BlackBerry has announced that a native version of WhatsApp is now available for BlackBerry 10.
WhatsApp is a popular cross-platform messaging service. A WhatsApp representative said late last year that the company had "no plans to support" BlackBerry 10, but there has obviously been a change of heart.
BlackBerry 10 was officially unveiled at the end of January and, at the time, BlackBerry said WhatsApp had confirmed it would support the new platform.
In a statement, co-founder of WhatsApp, Brian Acton, says: "BlackBerry has been a great platform for WhatsApp for many years. Delivering WhatsApp on BlackBerry 10 devices is in line with our goals of ensuring that our customers around the world can continue to communicate with the most important people in their lives."
As a native application, WhatsApp for BlackBerry 10 utilises real-time push notifications and is fully integrated with BlackBerry Contacts (so when the app is launched it automatically scans the user's contact list for contacts using WhatsApp).
The application is said to be available for download from BlackBerry World or directly from WhatsApp.com.
However, since the availability of the app was announced, a number of Z10 users have taken to Twitter to say they have been experiencing problems downloading the app.
Some of the issues include the app not being visible in BlackBerry World, or receiving an error message when trying to install it. It has, however, been said that it may take some time for the app to appear in BlackBerry World for all regions.
Last year, research by World Wide Worx showed WhatsApp was growing rapidly in SA - going from 0% in 2010, to being used by 26% of local mobile users in 2012. BBM usage in SA has also increased by 467% since 2010, while home-grown mobile social network, Mxit, is currently at 23% usage.
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