Friday marks the end of an era, as the consumer version of Blackberry messenger — the first instant messaging service between mobile devices, which launched in 2005 — is going offline.
As The Hill pointed out, BlackBerry made the announcement in April that May 31 would be the last day to use BBM consumer service. At some point Friday, the app will no longer work on iPhones and Android devices.
"The technology industry, however, is very fluid, and in spite of our substantial efforts, users have moved on to other platforms, while new users proved difficult to sign on," BlackBerry wrote in a company blog post last month.
"Though we are sad to say goodbye, the time has come to sunset the BBM consumer service, and for us to move on."
An enterprise version of BBM will still be available for use on BlackBerry devices.
BlackBerry acknowledged BBM's place in mobile communications history, writing that it helped pave the way for other companies to roll out their own messaging services.
"We are grateful for your support and wish to thank everyone, especially our users, partners, and employees, for being part of the BBM consumer service journey," the company wrote.
"We hope you will cherish many fond memories of BBM consumer service that helped shape messenger platforms to become what they are today."
Blackberry has struggled to hold its customer base in recent years because of competition from Apple and Android phones.
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