The end of an era: Today is the last day you can use BlackBerry Messenger

Flickr/BerryTokyo

So long, BBM.

• BBM is shutting down on May 31, 2019.
• BlackBerry will make BBMe, the enterprise version of BBM, available for personal use.
• Make sure to back up your conversations, photos, and other data before the day ends, as you'll lose access.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

That's it, BBM folks.

Friday, May 31, 2019 is the last day you'll be able to use BlackBerry's free messaging service that's available on Android, iOS, and yes, Blackberry phones.

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BBM, short for BlackBerry Messenger, was rolled out in 2005, two years before the very first iPhone. At the time, it was the gold-standard for messaging services. But since the age of the smartphone, and with services like iMessage and the huge variety of other messaging services and apps, BBM is the least relevant it's ever been in 2019.

In its stead, BBMe will take over. BBMe is Blackberry's enterprise-grade messaging service that offers similar functionality and encryption. On the surface, BBMe seems like a simple changing of the guard, like a formality in the form of a name-change.

But BBMe won't be the same - it's free for the first year, and then costs $2.50 for a six-month subscription. As far as subscriptions go, that's not too bad, but paying for a messaging service these days when there are so many other free options available means that only the most dedicated of die-hard BBM fans will opt for BBMe.

Warning to current BBM users: the company that was turning the BBM wheels since 2016 - Emtek - declared back in April that BBM users will lose access to their conversations, photos, and other data after it shuts down BBM on May 31. Transfer your conversations, photos, and other data if you want to keep them.