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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: 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.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(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.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(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.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]