Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by Fnord666 on Tuesday July 18 2017, @08:11AM   Printer-friendly
from the prime-messaging dept.

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/


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 3, Funny) by radu on Tuesday July 18 2017, @10:16AM

    by radu (1919) on Tuesday July 18 2017, @10:16AM (#540889)

    I just can't wait for your app so I can finally encrypt my bank account details!

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   +1  
       Funny=1, Total=1
    Extra 'Funny' Modifier   0  
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   3