Livetext is a new video-calling app with a very big difference: it doesn't support audio. But will this seemingly bizarre omission actually benefit the app and help it rise above the noise of the competition?
Like Apple's FaceTime, Google Hangouts or Skype, Yahoo Livetext uses a smartphone's front-facing camera to establish a live video connection between callers, but rather than talk, users text each other.
The app, which goes live for iOS and Android devices as a free download on Thursday, may sound quirky, or even borderline gimmicky, but Yahoo claims that it's done its homework on the subject and the reason why existing video calling apps aren't as popular as they could be is because of the audio element - the sound can get in the way of real communication. Muting the audio means that an emotional as well digital connection is established and the app can be used in any situation without disturbing anyone else.
Livetext arrives at a time when messaging apps have never been more popular. On Wednesday, Facebook revealed that WhatsApp has 800 million active users and Facebook Messenger 700 million. And while WhatsApp doesn't currently support video calling, both apps enable voice calls as well as text messaging and video and image sharing.
The same is true - in terms of features - of WeChat, which has an estimated 468 million active users and Viber (209 million).
Messaging and more?
This booming popularity and choice also means that companies are trying harder to attract consumers to their platform. In the case of Facebook it believes that the reason why its apps are still experiencing year-on-year growth is because it has resisted the temptation to pump either full of banner advertising or sponsored content.
Line, the Japanese social messaging app which does support video calling as well as texting and voice calls, has metamorphosed into a social portal in its own right over recent years in order to continue attracting users and make money. As well as messaging friends, Line offers a taxi hailing service, auctions, pay-to-play mobile games, stickers, a music streaming service, groceries, and also offers companies direct access to users in order to market to them.
However, on Thursday it reported that its revenues had dropped quarter-to-quarter for the first time and that over the period it had only added a further 6 million new users, bringing its total up to 211 million. Numbers, the company said, are down to increased competition in the international market.
Of Livetext's development, Yahoo said that it is going to allow the app to develop organically before considering monetization. However, with so much choice already out there and with the need for both a user and his or her contacts to have the app installed in order for it to work, Livetext could struggle for an audience, despite its unique take on messaging.
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