Blackberry’s BBM Now Has Message Retraction And Timed Messages

Blackberry recently introduced an improved version of the BlackBerry Messenger (BBM), the instant messenger and videotelephony app built in BlackBerry devices. The updated BBM now comes with new features that include message retraction, timed messages, and HD picture transfer, just to name a few.

Although the latest version of BBM was released last Friday, it might take 24 hours or more for the app to appear in the app store, which means that by the time the weekend wraps up, users should be able to get access to the updates.

The new features should prove useful for BlackBerry users, especially those who want to have control over how their messages are sent and received through BBM. For instance, the message retraction feature could come in handy when you have sent a message by mistake, or when the message you sent is not correct or up-to-date. Using the retraction feature, you can just “unsend” those types of messages in order to save yourself and your recipient from potential inconvenience or embarrassment.

The other feature, Timed Messages, may be equally useful. It may remind users of Snapchat in a sense that it lets them set a time limit for the intended recipient to read or view their messages, especially those with potentially sensitive pictures. Let us say you are sending an old high school picture of you to a friend on BBM but you do not want that person to get a chance to share it to others, you can just set the feature's timer to, say, 10 seconds so that your photo will “self-destruct” shortly after being viewed.

However, BlackBerry is quick to note that the Timed Messages is not completely fool-proof. Basically, the phone maker is saying that while you can control how long your photo will be viewed by your recipient, you can not stop them from taking screenshots of your picture messages. Thus, Blackberry advises, taking caution in what you send or whom you send it to in the first place could be as important as how long you time your self-destructing messages. 

Timed or retractable messages are nothing new. And while BBM is not the first instant messaging service to adapt these kinds of features, it is still good to know that BlackBerry has added it to the built-in app. BBM's new features, after all, add another layer of security, and in an age where anything can be shared anytime and anywhere easily, having an extra protective layer can make all the difference.