What Is Kik? This is What You Must Know Concerning the Messaging App

Kik makes it simpler than ever earlier than to communicate along with your family and friends. Not like different apps that require you to reveal your telephone quantity, Kik means that you can enroll and ship messages with simply your e-mail deal with, which helps hold your privateness secure.

Whether or not you’re seeking to defend your privateness, otherwise you’re simply on the lookout for a brand new option to communicate, there’s loads to learn about this in style messaging app. On this article, we’ll cowl the whole lot you must know.

Kik Messenger is a free immediate messaging and social networking app that makes use of your smartphone’s information plan or Wi-Fi connection to ship messages to different Kik customers, bypassing SMS (brief message service). It’s obtainable on iOS, Android, and Amazon for Kindle Hearth.

Whereas Kik just isn’t distinctive in the way it transmits communications, it differentiates itself with a particular however controversial effort to focus on a selected demographic: Kik appeals to the teenage crowd due to its emphasis on privateness and anonymity. As of 2016, Kik Messenger had some 300 million registered customers, and was utilized by an estimated 40% of youngsters within the U.S.

The trick is that you just do not need to register your telephone quantity with Kik — it wants solely your identify and e-mail — which helps you to keep a super-private presence on the platform that’s identifiable solely by your consumer identify, the identify you register with. With solely a consumer identify as an ID, Kik enables you to change messages, photographs, movies, sketches, stickers, cell webpages, emoji and different content material with others on the platform. This vastly appeals to teen customers (the official minimal age is 13 years previous), in addition to others with privateness considerations.

With a consumer identify as a substitute of a telephone quantity, you don’t mechanically share private data with others — your chat companions on Kik can solely see your show identify, consumer identify, and profile image. They will’t see your e-mail deal with, telephone quantity, or birthday, although inside a Kik group, everybody can see your consumer identify. An non-compulsory function checks for Kik accounts that match e-mail addresses or telephone numbers in your smartphone that will help you discover your contacts.

Kik options

The simple-to-use, but full-featured app has the acquainted feel and look of an SMS textual content messenger, however with quite a few interesting perks. Like most text-messaging apps, Kik sends notifications to let you understand when you might have despatched your message and when it was acquired. You possibly can personalize audio notifications with totally different tones and obtain them when somebody messages you, and you can too apply themes to your chats. A reside typing function signifies in actual time when your contact is replying to your textual content. This manner, you understand at the least that there’s a message in progress. It’s also possible to see when a message you’ve despatched has been learn.

Kik actually stands out for its social media integration. You need to use Kik to ask associates or household through SMS, e-mail, or by means of Fb and Twitter. If associates whose contact data you might have saved in your telephone enroll through their telephone quantity or e-mail, Kik detects that you’re related and sends notifications to hyperlink up on the service.

Kik codes

Kik customers every have a singular QR-like code they’ll entry from their settings that enables them to search out or invite new members to the service. So as to add a consumer from a Kik code, faucet the search icon, then faucet Discover Individuals, then faucet Scan a Kik Code. You have to permit Kik to entry your digital camera earlier than you may scan a second Kik code. When somebody scans your code, a chat opens, they usually can instantly ship you a message. Additionally, yow will discover Kik codes on-line in social media, or at cafes and different venues.

Video and group chats

You possibly can provoke a gaggle chat by tapping the magnifying glass search icon, tapping Begin a Group, after which including customers to your group. You possibly can be part of a gaggle chat — both public or non-public — with as much as 49 different contributors. Personal teams usually are not searchable through the app and other people can be part of by scanning the group Kik code or in the event that they’re added to the group by one in all their very own contacts. Public teams are searchable and recognized by a hashtag. You even have the choice to straight chat with a gaggle member, and also you management whether or not or not you’re obtainable for direct messages. Disabling the direct message function means others within the group can’t message you.

For these in search of a substitute for Skype or FaceTime, Kik facilitates real-time video chat that’s just like different video chat apps. You possibly can video chat reside with associates one-to-one or chat with as much as six associates in a non-public chat. A Video Chat toggle enables you to be part of or depart a gaggle chat at will. Kik lists all of the chats you might have with folks, letting you click on to entry the chat or to start out one other chat.

Bot Store

One other teen-oriented function is Kik’s bot store, an App Retailer for bots that function on the platform. Kik’s chatbots are oriented to social interplay. You possibly can chat with them, take quizzes, and discover trend suggestions, information, recommendation, and extra in classes like Enjoyable with Associates, Leisure, Meet New Individuals, Video games, Vogue & Magnificence, and Way of life. In the event you don’t have buddies to speak with, the bots present an entry into the chat area so you may meet new folks.

Younger chat challenges

These loopy children — all the time as much as one thing.  Kik’s teenage fan base has generated fairly a bit of warmth regarding the quantity of privateness and anonymity the app affords, in addition to fears and a few unhappy real-world examples of predatory felony conduct by adults and abusive conduct. In 2017, a Forbes and Level report revealed numerous crimes towards youths linked to the service. Kik has responded to such considerations by publishing expansive tips for fogeys whose children could also be on the platform.

Regardless of Kik’s really helpful security measures and basic suggestions, dad and mom can’t mechanically view their child’s Kik chats remotely — they should have the password and consider chats on the identical gadget. There is no such thing as a technical option to implement the 13-or-over rule or to ensure that a teenager is not going to register on the service with a false beginning date.

The cops

Kik doesn’t need any bother. And one option to keep away from it’s to achieve out to regulation enforcement earlier than the regulation does any reaching out of its personal — and to be useful if it does. The app’s Belief and Security group is on name 24/7 for emergency disclosure requests. Beneath most situations, Kik can’t view written messages between customers, however it may possibly view pictures and movies, retaining them till they’re acquired. Kik additionally preserves information for 90 days in response to legitimate requests — and even posts police request varieties in downloadable PDF format on its web site.  The corporate sponsors webinars to teach regulation enforcement about how the app works and took part within the 2018 Crimes In opposition to Youngsters Convention.

Regardless of these efforts, skilled observers notice that the method of getting data from Kik might be sluggish, as Kik can discover customers on its system solely by means of consumer names. As a result of Kik is a Canadian firm,  that course of also can sluggish to a crawl, as data requests from the U.S. should undergo the Justice Division.

Is Kik for you?

Kik is designed to enchantment to teenagers with plenty of participating options that allow them work together and have enjoyable on-line. It’s not for everybody. The corporate has taken the initiative lately to achieve out to oldsters and regulation enforcement, in addition to customers, in an effort to guard the security of its younger chat patrons. Greater than ever, the principles of on-line engagement apply relating to chatting with strangers, assembly unknown events in actual locations, giving out an excessive amount of details about your self, and offering children with the optimum quantity of supervision and oversight.

Editors’ Suggestions