BlackBerry has today announced that it is updating BBM for Android and iOS to add a new “Find Friends” feature that helps you seek out other BBM users and invite them to connect. It works alongside your smartphone’s address book to detect BBM users you already know, and it’s ideal for new users looking to build up their contact list.

BBM has been a surprising success on Android and iOS, with more than 20 million new users added to the service during only its first week of availability. And thanks to that demand, BlackBerry has vowed to keep improving the apps with new features and improvements.

Support for Channels and BBM Video is already here, and a special app for Gingerbread is on the way, but the next addition will be Find Friends.

“The Find Friends feature will detect which contacts in your smartphone’s contact list are already using BBM, and allow you to quickly send them an invite to join your BBM contact list,” BlackBerry explains on its blog. “For those contacts that don’t yet have BBM, you can invite them to download the app with an email or SMS invite.”

Not only does Find Friends make it easier to find and connect with existing BBM users, then, but it also makes it easier for you to encourage other contacts to sign up for the service. BlackBerry says the new update should be available on both platforms within 24 hours.

• SourceBlackBerry