Heena Sharma Blog

  Taking a cue from its rival WhatsApp , the fast-growing encrypted messaging app Signal has announced to let users send money in cryptocurrency to friends and relatives, as it tests a new peer-to-peer payments system in the beta version of its app. Called Signal Payments, the new feature that is available in the UK first will currently support a privacy-focused payments network called Mobile Coin, which has its own currency, MOB. "As always, our goal is to keep your data in your hands rather than ours; Mobile Coin’s design means Signal does not have access to your balance, full transaction history, or funds," said Jun Harada, Signal's head of growth and communication. "You can also transfer your funds at any time if you want to switch to another app or service," he said in a statement late on Tuesday. The company said it aims payments in Signal to be fast, private, and work well on mobile devices. Read More

  Homegrown instant messaging app Hike Messenger , later known as Hike Sticker Chat, has been officially shut down. The company's chief executive officer Kavin Bharti Mittal announced the shutdown of its operations recently. "Today we are announcing that we will be sunsetting StickerChat in Jan'21. We thank you all for giving us your trust. We wouldn't be here without you. All your data will be available to download in the app," Mittal tweeted. Kavin Mittal is the son of India's second largest telco Bharti Airtel's founder and chairman Sunil Mittal. The app has been removed from Playstore and Apple's App store. Users can download their data inside the application. However, the announcement does not mean an end to other apps in development by the company. Read More

WhatsApp is building a new feature that will allow more than four people to join group audio and video calls, responding to the growth of video meeting apps as people work from their homes during the coronavirus pandemic . Spotted on Thursday by WABetaInfo, a fan website that tracks WhatsApp updates, the latest WhatApp Beta update revealed the company is planning to extend the limit of participants in a voice or video group call. "WhatsApp, probably due to the concerns for the Covid-19 and the fact that more users are using group calls, has decided to extend that limit to allow calls with more participants," said the report. The company is yet to reveal how many users will finally be able to join the group call. It will come to know when the new calling feature is rolled out globally. Read More