When BlackBerry announced that BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) would be available for Android and iPhones, the response was not surprising. Fake BBM apps and fake .apk files were everywhere and BBM servers crashed under their onslaught. This resulted in BlackBerry promptly pulling out BBM from Android and iOS.

But the response to BBM on other platforms came as a surprise, when BlackBerry as a company was slipping badly. Did it mean that making BBM cross-platform would revive BlackBerry? Just one app obviously wouldn’t change its fortunes. Then was the BBM frenzy just a fluke?

BlackBerry relaunched the Android and iPhone apps on September 22. The next day, BlackBerry announced that the new BBM app had been downloaded over 10 million times in just one day. The app also received high ratings on both the Play and Apple stores. But it turned out that many of the ratings and reviews in the stores were fake.

Whatever be the genuineness of the comments or reviews, considering the hype and the crashing of the BBM servers during the first launch, the number of downloads was certainly surprising.

App mania

What this shows is the craze for messenger apps. WhatsApp tops the pack, followed by WeChat, Kik, Line, Kakao Talk, Samsung’s own ChatOn and the likes of Nimbuzz and Trilllian where you can access messengers of multiple services like Google, Yahoo and MSN.

WhatsApp is still on top despite heavy duty marketing by WeChat and Line. WhatsApp has done no marketing, but has succeeded because it was one of the first multi-platform apps. It was also fast and easy to use. There was no need to search for friends. The app searched your phonebook and automatically showed you all those who were using WhatAapp.

Though WeChat, with its aggressive marketing, is trying to dislodge WhatsApp, there are questions, at least in India, about its security because of it’s Chinese connections. The Government was also at one point of time, considering banning WeChat.

And while Line is also showing some aggression, it has not been able to match WeChat, which has the advantage of having deep pockets.

Kik is different from WeChat or Line, as it uses email IDs and usernames to populate the Kik contact list. Kik has not been able to replicate the success of WeChat or Line.

Samsung has its proprietary ChatOn, which is pre-installed on all Samsung smartphones. Like WhatsApp, ChatOn also finds contacts with ChatOn installed. ChatOn is also available for devices other than Samsungs from the Play store, but hasn’t caught on like WhatsApp.

Chat biggies

Then there are the messaging apps from the Internet biggies - Google, Facebook, Yahoo and MSN.

Yahoo’s and MSN’s messaging platforms have been around since much before as Internet messaging platforms, but they were mostly browser based. They have their apps now, but have been overtaken by the new messaging apps and also by Google’s Hangouts (earlier GTalk) and Facebook Chat.

Facebook’s Messenger has managed to catch the fancy of the youth because, well, it’s Facebook. Also, Facebook’s constant innovation and understanding the mobile space much better than its competitors saw a huge following for the Messenger app. Users found that they were able to seamlessly switch between mobile and desktop, or even between other mobiles.

It was cross-platform and cross-device, in every way.

Google almost messed up GTalk that was gaining popularity. Google took time in integrating its multiple messaging platforms into a single product, Hangouts. But just like Facebook, Google adapted well to the mobile revolution. What added to the GTalk (and later Hangouts) success was Google’s foray into the mobile OS space. All Android phones now had GTalk or Hangouts pre-installed, and with the ever-growing Gmail user base, Hangouts has been a huge success. The ability to have video chats with multiple friends too contributed to Hangouts’ success.

Coming back to the first question. Have all these apps affecting the popularity of SMS? Yes, and No. Youth are migrating in droves to the messaging apps that are free. But mobile operators say the popularity of SMS hasn’t waned, going by the rising sales of SMS ‘packs’.

Those who don’t have or cannot afford smartphones continue to use SMS and depend heavily on the SMS packs offered by mobile companies. A dealer who has a mobile recharge outlet says SMS packs still sell like hot cakes, and the buyers are mostly children and youth.

With smartphones becoming more and more affordable, will the youth switch totally from SMS to messengers? The success of WeChat, Facebook Messenger and Google Hangouts suggests just that. And there is one area that gives the messengers a clear lead over SMS - unlimited free chat with friends globally.

>dinakaran.rengachary@thehindu.co.in

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