BBM Channels

For those of you out there still using BBM on BlackBerry 10 or even BBOS, BlackBerry has now highlighted some important upcoming changes that will affect your usage of the app come June 27, especially if you use BBM Channels or are in any BBM Groups.

As we previously communicated on these pages last fall, BlackBerry has been migrating the BBM Consumer service for Android and iOS devices to our strategic partner Emtek. As part of this process, some of the existing BBM Consumer features on BB10 and BBOS devices will no longer be supported as of June 27, 2018. In addition to the changes for BB10 and BBOS outlined below, BBM for Windows Phone will no longer be supported past June 27.

We recognize and apologize for the inconvenience this will cause some users, and we want to reiterate that BlackBerry is continuing to support BB10 and BBOS devices as outlined here.

Upcoming changes to BBM Consumer for BB10 and BBOS devices:

  • BBM Channels will no longer be available on BB10 and BBOS devices
  • BBM Groups will no longer support groups with a combination of BB10 / BBOS participants and Android / iOS participants -BBM Groups will continue to support groups with only BB10 and BBOS participants, or groups with only Android and iOS participants
  • As part of our winddown of BlackBerry World, the BBM Shop will no longer offer paid sticker packs or subscriptions on BB10 and BBOS devices though free content will continue to be available
  • Display pictures will not be visible between BB10 / BBOS users and Android / iOS users

Importantly, BB10 / BBOS users of BBM Consumer will continue to be able to send and receive 1:1 messages with BBM Consumer Android and iOS users.

If you currently use BBM Consumer with a BB10 / BBOS device and would like to continue using the existing BBM Consumer features (along with a lot of new features Emtek has made available to Android and iOS users) you can now create a new BBM account on and Android or iPhone and import your existing contacts from BB10 to our new device.

  • Instructions for transferring contacts to Android are available here
  • Instructions for transferring contacts to iOS are available here

As a reminder, BlackBerry continues to operate BBM for BBOS and BlackBerry 10, and we thank you for your BBM loyalty regardless of the device you choose.

It's unfortunate that BlackBerry is removing those options for BlackBerry 10 and BBOS users but it's a move that has been a while in the making. If you're managing a BBM Channel on BB10 or BBOS and will no longer have access to it, don't forget you should still be able use the online portal so you won't be locked out entirely.

Thanks, rthonpm!

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