chat apps
Telegram launched a digital currency called Stars for in-app use last month. Now, the company is expanding its use cases to paid content. The chat app is also allowing channels…
Telegram now lets users convert personal accounts to business accounts
Telegram founder Pavel Durov announced Wednesday that users on the chat app with personal accounts can now convert them into business accounts by paying a monthly fee. This gives users…
Iraq lifts ban on Telegram after messaging app complies with authorities
Iraq’s telecom ministry lifted the ban on Telegram over the weekend, days after the agency blocked the chat app over security concerns. The ministry said it lifted the ban because…
Houseparty’s founder launches Towns, an open source group chat web app and protocol
After launching a pair of well-loved but ultimately star-crossed social apps, Ben Rubin is going all-in on decentralization. Rubin previously founded Meerkat and Houseparty — apps that pioneered mobile livestreaming…
WhatsApp officially launches its new discussion group feature, Communities
WhatsApp today is officially launching Communities, the new feature offering larger, more structured discussion groups that first entered into testing earlier this year. Designed to help organizations, clubs, schools and…
Discord now lets you customize your user profile on its apps
For mobile users, Discord is adding one new feature that you’d find on a more traditional social app. The company rolled out an option for users to customize their profiles…
Pebble founder launches Beeper, a universal chat app that works with iMessage and others
Decades ago, a software program called Trillian introduced a way for internet users to interact with multiple IM networks, like ICQ, AIM and MSN Messenger, in a single window. Now,…
What to consider when employees need to start working remotely
Traditional ways of working may be faced with upheaval in coming months, so if you want your business to continue operating, start working on these issues now.
Skype adds e2e encrypted ‘private chats’ powered by Signal Protocol
Skype is adding an opt-in e2e encryption feature, utilizing the industry standard Signal Protocol to power ‘Private Conversations’.
Viber acquires Chatter Commerce, the startup behind its shopping keyboard
Messaging app Viber earlier this year made its first foray into shopping services with Instant Shopping, a feature that lets you search for items for sale via a keyboard when you…
Is Amazon working on a new messaging app called Anytime?
Messaging apps today are one of the most popular ways consumers communicate today, not just with each other but, increasingly, with businesses and services. Now there are signs that we…
Yik Yak shuts down after Square paid $1 million for its engineers
Yik Yak co-founders Tyler Droll and Brooks Buffington published a farewell note to users on Friday, announcing they would shut down their once-popular anonymous social network this week. The app…
Google Allo gets support for split-screen mode, app shortcuts and a ‘Stranger Things’ tie-in
Halloween is just around the corner and if there was one horror-themed phenomenon this year, it was Netflix’s nostalgia-driven Stranger Things. Google has now teamed up with Netflix to bring…
Understanding Line, the chat app behind 2016’s largest tech IPO
Line, the mobile messaging app from Japan, is going public today in a dual Japan-U.S. IPO that is set to be the largest of a tech company this year to…
Google aqui-hires deep search engine Kifi to enhance its Spaces group chat app
Google has made another small acquisition to help it continue building out its latest efforts in social apps. The search and Android giant has hired the team behind Kifi, a startup that was…
MAUs be damned: Kik proposes new user engagement metrics for chat apps
Gauging your app via the number of monthly active users is dubious at best. When it comes to daily use apps, such as messaging services or social networks, that data…
Chat app Line makes over $270 million a year from selling stickers
Japanese mobile messaging app Line is banking more than $20 million per month selling sticker packs, which typically trade for $1-2 for sets of 6-12, according to data from the…
It might be time to stop looking for the WeChat of the West
I was recently in China, which meant I was living on WeChat. All my meetings were arranged through the app. I authenticated my identity for free Wi-Fi at shopping malls…
Chat app Line begins offering delivery on-demand services
The future of mobile messaging is pointing towards services, but don’t assume that only applies to digital offerings like money transfers and shopping. Japan’s Line, one of the world’s most…
Messaging app Line now lets you host group calls with up to 200 friends
Ever wanted to video chat with more than one friend at a time? Well, today you might be in luck as mobile messaging service Line has added support for multiple…
A leaked document Facebook sent to some of its biggest advertisers reveals that Facebook will launch ads within Messenger in Q2 2016. The document, obtained by TechCrunch but kept private…
Line Launches A Taxi Booking Service In Japan Because Chat Apps Have Become Platforms
Top chat app Line has just launched its own taxi service in Japan, rivaling those from Uber and Hailo.
Kik Introduces Hashtags To Bring Mini Social Networks To Its Messaging Service
Messaging app Kik is embracing one of the hallmarks of social networks after it introduced hashtag on its service. An update to the iOS and Android apps today turns hashtags…
Google Hangouts For Android Gets Smarter, Adds Video Filters And More
Google’s Hangouts app for Android is getting a major update today, as the company’s VP of Product for Google+ Bradley Horowitz announced at the LeWeb conference in Paris this morning. Some of these…
