By As Blackberry Messenger becomes more and more popular, the race is on for someone to come up with the next best thing for everyone to enjoy. Kik – while not new to the game – has been making steady progress toward that goal and have updated their multiplatform offering recently.
For starters, they’ve done away with SMS functionality in order to open the service up to any country an Android (or Blackberry and iOS) phone exists. Additionally, you still get delivery receipts and they’re even more reliable and faster than before. Finally, they’ve done away with the complexity of Kik codes to adopt user-friendly usernames.
There’s still a lot missing from all of these BBM clones that keep them from being more than just a glorified instant messenger, though. For starters, a lot of these clones either don’t support multimedia or multimedia support is abysmal. Another popular feature of BBM is group chatrooms, but most of these clones seem to be lacking that.
So the race is still on, and now the goal is to see who can implement these two very important features first. I imagine that whoever is able to get to the finish line will pick up a lot of steam in this market. Go ahead and try Kik out now by scanning or touching the QR code below, or by searching “kik” in the Android market.
what is up with all these Bing ads Phandroid?
WhatsApp! Lots of people around me use that, so I will defenitely stick to WhatsApp for now. :) It works great!
Ping is the best
PingChat is the best with its group chat !
Why not just use google talk?
I’m missing the point of a “BBM clone” aside from being another messenger…
I like BBM and rely on it on my work phone…I would be pleased if it was available on other platforms (like Android)…but the main value of it is having access to BBM contacts easily. the secondary value is the reliability/integrity of the messages…non-txt, over RIM’s network, BES-manageable, integrated with mailbox & contact list, etc.
How are these clones offering those kinds of features?
Yeah why not use GoogleTalk? I always use that and love it
Why are so many people talking about Bing adds? Where are you seeing these adds?
Yeah what’s wrong with Google Talk? I’ve always used it and loved it
What is the point of these apps? I just took a look at Kik, and I don’t see any advantage over any old instant messaging application. Why not just use Google Talk, which is already on your phone and lets you talk to anyone, on a phone or any other computing device?
Also, I wonder if it uses push notification or polling. In either case, there’s no logout function, which is a deal breaker for me.
Google Talk + Google Voice makes this, BBM, and anything else like it pointless.
@Eric- They are only visable on pc, not if you are using your phone to view site.
Thanks user01 for some insight into BB messenger. Because I don’t see what the fuss about it is. Even with your explanation I still don’t see the fuss since Google Talk is integrated into your contacts. I can see the plus for a corporate network messenger of course. But I’ve also seen plenty of joe blow BB users geeked over BBM as if they have never seen a messenger on a phone before. In fact I believe alot of the joe blow fascination with BB up until now has been because it was their first smartphone and it was exciting even if it wasn’t truly unique. Many I think like BBM because they feel a part of some exclusive club of people with BB PINS. And these are the types of scenarios where Android has great functionality but no one markets it.
Phil you nailed it!
I had a BB9700 and loved it for it for the BBM BUT I don’t really see the WOW factor of it.
I now have a G2 and am in love with it. I can’t wait fot Gtalk to have cross-platform group chat. It will complete me :)
Touching the QR code?
DgDeBx wrote “Touching the QR code?”
Yes. It’s a link on your phone browser.
Encryption? I don’t know about most people’s reasons for using BBM, but mine have always been related to the combination of push data and end-to-end encryption.
Phil&user01-
The only reason I like BBM is because of the delivery receipt feature. It’s a lot easier on me if my wife knows I have received/read her messages because otherwise she’ll call and text “hello?” five thousand times until I confirm that I got the original message.
Kik has a serious privacy flaw. Kik ties in a person’s username with their email address. Kik then sorts through the person’s addressbook to find potential friends. This is considered a major privacy issue because a user may not want someone that is in their addressbook to know they have a Kik account–but they will because if they have your email address then they also have your Kik username without authorization or adding that person to your friends list. I understand the usefulness of finding other Kik users quite easily but there should be an ability to turn off the feature that allows Kik to search for other Kik users in your addressbook and SPAMMING them with a “you may know” message.
There’s a reason why Blackberry Messenger allows its users to accept/reject another user before they are able to message them, and that it doesn’t just sift through the user’s address book looking for other potential BBM users.
please add pic icons, ability to send pictures and files, status updates as well as better smileys. This app will blow BBM out of the way once it gets those updates ASAP!
i would like to join kik
wrong!
Kik Messenger sends your username, *password*, email address, full name, and conversations all over a clear text channel with no encryption of any sort:
https://secure.grepular.com/Kik_Messenger_Insecure
Advantages of BBM:
Confirmation of delivery and read
Doesn’t use SMS or data plan, so it can be used internationally without paying for any extra data service. This is a big one when traveling.
Group chat
Can send media, including voice notes, which are handier than you think.
As far as I know gchat doesn’t do these things.
Very nice
i need some people to talk to this so add smokethatpiff if your a buff girl 16 – 18
http://www.LiveProfile.com
What is LiveProfile?
LiveProfile helps you stay connected with friends in real-time. LiveProfile is a social messenger designed for Android, BlackBerry, and iPhone.
A Real-Time Messenger
With LiveProfile you can see when messages are delivered, read, or when the user is typing a message. Who needs text messages? LiveProfile is free!
More than just a messenger
Like the name suggest LiveProfile is more than a messenger. It includes profiles, pictures, status messages, and much more
My girlfriend has the kik messenger and has her x-scm bag on the contact list. did she put his name on the contact list or is the list automatically puts people in the contact list??? please write me back. [email protected]