

    Sent from my Galaxy S III using Tapatalk 4
    12-09-13 12:04 AM
  14. Mcwong's Avatar
    My Android contacts are uninstalling BBM especially those with 512 MB RAM, it really lags their devices with BBM service hogging the ram upto 200+ MB. It starts off less than 20MB but grows to 200MB which is half of their 512 MB ram and the phone lags & freezes. BBM should block installation on devices with 512 MB. Iphone friends don't want to use it becoz they can't hear the alert ringtone and they can't see the alert with the screens covered in casing and the device in handbags (for ladies). I'm forced to follow up with Whatsapp which has a decent audible ringtone on IOS. After all the trouble I took to convince them to download BBM. It's not very stable on my Nexus 4 with KitKat but much more stable on my Samsung S2. The persistent icon keeps shutting down each time the phone sleeps and no messages get thru over the weekends. Then it becomes stable over the whole week and disappears again on weekends. Happened twice in a row. Hopefully the core features (voice & video) don't come with more bugs.
    12-09-13 02:13 AM
  15. anon(153966)'s Avatar
    I deleted WhatsApp over the weekend, based on the latest reports of it 'sharing' Contact info, etc. via third party games. Weird...
    12-09-13 01:09 PM
  16. iN8ter's Avatar
    WhatsApp doesn't "share" contact info, etc. via third party games. Please stop inventing situations. People install a game and gave it access to accounts and it takes that information. You're trying to peddle FUD that states the complete opposite, which is rather dishonest don't you think...

    A game (or any app) can get access to your phone contact list and SMS if you aren't paying attention to the permissions when you install it, allowing it to take all that as well - and that's a lot more information than it would get from WhatsApp. Not sure why you're trying to employ this petty tactic.

    Deleting WhatsApp won't make BBM better, BTW... So what is your point?
    12-09-13 10:55 PM
  17. iamq's Avatar
    WhatsApp doesn't "share" contact info, etc. via third party games. Please stop inventing situations. People install a game and gave it access to accounts and it takes that information. You're trying to peddle FUD that states the complete opposite, which is rather dishonest don't you think...

    A game (or any app) can get access to your phone contact list and SMS if you aren't paying attention to the permissions when you install it, allowing it to take all that as well - and that's a lot more information than it would get from WhatsApp. Not sure why you're trying to employ this petty tactic.

    Deleting WhatsApp won't make BBM better, BTW... So what is your point?
    True - but funny how BBM don't need to share any details with any server etc in order for it to work. Whatsapp will take my entire phonebook upload it & cross reference it with the global whatsapp database.

    There is no way to opt out of this, no way to restrict which contacts get checked etc. Its a bit of a joke.

    Whatsapp is banned & specifically blocked by policy where I work due to these issues. We are however allowed to use BBM.
    12-14-13 08:23 AM
  18. SEAWARRIOR's Avatar
    i've never used it since i'm the only person i know w/ a bb,,, other than it having a few bells & whistles, (maybe encryption???), i've always wondered what made it any better than a standard text???
    12-14-13 09:41 AM
  19. iamq's Avatar
    General key points are;

    * More chars than a text.
    * (D)elivered & (R)ead statuses
    * Media sharing
    * IP connectivity (So you can at least send/receive messages without cellular coverage
    * Faster than SMS/MMS
    * Cost - �0 cost presuming you have a data connection and 0 usage of any SMS 'allowance'
    12-14-13 10:40 AM
  20. stlabrat's Avatar
    Plus pin based ID. Add security.

    Posted via CB10
    12-14-13 11:11 AM
  21. diogoteixeira87's Avatar
    So what arguments would you make for BBM over the competition?

    The reason I'm asking is I don't get why it's any better. Don't get me wrong, I like it, but I don't particularly see any huge benefits over the other ones and I see some disadvantages. I do like the check (sent), D (other phone received), R (other person has seen) markers, but many chat apps do read receipts now too. I like group messaging, but everything else does that now too.

    I understand that BBM is more secure, but if the NSA or anyone else reads my messages, they'll probably be bored out of their minds.

    One of the big reasons I'm asking is because I pretty much FORCED a bunch of my friends to join BBM. They used it on and off with me (and only with me). I then tried to get a group thing going for sharing pictures. After a while, ALL of them complained about how unintuitive BBM was and how lousy it was with group picture sharing that they forced me to install Whatsapp (which I was reluctant to do but did so anyways because it's not really fair to force other people to install an app they don't want to install and refuse to do the same when they ask you). Now they moved one of the group discussions from BBM to Whatsapp. I have a feeling they're going to rarely use it now if they use it at all.

    From what I've seen the flaws of BBM are
    • No sharing of anything but voice messages in group chat. To share other files you have to go to groups. Groups in BBM are confusing (relatively) and they don't work too well in iOS/Android versions. Groups are more for serious collaboration vs just simple sharing pictures with a group. This is done better in pretty much every chat app. Though for serious collaboration, BBM is the best (though... honestly those who are using BBM not for work don't need that).
    • Emoticons aren't as nearly as fun as stickers.


    I don't really see any big advantage that would make my friends start to use it again regrettably. The only advantage I see over Whatsapp (which I only just installed 2 days ago) is Whatsapp says they'll charge after a year.
    I agree with you about group chats we need others attachments options, specially images, asap. About emoticons, I still go with bbm. WhatsApp may have a more emoticons, but they're terrible. No emotion lol. BBM emoticons are closer to the emotion they intend to pass.

    Don't think groups are confusing on bbm. In fact, is the best groups function in all im apps I've used till today.

    The stuff about images in group chats is so crucial that I think they're probably bringing it in the next updates with the others features. Let's wait!

    Posted via CB10
    12-14-13 02:34 PM
  22. iamq's Avatar
    I should point out that my comments relate to BBM 7 only - I'm not a fan of 8 at all and specifically un-installed it as I didn't like the GUI layout or the fact that simple things now needed many clicks and the over cluttered contact screen.
    12-15-13 02:14 PM
  23. christoph77's Avatar
    And for BBM Channels ;-), the D's and R's!


    C0038297E Quote of the Day, new BBM Channel!

    Posted via CB10
    12-17-13 01:59 AM
  24. WanShark69's Avatar
    I've actually decided to sticking to WhatsApp. When I do an image transfer from iPhone to BlackBerry, the image is perfect. However when I, say forward the same picture to let's say my colleague 's iPhone, the picture aren't as good. It seems BBM has it compressed to a point where it doesn't look sharp and clear anymore. I tried forwarding the same picture using WhatsApp, the image is perfect. Hence i've decided to give Bbm a miss cos my work requires picture attachments.

    No need to mention security, i'm not anyone important so u can look thru my stuffs lol.

    Encrypted via OS 10.2.1.1055 on my Z10
    12-17-13 04:30 AM
  25. alicepattinson's Avatar
    Because BBM is the original IM from BB? hahaha came first than viber wechat, etc
    12-17-13 04:40 AM
29 12

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