BBM for Android updated with fixes for emoticon issues and more

BlackBerry announced the update via its official Twitter handle, saying, "#BBM for #Android update rolling out today to address emoticons in status updates, web links and more."

The new BBM update for Android brings fixes to enable sharing of emoticons in status updates; enhanced response time when opening BBM chats and group screen, and for BBM voice calls, the update includes battery life optimisations.

Further, the BBM app update for Android also addresses issues with user experience when receiving a URL in the BBM chats.

Earlier, BlackBerry announced it would soon roll out an update for BBM for Android and iOS users, which will introduce the photo-sharing feature in BBM group chats, and increased the size of the shared files from 6MB to 16MB.

Recently, BlackBerry also will be introducing sponsored content in BBM Channels. The Canadian company confirmed it would be infusing advertisements in BBM Channels, however BlackBerry noted, "This is not traditional advertising by any stretch of the imagination." The official BlackBerry blog post had clearly revealed that sponsored content would not appear in user's BBM chats, calling them 'untouchable'.

Jeff Gadway, head of product and brand marketing for BBM, described the three ways BlackBerry would be promoting sponsored content on BBM Channels - featured placements, sponsored invites, and sponsored posts.

In February, BlackBerry announced that it would make its messaging service BBM available to Microsoft's Windows Phone. Notably, the Nokia X smartphone family also comes with BBM preinstalled.