Is there room for more IM apps?

Instant messaging has taken over the standard text messaging through mobile phones. There are a number of apps for every mobile phone platform that can replace that old short messaging service, often with ease and with the added advantage of additional features that the old messaging service can’t offer. But in the past few years, applications like WhatsApp, Viber, WeChat, and the newly introduced BBM for iOS and Android have become very popular. They offer services that allow users to take the text messaging to a new level, with audio, images, video, location, contact and other documents sharing while some even allow full on VoIP audio and video calls.

Even though the market has been flooded with such apps, there are a few that have made their names quite remarkably. Apple’s iMessage and BlackBerry’s BBM gain from their already well established user install base, though the first one is limited to only one platform thus missing out on its true potential, while the second one has just branched off to Android and iOS. The real cross platform app that has attracted a huge user base in a short time is the ubiquitous WhatsApp. It has advanced texting features and offers great security. Unlike Facebook or Google Hangouts, which are not too user friendly and lack intuitive user interface, this IM app works like standard messaging apps and offers the ease of using it on almost every type of mobile device.

There are already more than enough instant messaging apps in the market. For a new app to make its niche market, it would need a lot more than just a nice looking user interface. Most of all, it is the utility and an ease of use that makes one app more popular than the rest. Even so, with the NSA snooping in on virtually every conversation on the net, a secure and safe app is a must for important chats. Apps that utilize internet for conversations, instead of the standard mobile text messaging protocols, are not only cheap but also simple to use.

From a normal user to corporate users, each has a different set of requirements and thus uses these apps in a way that is unique to that user. The ability to handle these requirements is what makes a messaging app highly useful. iMessage being non cross platform makes it less of a competitor though it is pretty much reliable and secure. However, apps like WhatsApp have tackled these issues and have captured the top slot. Unless someone can lay their hands on a user’s chat data and call logs, which are possible but highly unlikely, the users have nothing to worry about the security and safety of their conversations and calls.

The email is already way past its glory days and now the present generation of IM apps with their free or near free costs, easy accessibility, customization options, advanced features and cross platform access has taken over standard messaging apps. But whether there is room for any more IM app depends on what unique features it has to offer, how the competitors will react, its price and user interface, among others. For the time being, apps like WhatsApp stand apart from the stock messaging apps and the rest of the competition.