The announcement was made quietly from BlackBerry’s side this week. In a blog post, it explained that Facebook will cease supporting some of the essential APIs that BlackBerry 10 uses, preventing the current social features and Facebook app from working correctly.
BlackBerry 10 still has a small but passionate fan following that includes business users and even governments. The news won’t go down well with these customers as Facebook is the second high-profile app to withdraw from the platform in as many months.
In February, Facebook-owned WhatsApp announced it will be discontinuing support for BlackBerry 10 by the end of 2016. At the time, the company said it was a “tough decision” to make but it will allow it to build new features into its apps for more modern operating systems.
BlackBerry said it is “extremely disappointed” that Facebook is withdrawing from its proprietary platform. “The app landscape continues to evolve, and in ways that are not always within our control,” it wrote online. “We fought back to work with WhatsApp and Facebook to change their minds, but at this time, their decision stands.”
The company encouraged its customers to express their passion for the platform using the “#ILoveBB10Apps” hashtag on social media. BlackBerry has clearly felt the impact of such a major app rejecting its software and taking its equally important subsidiary with it.
The absence of an app as large as Facebook is likely to turn large numbers of people away from even considering a particular phone. Existing users could decide to abandon BlackBerry even if the comparatively bare app store hasn’t previously bothered them.
The situation may affect people who don’t even use Facebook. The site has such a large reputation that it can be seen as an authority for which platforms are worth paying attention to.
BlackBerry reiterated its support for BlackBerry 10, emphasising it is committed to its platform and the developers who work with it. The company has previously confirmed there will be no new BlackBerry 10 devices this year though, a move that not all existing fans of the company have been pleased with.
BlackBerry is currently embracing Android with its smartphone releases, adding its famed security software to the popular mobile platform to make Android devices more credible business handsets. Customers can download apps from the vast Google Play Store while still enjoying many signature BlackBerry features, even if the interface looks radically different.
