Facebook And Its Messenger App Are Leaving BlackBerry

Facebook Inc (NASDAQ: FB) will drop support for BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ: BBRY) phones. The announcement comes after its subsidiary WhatsApp made a similar move last month when it said it would end support for WhatsApp Messenger on BlackBerry phones by the end of this year.

BlackBerry said it is "extremely disappointed" with the decision.

"We fought back to work with WhatsApp and Facebook to change their minds, but at this time, their decision stands," Lou Gazzola, who leads the App Ecosystem and Developer Outreach team at BlackBerry, wrote in a blog post.

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When WhatsApp was launched in 2009, about 70 percent of smartphones had operating systems of BlackBerry and Nokia. Currently, 99 percent of smartphones have either Android, or iOS or Windows operating systems.

Along with BlackBerry 10, WhatsApp will be ending support for Nokia S40, Nokia Symbian S60, Android 2.1 and 2.2, and Windows Phone 7.1.

Last month, WhatsApp said, "While these mobile devices have been an important part of our story, they don't offer the kind of capabilities we need to expand our app's features in the future."

"This was a tough decision for us to make, but the right one in order to give people better ways to keep in touch with friends, family, and loved ones using WhatsApp."

Image Credit: Public Domain