Kik Messenger Beta is Yet Another BBM Clone

[phandroid]

As Blackberry Messenger becomes more and more popular, the race is on for someone to come up with the next best thing for everyone to enjoy. Kik – while not new to the game – has been making steady progress toward that goal and have updated their multiplatform offering recently. For starters, they’ve done away with [...]

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[SoFLO]

The market is becoming saturated with BBM clones

 

[OstrichSaK]

The market is becoming saturated with BBM clones

...and none of them as good unfortunately.

 

[IOWA]

Gtalk FTW

 

[OstrichSaK]

Gtalk FTW

Needs file transfers & read/received notifications.

 

[IOWA]

Needs file transfers & read/received notifications.

Why is everyone so hung up on read/received notifications? That personally would bother me. I'd disable it or not use it.

And gTalk does have file transfer.

 

[OstrichSaK]

Why is everyone so hung up on read/received notifications? That personally would bother me. I'd disable it or not use it.

And gTalk does have file transfer.

By notification I meant a simple indication of the message status. Not some sort of audible tone or something distracting like that. A 'D' for delivered and 'R' for read similar to BBM is what most people are looking for. Not sure why you would want to turn this off as it's quite useful. On more than one occasion I've sent a GT message only to find out later it was never delivered to the recipient even though it said 'SENT' on my end. With some sort of indication there's some accountability and I know as quick as looking at the messages if I need to send again if it's an important message. It's what most BBM users have come to like most over the years and something that is sorely missed from other phones. Since GT is already cross platform this simple addition could go a LONG ways in solving an existing gap.

 

[OstrichSaK]

And gTalk does have file transfer.

And please elaborate on this. I still can't send someone a picture from within a GTalk conversation. From BBM it's quite simple to snap a photo and send it to someone from within the conversation just like you would a MMS or other message with an embedded file. GTalk doesn't do this in any way unless you know of something that I don't.

 

[IOWA]

And please elaborate on this. I still can't send someone a picture from within a GTalk conversation. From BBM it's quite simple to snap a photo and send it to someone from within the conversation just like you would a MMS or other message with an embedded file. GTalk doesn't do this in any way unless you know of something that I don't.

Well it would take a few more steps than that, as it's really done in GMail, but it is integrated to a degree. I can see how someone can overlook it though. It is said they are working on this(along with rumored vid chat) though, and the phones with 2.2 (maybe 2.1??) will be able to upgrade.

I understood the send/receive thing, but I'm still wondering why people are so hung up on it?

 

[OstrichSaK]

Well it would take a few more steps than that, as it's really done in GMail, but it is integrated to a degree. I can see how someone can overlook it though. It is said they are working on this(along with rumored vid chat) though, and the phones with 2.2 (maybe 2.1??) will be able to upgrade.

That's not file sending/receiving within the chat client though which is what we're talking about.

I understood the send/receive thing, but I'm still wondering why people are so hung up on it?

If you've had a BB and used BBM for any extended period of time you come to appreciate having it. Like having heated seats in a car you can't really understand how nice it is in the winter until you've had them. Sure you can live w/o them but it's a nice feature that most users will appreciate. As I've already stated I've had numerous messages not delivered with GT that caused some problems and had it been BBM there would have been no issues because you know looking right at the message that it was delivered and the recipient has viewed it. That's why people are 'hung up on it' because it's non-intrusive and handy. Why wouldn't you want it?

 

[IOWA]

That's not file sending/receiving within the chat client though which is what we're talking about.



If you've had a BB and used BBM for any extended period of time you come to appreciate having it. Like having heated seats in a car you can't really understand how nice it is in the winter until you've had them. Sure you can live w/o them but it's a nice feature that most users will appreciate. As I've already stated I've had numerous messages not delivered with GT that caused some problems and had it been BBM there would have been no issues because you know looking right at the message that it was delivered and the recipient has viewed it. That's why people are 'hung up on it' because it's non-intrusive and handy. Why wouldn't you want it?

Actually, I *do* think it's intrusive that the sender knows if I read it or not.

 

[OstrichSaK]

Actually, I *do* think it's intrusive that the sender knows if I read it or not.

You don't think it would be useful that a sender know you received a message in case it was somewhat important or time sensitive so they can send it again? I'm all for protection of privacy but we're talking about delivery confirmation of an IM... I think there are bigger privacy battles to fight than this.

 

[IOWA]

You don't think it would be useful that a sender know you received a message in case it was somewhat important or time sensitive so they can send it again? I'm all for protection of privacy but we're talking about delivery confirmation of an IM... I think there are bigger privacy battles to fight than this.

If the sender had half a brain they'd know if something was really that important, or was time-sensitive, there's something called a Phone call.

 

[OstrichSaK]

If the sender had half a brain they'd know if something was really that important, or was time-sensitive, there's something called a Phone call.

I knew eventually this was coming and it's not a good reason. I mean, why even have text messages and IMs then, right?

The simple fact is there are times where a voice call isn't convenient and just SOME of those times it's nice to know they got the message. These are just a few reasons why BBM has been so successful.

 

[IOWA]

I knew eventually this was coming and it's not a good reason. I mean, why even have text messages and IMs then, right?

The simple fact is there are times where a voice call isn't convenient and just SOME of those times it's nice to know they got the message. These are just a few reasons why BBM has been so successful.

If something was TRULY that important, it would warrant a 30-90+ second phone call. That's why it's a phone.

 

[OstrichSaK]

If something was TRULY that important, it would warrant a 30-90+ second phone call. That's why it's a phone.

I'm not going to get into examples of all the instances where voice calls either aren't convenient or even possible if you don't already know. This conversation is getting WAY off track.

 

[wildta]

Kik has a serious privacy flaw. Kik ties in a person's username with their email address. Kik then sorts through the person's addressbook to find potential friends. This is considered a major privacy issue because a user may not want someone that is in their addressbook to know they have a Kik account--but they will because if they have your email address then they also have your Kik username without authorization or adding that person to your friends list. I understand the usefulness of finding other Kik users quite easily but there should be an ability to turn off the feature that allows Kik to search for other Kik users in your addressbook and SPAMMING them with a "you may know" message.

There's a reason why Blackberry Messenger allows its users to accept/reject another user before they are able to message them, and that it doesn't just sift through the user's address book looking for other potential BBM users.