![]() |
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!
Read more

CrackBerry Poll: Should RIM make BlackBerry Messenger available to non-BlackBerry smartphones?
Do you think RIM should expand BlackBerry Messenger to work on other platforms?online survey I've had a lot of interesting conversations this week concerning Kik, the BBM-like cross platform instant messaging application available for iPhone, BlackBerry and Android. Kik is still pretty bare in features, but it's quick, uses data (not SMS) and like BlackBerry Messenger has...

The CrackBerry forums are now ad-free
If you've not yet registered, now is the perfect time to do so to take advantage of the new ad-free forum browsing.

Watch the replay of John Chen's fireside chat from the Toronto Global Forum
BlackBerry CEO John Chen took part in a fireside chat hosted by Amanda Lang at the Toronto Global Forum and now, you can watch the replay!

Take the BlackBerry Mobile device owner survey and make your voice heard!
BlackBerry Mobile has now kicked off a new BlackBerry Mobile device owner survey for owners of BlackBerry KEYone, Motion, KEY2, and KEY2 LE. Here are all the details, if you have time to participate!