It's been several weeks since BlackBerry has released the Private Chat feature to its BBM messaging app in beta builds. This time, the company announces that the feature is now fully available in public version.

Along with the public release, BlackBerry has also updated the BBM messaging app and has started to roll out the feature to users of Android, BlackBerry 10, and the iOS. The most notable change brought by the update is the new Privacy and Control subscription which shall replace the previous Timed and Retracted Messages subscription.

Privacy and Control, as the name implies, is designed to allow users to have more control on the messages that they share through BBM. It promises to add more security to the parties involved in a conversation as they no longer have to worry whether their messages have been captured through screenshot or have been shared with the wrong people.

In the past, users are allowed to retract their messages and their shared media content. Another feature they have enjoyed is when they are able to send a timed picture which can self-destruct.

All of these are simple proof that BlackBerry is serious in its campaign to create devices that promote user privacy and security. With the new Privacy and Control subscription feature however, it all seemed like the company has just become a pioneer when it comes to keeping messages more private than ever.

In the new feature, messages are sent with no names and no profile pictures. The chat also ends automatically in just a short period of time. This way, user identities are kept private since no one would know who said what except of course for those who were actually involved in the conversation.

The Private Chat feature will be bundled with the newly rolled out Privacy and Control Subscription. For only $0.99 a month, users are getting Private Chat, Timed messages and pictures, Retract messages and pictures and Edit Message. The latter is also a newly added feature to the subscription wherein users are allowed to retract their message, change the content, and then send the message all over.

BlackBerry added that current subscribers to the Timed and Retracted Messages will automatically receive the upgrade and it will be at no extra cost. Users of Android will also get the new BBM app that comes with Material Design integration now available on Google Play. Likewise, users of iOS will be able to use the app in resizing their text according to a personally set value in their handset's system settings.

Other features of the update include tablet support, landscape orientation support and a simpler way to manage one's sticker collections.

Photo: Karlis Dambrans I Flickr