Similar to popular photo messaging app Snapchat, BBM will now allow users to set a timer for controlling how long messages and pictures they share with contacts can be viewed within BBM.
The message is hidden until the recipient touches and holds on the chat. Then, once the timer has expired (or if the recipient takes their finger off the screen), the message is no longer visible.
The user also receives a notification if BBM detects that the recipient has taken a screenshot of the image or message.
The new features for BBM introduced today enable users to communicate with more discretion and freedom, it added.
Using the message retraction feature, users can retract their message to remove it from their BBM chat before or after it has been read, so that it is no longer visible within the BBM chat.
"These new enhancements to BBM were highly requested so we're excited to be delivering them to users today," BlackBerry President Global Enterprise Services John Sims said.
These capabilities will allow users to be more creative in how they deliver their messages while also being confident that their content is kept private and seen only by its intended recipient, he added.
The new features are available for download over the next couple of days for BlackBerry 10 smartphones, iPhones and Android smartphones by installing the latest BBM update in BlackBerry World, Apple App Store and Google Play.
Introduced in 2005, BBM was a popular messaging app on BlackBerry handsets. It was later made available on other platforms like Android and iOS following strong compete from newer apps like WhatsApp, LINE and WeChat.
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