Even India's Hike Messenger is copying Snapchat
It’s not uncommon for tech companies to take inspiration from each other, but in the world of instant messaging apps, it seems to happen on a weekly basis.
India’s WhatsApp rival, Hike Messenger today announced it too is bringing a Snapchat Stories-like feature to its product.
Prior to this, Instagram added a similar feature -- called Instagram Stories -- to its platform. Its sibling app WhatsApp was also recently spotted testing its own take on Stories. Everyone wants one.
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Hike is calling the feature -- surprise -- Hike Stories. The idea, similar to Snapchat’s, is to let people share moments with their friends.
"Through photos you can share the real and raw moments of your life. We believe Hike Stories will bring photos to the centre," said Kavin Mittal, CEO and founder of Hike Messenger.
"Camera plays a big role in Hike Stories," he added, noting that there’s a built-in camera function in Hike.
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But that’s not all. Hike Messenger is also borrowing Snapchat’s popular filters and face swap functions, calling them Live Filters and Live Photos, respectively.
That's not to say that Hike Messenger doesn't have anything unique about it. The app recently introduced multi-player games on its IM app.
And with the app serving news and shopping coupons, the company hopes it can retain users for longer durations on it.
In August, Hike raised $175 million in funding at a valuation of about $1.4 billion in a Series D round led by China's Tencent and Foxconn, and became a "unicorn" in India. Hike Messenger is owned by India's largest telecom service provider Bharti Airtel.
