Almost every mobile platform has its own messaging app from BBM to
iMessage and the aborted GTalk which is now replaced with Hangouts. But
WhatsApp is the only widely used instant messaging app with cross
platform support that enables conversations between different operating
systems, one of the major reason for its huge success. No doubt, Google
is making all effort to dominate the entire internet and this is
obvious by attempting to buy WhatsApp, developing Google glass projects,
their new music streaming service,
Android OS, social media, online transaction and now instant messaging
on mobile. All these services have been a great challenge to other
platforms and in the mobile market, we’ve seen how Android is being a major contender to iOS Apple.
Of course that is not the issue at hand here, this post is focused on
the success of Hangouts amongst other messaging apps though it may be a
little too early to judge.
WhatsApp (Rated 5 of 5 stars)
Whatsapp is a cross-platform mobile messaging app
which enable group chat, photos, video and location sharing. The only
reason WhatsApp is gaining more popularity is the fact that its multi
platform. If we are to judge based on its features, Hangout is likely to
be the winner from my end since its available on PC and supports video
chat. Meanwhile, its a wise move for WhatsApp not to sell to Facebook
and Google as earlier reported, now WhatsApp is the only challenger to
Hangout and Hangout can never easily overcome WhatsApp unless its also
available on other platforms like Blackberry and Windows. It’s not
really sure if Google will make the app available on these platforms and
another problem is that you must have a Google+ account to really use
it. Not everyone has a Google+ account and this can be a shortcoming.
Whatsapp has this edge over others and with just your phone number which
serves as your ID, you can get your contacts synced easily. Most users
wouldn’t drop any messaging app for WhatsApp.
Hangouts (Rated 4.5 of 5 stars)
It is no more a tittle-tattle that Hangouts app is live and available
for Android and iOS; many lovers of the late Gtalk have been enjoying
this new Google app that comes late due to Google trying to develope the
app to perfection and actually be a real replacement for Gtalk. I
wouldn’t ignore the fact that this app is new compared to other
successful messaging apps like WhatsApp, Skype Facebook and BBM and for
this reason it is more likely to be affected with many flaws and the
“upcoming features” not yet included may cause impatient users to talk
blindly about Hangouts but hey, don’t you think its nice to have one app
for messaging, calling and video? As mentioned above, the only drawback
is the Google account that’s required to use it which may not sit well
with a lot of people.
Blackberry Messenger (Rated 4 of 5 stars)
The Blackberry messenger application that has been, from the start,
available on Blackberry devices lets Blackberry users send and receive
messages, attachments among each other as soon as their unique BBM PIN
is shared. BBM has been that feature other users on other mobile
platforms like Android and iOS often envy but recently, Blackberry
announced they intend to make their precious BBM available on Android
and iOS which is really a wrong move. Will Android users neglect their
Hangout and use BBM? And I wonder if its possible for iOS users to
abandon their iMessage and Hangouts as well. In my opinion, they should
rather make it “personal” as before, that is, if you want to use BBM you
must own a Blackberry device. Of course, BBM has great features that
may not be available on other mobile chat applications and it may gain
more popularity when it finally comes Android and iOS. Obviously, it’s
like Blackberry is digging their own grave if this happens because most
Blackberry users would switch to Android or iOS… it can never be other
way round as they hope.
Its time these platforms know what their customer really want. By
entering into this tight competition, they will provide better service
to us. Soon we will have more ways to chat for free with friends on
various mobile platforms, the pressure will now be on Apple to open up
iMessage which I don’t see happening anytime or at least, make it better
than what it is right now.
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