If you were planning to make a switch from WhatsApp to a Made in India messaging app, well then, I have sad news for you. Hike Messenger, now known as Hike Sticker Chat, will be shutting down in January. Hike’s founder and CEO Kavin Bharti Mittal confirmed this development on Twitter over the weekend.
Mittal took to Twitter to update the netizens about the company’s future plans. And it’s really sad to learn but the Hike Sticker Chat app will be going away on January 14. The company is already informing users of the shutdown and your data will be available for download in the app.
India won’t have its own messenger.
Both are very good. As entities they have the right incentives (more aligned with consumers) unlike FB products.
3/ HikeLand will now be ‘Vibe by Hike’! pic.twitter.com/ZjPuQEZkoX
— Kavin Bharti Mittal (@kavinbm) January 6, 2021
6/ Today, we’re also excited to announce a brand new product → Rush by hike. pic.twitter.com/TpXm20Yazg
The decision to shutter Hike Sticker Chat, aka Hike Messenger, comes at a time when WhatsApp is facing backlash for revising its privacy policies. The messaging giant now plans to start sharing user data with its parent Facebook to “improve how businesses operate” on its platform. You can see what data WhatsApp can access in our in-depth video right here:
