Copying one another has become something in common for social media and mobile apps. With Facebook and Instagram "borrowing" each others' features to then copy Snapchat, the list of app continues. This time is Viber's turn.
There was a time when we needed at least two free messaging apps to do our things. Like WhatsApp for free text messaging and Viber for voice calls. But as years passed, those two apps, and many others in fact, have become more and more similar.
While their unique features and characteristics remain, almost everything has more things in common.
Viber is cross-platform instant messaging and VoIP app. With that ability, Viber is up against other major competitor in the business. On December 20th, 2016, it's rolling out an update to bring the ability to share short video messages with a list of friends.
Not just that, with redesigned emoticons, the feature integrates with third-party services like Giphy and Wikipedia.
Instant Video
First up is the ability to record a 30-second video with just a tap. The recorded video can then be shared with a list of friend. This feature is integrated straight inside the chat window, and can be reached by just swiping on the voice message button.
The recorded videos are edited into an unusual but common shape: a circle. Similar to WhatsApp’s, to record a video, users just need to press and hold the video chat button while inside a chat screen. Unlike Snapchat, videos on Viber aren't ephemeral.
Chat Extensions and Sticker Search
The next up is Viber users having the ability to access a variety of external services directly from their chat screen. The feature at the initial launch include animated GIFs from Giphy, Wikipedia and TheMovieDB as well as Viber Stickers. They can search for these things and share them directly with others.
Viber said that it will continue to add more third-party services to the extensions feature in the future.
To use the feature, users just need to type '@' with the name of the service they're trying to access. For example by typing '@stickers' to access Viber stickers.
Finally, Viber has also redesigned its emoticons to better embrace "flat, colorful aesthetic" design trend.