BlackBerry brings Snapchat-like messages to BBM

BlackBerry isn’t shy about borrowing features to keep BBM relevant in the messaging world; it added stickers to challenge WhatsApp, and now it’s taking a page from Snapchat’s book. The latest version of BBM introduces a timed messaging feature that lets you determine when messages and photos expire, so you don’t have to worry that spies will see what you said. To top it off, you can also retract messages outright, you won’t have to worry about accidentally sexting your boss so long as you delete the evidence in time. 

Young people use disappearing messaging services to keep nudes and party pics out of more permanent records, like email or SMS. You can expect business people to do the same — only with important grown-up topics like corporate intrigue — when BlackBerry adds ephemerality and self-destructing messages to its BBM service in an update on Friday. There are several new features in the latest BBM update, but two that deal with disappearing messages: Message Retraction and Timed Messages. Message Retraction is essentially an “unsend” feature, which allows you to take back a BBM message, most likely because it was sent erroneously or that it’s no longer accurate. Since BBM features read receipts, you can be sure that your recipient didn’t see your message before you rescinded it.