The messaging app with a 5 million user base in India now lets users send messages to contacts who are offline as a SMS and their replies are integrated comes back to the app instead of an SMS. Stickers have been introduced to try and replace the ageing smileys with emotive stickers of cats, dogs, faces with more emotions and even includes a Bollywood pack.
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The walkie-talkie feature, much like on WeChat, allows users to send voice messages in real-time to other contacts. A unique feature, that should come handy to many, is the ability to choose which friends can see your ‘Last Seen’ status.
Hike is available on Android, iOS, BlackBerry, Windows Phone, and Nokia’s Series 40 devices.The user interface of Hike is very clean, simple and basic with pleasant hues of white and blue. Once you've downloaded the app, you'll be prompted to enter your mobile number. While the iOS version sends a 6-digit verification code via SMS that expires within a minute (reminiscent of Google Authenticator), the Android version simply greets you to the welcome screen asking you to enter your name and complete the registration. This is then followed by a tutorial of the app's basics.
It seems like as soon as you enter the app, an Inbox message welcomes you with a reward of Rs.10. Every time you successfully invite a friend via SMS you earn credit of an additional Rs.20. In order for you to earn rewards, your friends must download and activate the app soon after you invite them.
The Provided UI as well as functionality on both platforms is pretty much the same. A word of caution, Android users will not be able to play .mov files sent by iPhone users. The company is aware of the scenario and plans to soon implement a fix soon to convert the video to a universal MP4 file format at their backend so that it can be played on every device.
Main Issue issues include couple of emoji smileys not appearing properly for the iPhone 3GS, Android Hike app unable to open the correct image at times from a clicked thumbnail, multiple file uploads failing on EDGE networks and the "D" and "R" notifications currently unavailable from Hike-to SMS. For Android, the app works only on v2.2 or later, app offers a fresh alternative to other instant messaging clients out there and is a welcome addition to the pool. It's true that the app is pretty nascent and does not offer video calling support like Nimbuzz or even voice recording as offered by WhatsApp and ChatON, but it does deliver a quality performance at what it's best messaging.
