Kik 8.1.0

Using an online-based messaging tool rather than using up all the text messages on your plan is advisable, especially since most people have a smartphone and a data plan these days.

Kik is a solution, next to many others that have been launched in recent years. The app seeks to connect you with friends and family straight from your smartphone, turning texting into a more multimedia experience.

Hide behind a username

The app isn’t tied to your phone number, however, unlike like other apps nowadays. It requires, however, that you set up an account based on an email address. You’ll have to pick a username, which doesn’t have to be your name, which brings back something that has somewhat been lost in recent years – online anonymity and nicknames. You can then share that username alone with others when you want to connect with them, rather than have to share your phone number, which is definitely a privacy bonus.

Kik has a pretty simple interface and you won’t need special instructions to figure out how to work with this tool. The app will scan your email contacts and provide you with a list of people who use the same app. You can also search for people’s names, usernames and hashtags directly in the app and locate other users to connect with.

The app allows you to send out text messages, smiley faces (although the collection is pretty narrow and you have to purchase additional ones), photographs from your Camera Roll or newly taken, as well as various other content, such as YouTube videos, images, or memes. Videos can also be sent in the same manner. The app also comes with some sticker collections, as well as a tool that enables users to sketch things and send them out to their friends.

What’s annoying about this app is that you have to purchase stickers and emoticons, something that other similar tool provide for free. There are also some things that you can do with other apps from the same category and you can’t do with Kik, such as to send videos you record, or any other type of content outside photographs.

Shady privacy policy

There are also no privacy settings to fiddle with outside of a way to block other people from sending you messages if they annoy you. The data you send isn’t encrypted and the privacy policy allows the company to collect message metadata associating you with those you communicate with. Photos you send over Kik can be retained on your behalf and associated with the username, while the content can be stored in the company’s systems for a period of time, so you may want to consider this tidbit before sending nudes.

Add to watchlist:

Instant messengerChat

• Skype 5.11
• Strings 1.0.7
• Wire 1.5
• Hangouts 3.1.0
• Signal 2.0.1

Portable version:

• Kik Messenger for Windows Phone
• Kik for Android