Beluga is a whale of a group messenging client

Platform: Android

RATING:
3 out of 5

PRICE:
FREE

TASTY:
Set up pods of people and instantly share text messages, images, and even locations. A worthy replacement to BBM.

BUMMER:
Privacy policy is overly broad, so installers beware. No way to delete old messaging or content. Lacking widget. Doesn’t allow users to send messages to non-Beluga users.

COOL:
All of your Beluga activity gets stored on the developer’s servers. No more lost messages or images.

SIMILAR APPS IN THE MARKETPLACE:
LiveProfile
Kik Messenger
Imo Instant Messenger
Text Easy
PingChat!

Read all of my Apple iPad and Google Android application reviews at Appolicious and Yahoo! Tech.

Hardcore Blackberry users who make the jump to an Android handset invariably ask one question: “Where’s my BBM?” Blackberry Messenger is but one ingredient to that phone’s success. After all, as a universal group messaging app, it’s hard to beat. Until now.

Beluga is a whale of a replacement to this sorely-needed functionality on our DROIDs (and iPhones, too.) After you and your colleagues, family, and friends install this free app, you can easily set up pods (as in whales, get it?) which are private groups of people you’ve organized into buddy lists.

Once created, you can send each pod text messages, images, and even share your current location using your built-in GPS. Turning on popup alerts/push messaging makes receiving this content a snap.
The app makes creating these pods painless, grabbing your phone’s address book as a starting point for organization. Just create a pod, add a few members, and off you go.

I’ve created one for my immediate family for shopping trips, another for my larger family circle we interact with during the holidays, a third for business associates in my town, and so on.
The best part: Sending messages and content in this manner won’t incur the usual per-text fee. Of course, if you’re paying for an unlimited plan, you’re all set.

One major drawback? Beluga’s privacy policy. As of this review, the policy seems to be overly broad, which is turning some users away from the app. Since all of your communications are stored on their servers (both a pro and a con) some users have voiced concerns about data mining or other potential hacking/data breaches that could expose your data to others.

As with all apps, it’s installer, beware.