Then Hike messenger which once competed to WhatsApp and is famous for its quirky stickers disappeared from the playstores today. Backed by SoftBank Group Corp, the instant messaging app officially shutdown on Monday.
The startup valued at $1.4 billion funding announced its app was going off the air earlier this month without explanation. Started in 2012 by billionaire-family scion Kavin Bharti Mittal has failed to displace Facebook’s WhatsApp which remains the country’s primary source of messaging.
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The news of the messaging service being shut down was first revealed by its founder and CEO Kavin Bharti Mittal on January 6 on Twitter. Now after the WhatsApp controversy, his tweet is going viral. The app has been removed from the Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store.
“Today we’re announcing that we will be sunsetting StickerChat in Jan’21. We thank you all for giving us your trust. We wouldn’t be here without you,” Mittal wrote on Twitter.
Hike’s CEO had stated that Indian messaging apps cannot thrive unless the government bans western messaging companies. Though the company has not disclosed any reason for shutting down, many users have expressed their concerns after the app vanished from their play store.
Can you save your Hike data now?
Users can download their data inside the application. Earlier,the company had urged its users to export their chats to another messaging app by 11:59 pm on January 14, 2021.
“You can continue to reach us on care@hike.in for any issues till 15th Feb 2021,” the statement read.
However, the announcement does not mean an end to other apps in development by the company. On the same day, Mittal announced that the company will be focusing on Vibe and Rush, which will use Hike emojis and include minigames. Vibe, for instance, is an invite-only community.
Mittal said that in his tweet that already 1,00,000 people have applied for Vibe. On the other hand, Rush is available for download on iOS and will soon go live on Play Store as well.
The Made in India app ‘Hike’ kept users entertained
The app was launched globally on December 12, 2012. It had interesting features like stickers, themes, a hidden chat option, free chat option. The app also had the feature of ‘Hike Wallet’ to send and receive money in the easiest manner.
Apart from the wallet, Hike introduced the ‘Blue Packets’, which was simply a beautifully designed envelope that users could insert money into and send to their friends. Users could choose from over 10 different beautifully crafted envelopes and also add a personalised message to it to celebrate those special occasions. A Blue Packet could be sent to an individual or even a group of friends.
