BlackBerry Messenger Is Officially Extinct, Free Service Shut Down For Good On Friday

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – It's the end of an era in the history of instant messaging. BlackBerry Messenger has been shut down.

If you can remember a world without an iPhone in it, you'll likely remember BBM came into existence in 2005.

The free messaging service was widely thought of as the best in the business when it was introduced on BlackBerry phones. It later became available for Android and iOS phones as well.

Unfortunately, BBM's reign was short-lived, as the first iPhone debuted just two years later.

As the smartphone era quickly changed the way the world communicated with each other, the BlackBerry and its instant messenger system became an instant fossil.

"Three years ago, we set out to reinvigorate BBM consumer service… The technology industry however, is very fluid, and in spite of our substantial efforts, users have moved on to other platforms, while new users proved difficult to sign on," BlackBerry said in a BBM blog post last month.

"Though we are sad to say goodbye, the time has come to sunset the BBM consumer service, and for us to move on."

For BBM's loyal users, all hope is not lost. The company says it is making BBM Enterprise (BBMe) available for users in both the Google and Apple app stores.

That service however, won't be free and will reportedly require users to pay $2.49 every six months.

Once BBM shuts down at the end of the day on May 31, user won't be able to access any remains conversations or images left on the software.