In what appears to be a not-so-subtle nudge to get BlackBerry owners who use Gmail to switch to Android phones, Google announced it’s going to yank the BlackBerry Gmail app away Nov. 22. Those who already own the app can continue using it, but new BlackBerry owners won’t be able to download it after that date.

BlackBerry maestro Research in Motion say this is no big deal, telling ITProPortal “since 2009, RIM has incorporated native support for Gmail in BlackBerry [operating system] 5.0 and above, which means that a separate Gmail app is not required.”

On the Google Apps Updates blog, Google reassures burned BlackBerry users that their device’s mobile browser will be just fine to access Gmail, writing “over this past year, we’ve focused efforts on building a great Gmail experience in the mobile browser and will continue investing in this area.”

Deprecation of Gmail App for BlackBerry [Google Apps Updates via Slashdot, ITProPortal]

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