![]() |
If you're not familiar with Kik, the concept is pretty simple. You can think of it as a cross-platform BlackBerry Messenger style of app. It's still pretty basic in terms of functionality, but it does provide the R (read) and D (delivered) message stamps that makes BBM what it is, is pretty quick to use, and of course uses data instead of SMS. In the past few weeks especially, it's been gaining momentum with a lot of downloads and usage among smartphone users.
The growth among BlackBerry users has been temporarily stunted though... I woke up this morning to see a Kik message on my BlackBerry Bold 9780 from the Kik team which says,
New downloads of Kik Messenger for BlackBerry devices have been temporarily suspended. Kik service for all existing users (including BlackBerry) is unaffected, as are new downloads for iPhone and Android devices. New BlackBerry downloads will resume as soon as possible.
No explanation was given as to why, but it does seem the Kik page is no longer showing in App World. I was reading through the reviews of Kik on App World this week and there were a ton of comments complaining that it killlled battery life after being installed. Could be we'll see Kik again as soon as they clean up their coding a bit (though to be honest, I haven't personally experienced too much of a battery drain when using Kik, though I do exit the program fully after using it and just open when I get push notification).
As for Kik usage itself, I'm curious to see where it's at among CrackBerry readers. Take a vote on the poll above and let us know what you think of Kik in the comments!

A new Captain, a new course, a new-ish CrackBerry
Hi there. You might've seen my name around on here a fair bit recently, starting with a blast of CES 2023 coverage. I'm Derek, and I'm excited to take on a new challenge as the Editor-in-Chief of CrackBerry.com.

Do What You Love, Love What You Do
CrackBerry Kevin returns from CES in Las Vegas with an epiphany... and CrackBerry.com gets a new Editor-in-Chief?!

The slippery slope of AI-written articles has arrived
It was bound to happen sooner or later: artificial intelligence writing articles on major publications. But is it a bad thing, or just the beginning of the next industrial revolution?