Yahoo’s Livetext app does seem to function a bit like Snapchat, however we thought the same until Seti pointed out the differences in both the video chatting apps.
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Livetext has been effectively tested in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Ireland, and is lined up to go live in Canada, France, Germany, UK and the U.S. on Thursday. The tech giant hopes it will prove a worthy rival to WhatsApp, Snapchat and others. “You will feel like your friends are right there with you”, reads the Apple App Store description. Once connected, one of the users can ask to start a Livetext session, with the video starting up automatically as soon as the other person joins in the chat. The app also doesn’t work for sharing links or media like photos and videos. Its previous desktop messaging product, Yahoo Messenger, was the number one instant messaging service in terms of total unique visitors, before it shut down in 2012. This service is available in the form of an app on all mobile devices. Now, regardless of where you are, you can text with somebody and see the live reaction to that message. It’s a risky bet and Yahoo is targeting young users who may want to talk to a friend during boring dinner parties with a little more interaction than just text. Silent video messaging appeals to this behaviour as well, and could help attract users that have grown up with animated Gif images and texting as key parts of their online experience. Yahoo will launch Livetext for iOS and Android. You each have to be in a fairly quiet place where you can hear each other and there’s not too much background noise. It tried to address competition by offering enhancements to its once popular Yahoo Messenger Service.
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If Livetext sounds something like that’s designed for teens, well, it technically was; according to The Next Web, Yahoo held multiple focus group, each time asking teens what they thought was missing in the messaging apps they were already using. Yet, introducing video in that equation makes conveying emotions and feelings a lot easier.
