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http://www.aftvnews.com/amazon-possibly-working-on-new-stand-alone-messaging-app-called-anytime/
Messaging apps dominate the top charts of the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store. Despite there being dozens of different apps in the category, many of them have managed to garner millions of users. It appears as though Amazon wants a piece of the action and is working on their own stand-alone messaging app called Anytime.
Amazon has begun surveying customers about a new messaging service to gauge which features are most important to users. It's unclear how far along the new service is, but one customer said the survey seemed to imply it was a ready product.
Based on the images I've been provided, Anytime by Amazon seems to be an all-in-one feature rich service that could even rival social networks. The focus seems to be messaging, including voice and video calls, but there's also mention of photo sharing with @mentions, as well as filters for photos and video with "special effects and masks." Anytime will also provide tasks that can be done in groups, like playing games, listening to music, and ordering food.
The service claims to keep chats private and allows users to "encrypt important messages like bank account details." That's especially important because the service will also allow users to chat with businesses, make reservations, and of course, since this is from Amazon, allow users to shop.
The biggest hurdle of any new messaging service is getting people to use it when no one they know is using it. Anytime by Amazon will apparently let you "reach all your friends just using their name" without needing their phone numbers. It's unclear what that means exactly, but it could mean the app hooks into existing social networks and other messaging services.
Additional Coverage at:
https://www.pcmag.com/news/354966/report-amazon-readying-anytime-messaging-app
https://techcrunch.com/2017/07/14/amazon-messaging-app-anytime/
(Score: 3, Funny) by radu on Tuesday July 18 2017, @10:16AM
I just can't wait for your app so I can finally encrypt my bank account details!
(Score: 2) by Rivenaleem on Tuesday July 18 2017, @10:46AM
"Her parents aren't home? We can have condoms delivered to her house by drone before you get there"
(Score: 1) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Tuesday July 18 2017, @04:32PM (4 children)
... Interoperability. We already had it, but Facebook killed it. Any app that can operate cross platform and not get sued for API violations wins.
This sig for rent.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 18 2017, @04:45PM (1 child)
User base is king. Corporations are trying to lock in their users, if you let someone use your service they can piggy back encrypted data without a problem, then poof there goes your datamining resource.
I think we'll just have to wait the nightmare out until the issue of data privacy and security becomes like seat belts in cars. People will just expect it to exist, and they will expect it to "just work". I can't wait for the day when you trade public keys and can set data access based on each key. No more bullshit from some corporation about what you are allowed to do with your own data!! They should have been grateful to even have such a userbase and they should have treated people with dignity, but as Suckertrud demonstrated many times "users" are stupid cattle that deserve to be slaughtered.
Hey, conservative folks: if you really want to go after the real evil elitist types then why not get some grassroots campaign against Facebook? Then YOU can be the self-righteous warriors for justice and you'd even have us evil libruls cheering you on!
(Score: 1) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Tuesday July 18 2017, @08:36PM
Well said, I wish I could mod you up!
This sig for rent.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 18 2017, @05:59PM (1 child)
(Score: 1) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Tuesday July 18 2017, @08:32PM
Yep. There were lots of users. There were also LOTS of clients that can handle multiple systems simultaneously.
Still are, actually, but you have to seek them out, and one thing you can count on is attempts to lock-in a userbase. Why one should have to fight for freedom is strange, when none of them really offer anything truly unique in my limited experience. So, AC, why is that? And, more to the point, why do I need an Amazon messenger app to find my friends across networks when presumably I know (or can easily find out) who they are and add them to the client of my choice? What does Amazon bring to the table that I can' t already do with a little bit of work on my own?
This sig for rent.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Absolutely.Geek on Tuesday July 18 2017, @09:39PM (6 children)
We went from a world where everyone could SMS everyone; admittedly in a insecure manner to these stupid little fiefdoms controlled by some company. So rather then one messaging app I now have four; I don't have more because I just use SMS for the people on other platforms.
I want one app that talks to all people not just the ones that are on $platform; so I stick with the insecure SMS mainly these days; supplemented by email for pictures / files.
Don't trust the police or the government - Shihad: My mind's sedate.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday July 19 2017, @03:10AM (5 children)
IIRC Whisper or whatever its called with route all normal texts through it, but communicate using encryption with other people that have the Whisper app.
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(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday July 19 2017, @03:11AM (4 children)
Is my comment the result of texting too much or neurodegenerative disease? You decide.
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(Score: 2) by Absolutely.Geek on Wednesday July 19 2017, @08:02AM (3 children)
Encrypted SMS no longer works with Signal; developed by open whisper systems. I used to use it; adoption was terrible. And it only worked if both parties were using Signal; which makes sense but getting people to switch and value their privacy is a losing battle.
Don't trust the police or the government - Shihad: My mind's sedate.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday July 19 2017, @05:12PM (2 children)
In other words, it does work just fine, but nobody you know wants or needs it. I have seen protest groups and others use it successfully.
I get it. Getting people to enhance their privacy even if they aren't targets is the end goal. It could happen if everybody is using services with (strong) encryption protocols by default.
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(Score: 2) by Absolutely.Geek on Wednesday July 19 2017, @09:08PM (1 child)
No; as in the function was removed after a time because it simply wasn't secure enough (according to them) they pushed everyone to the data connection based messages that could offer much better encryption. I guess the 140 character limit was just not enough.
Don't trust the police or the government - Shihad: My mind's sedate.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday July 19 2017, @09:18PM
Ok, I was not referring to the actual "encrypted SMS" (except on accident), which is a thing they did remove:
https://whispersystems.org/blog/goodbye-encrypted-sms/ [whispersystems.org]
Let's go back to my original comment:
I meant what I said. Normal unencrypted texts, encrypted messaging between any 2+ people with the app. My points still stand.
Obviously the Whisper/Signal install base is much smaller than the people using SMS. But with all these multibillion dollar IPOs for glorified messaging apps, it seems that SMS is for losers anyway.
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