How did you wish your friends as you rang in 2016? With a post on Facebook, a text message from your phone, or through an instant messaging service such as Whatsapp?
I would guess that most smartphone users in India woke up to 2016 with a bombardment of New Year memes and greetings on Whatsapp.
Mobile messaging services or chat apps have evolved as influential social platforms in their own right, disrupting the whole social scene. Consider this: Whatsapp, owned by Facebook, has over 900 million monthly users while Facebook Messenger has nearly 800 million monthly users. Asian blockbuster app WeChat owned by China's Tencent has 600 million monthly users (it has a billion created accounts) and Japanese Internet giant Rakuten-owned Viber has similar user figures. Where social networks go, Facebook may be still sitting on top with its 1.5 billion user base but the relentless march of smartphone penetration augurs well for chat apps, where engagement is more frequent.
According to British consumer research firm Global WebIndex, close to 75 per cent of adults online had mobile instant messaging services in 2015 — witnessing an annual growth in numbers by 39 per cent.
Diving into artificial intelligence
Is it any surprise that the New Year begins with the news that Google, which has been left far behind in this space, is investing in a new smarter messenger app using artificial intelligence? Google’s Hangouts never received the traction it hoped for. So this time, Google is betting on chat robots to compete with Facebook Messenger. Users will be able to set alarms, schedule appointments and get weather updates even as they chat with friends. Its biggest strength — search — will be inbuilt in messaging app. Early reports suggest that users can ask any question and the chat bot will pull out the answer for you.
But Google will need to work hard at its new chat app since Facebook Messenger has its own artificial intelligence weapon — virtual assistant M. A couple of months ago Facebook unveiled the beta version of super smart M that promises to help users book travel tickets, deliver flowers to friends and even assist in shopping.
Shifting gears to transportation
Facebook Messenger is, in fact, working overtime to ensure it stays ahead in the game. Last April at F8, the social giant’s annual meet for developers in San Francisco, it threw open its Messenger platform asking independent developers to come up with features that could integrate with the app. In the last seven months we have been seeing some interesting incremental features in the chat app, including gaming. But it’s latest launch a transportation solution, is the most exciting as it unlocks car hailing capability. FB promises that with this new feature “you can request a ride from a car service without even leaving a conversation”. Uber has been signed on as the first partner. Let’s see if Facebook Messenger accelerates ahead through this feature.
In-App shopping malls
Just like Facebook, China’s WeChat too has been quietly building utility oriented functionalities into its app. It already has features that allow users to hail a cab and has been leading innovation, especially when it comes to services like shopping and food ordering. On WeChat users can shop, pay bills and also book doctor appointments. Proof of its popularity as a shopping tool is that it has 200 million users’ credit cards bound to it. Users can buy directly from little WeChat stores — ranging from groceries to apparel shops — that are linked to the app’s payment system.
Meanwhile Viber too is catching the vibes of its target audience and has now launched Viber Wink. This is an ephemeral messaging app to take on Snapchat, which is tremendously popular with kids as messages self-delete on it within seconds.
Last word?
In India, Whatsapp still leads with a huge user base. But two homegrown chat apps that show promise are Hike and JioChat. They have the necessary financial muscle (Hike has been launched by Airtel promoter Sunil Mittal’s son Kavin while Jio is Reliance-owned) to fight in this competitive space. JioChat has launched with HD video capability and audio conference tools. Stay tuned for more chatter on this.