We have a lot of messaging apps currently: Facebook Messenger, Telegram Messenger, WhatsApp, Google Allo, iMessage, Line, Viber, Imo, Hangouts and many more. You would think that we may have reached a saturation point thanks to a variety of messaging apps that we can use but still, it seems the allure of owning a messaging app is too much for some companies.
Amazon is a company that we know of thanks to its giant online retailer status and its highly revered AWS cloud offerings. It also has its own apps of its services like the Amazon shopping app, Kindle, Prime Video and also Alexa.
It seems now the company wants to jump into the already crowded messaging app market as reported by AFTnews. According to the publication, Amazon has began surveying customers about a new messaging service where they have been asking what they always wanted in a messaging app.
From the report, the new messaging app by Amazon is called Anytime and it seems jam packed with features. It has voice and video call support, GIF/sticker/emoji support, photo/video filters and using @mentions to share stuff in groups. Apparently it also supports encryption on chats just like most messaging apps out there, allows you to share your location, chat with businesses and it is available on major platforms (desktop, iOS and Android)
This seems to be a rather complete app experience from what we have enjoyed on current messaging apps. However, its biggest hurdle would be convincing people to use it in lieu of the bevy of messaging apps we have currently. Amazon was rumoured a while back to be eyeing to purchase Slack, a popular messaging platform, so it seems they have ambitions to venture the messaging world.
