BlackBerry lets Android and iOS developers embed BBM into their apps

Developers building enterprise apps for Android and iOS can now embed BlackBerry's messaging system with ease, the company has announced.

The Canadian firm has released an SDK for its famous BBM app, which it hopes can bring secure communications services for users around the world.

The SDK is focused towards enterprise users, coming with a cost of $29 per user per year, if just using the messaging capability. Those looking for more advanced features will have to shell out $79 per user per year.

Those advanced features include read receipts, message editing or file sharing.

"Since announcing our limited release earlier this year, more than 60 ISV partners are building and embedding apps using our SDK for Android and iOS devices," writes BlackBerry's Dan Auker in an official blog post. "Those apps are already helping improve communication in healthcare, protect vulnerable people in Canada, and equip a major law firm with real-time IM and file-sharing."

With the release of the SDK, BlackBerry will try to compete harder with Twilio and other companies providing messaging services for developers:

"Contrast that against solutions like Twilio, which rely on SMS and circuit-switched carrier networks for their messaging functionality, mediums that are both insecure and easily exploitable," BlackBerry says.

"With other platforms, implementing security means working with third party vendors -- more contracts, more licensing fees, and the struggle of managing multiple APIs. As with the rest of our portfolio, this isn’t an issue with our SDK -- all functionality is unified into a single platform."

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