Asian messaging service Line, which has been a big success on iOS, turned over $58 million in revenue during the first quarter of 2013 with its new monetization model. But it’s just been dealt a massive blow by Apple.
The Cupertino company has unexplainably forced Line to remove its gift sharing feature, which allowed users to send stickers priced around $1.99 to their friends.
Viber, the popular cross-platform messaging service for smartphones, is no longer just for smartphones. The company has today launched new desktop applications that allow you to chat with friends; send stickers, emoticons, and photos; and make calls from a Mac or PC.
Babel, a new chat service rumored to be on its way from Google, has been shown off in a bunch of leaked screenshots ahead of its official unveiling. The images reportedly come from a Google employee, and they show Babel running on a desktop. Not only do they confirm the service’s name, but also a number of its features.
Facebook has today rolled out its new VoIP calling feature to Messenger users in the United Kingdom, following its launch in the United States back in January. Available only on the iPhone, the feature allows users to make free voice calls to their Facebook friends over Wi-Fi and 3G.
WhatsApp, the hugely popular cross-platform messaging service, is bringing its paid subscription model to iOS. The company hasn’t yet confirmed when the move take place, but it will “definitely” happen during 2013. When that time comes, you’ll need to pay $0.99 a year to use the service.
Social media iOS app, Path, updated today to version 3.0.1, adding some new features to the purported all-in-one personal social network’s iOS app. The update adds private messaging along with photo filters and stickers designed by a small group of indie artists for the app.
Adding photos and videos to a conversation in the iOS Messages app isn’t as streamlined as it could be. You have to tap the little camera icon, then tap whether you want to take a new photo or select one from your Camera Roll. It’s functional, but not optimal.
Let’s take a look at two jailbreak tweaks that help streamline the process of adding photos to messages.
British carrier O2 has today launched a new VoIP and messaging service called TU Go, which is available to its pay monthly customers with Android and iOS devices. The service allows users to make calls and send texts over the Internet, so even when they have no cell reception, they can connect to a Wi-Fi hotspot and get in touch with friends and family.
Viber, the popular cross-platform mobile communications service, has today announced that it has now surpassed more than 140 million users across six platforms, with 400,000 people joining the service each and every day. To celebrate the milestone, the company has introduced a number of new features to its Android and iOS apps, including the ability to send “fun stickers” and “playful emoticons,” and support for the iPhone 5’s larger display.
![Awesome biteSMS Messaging App Updated With Theming, Quick Reply Improvements, And More [Jailbreak]](http://cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/biteSMS-theme.jpg "biteSMS theme")
The new “biteSquare” Quick Reply theme for biteSMS.
One of, if not the, staple app for jailbreakers is called biteSMS. Apple’s Messages app is nice, but biteSMS takes it to a whole other level. If you have a jailbroken iPhone, there’s no reason you shouldn’t get biteSMS. A marquee feature is the ability to quickly reply to a message from anywhere in iOS (including the lock screen) without entering the actual Messages app. It saves a lot of time and looks really cool. And Quick Reply just scratches the surface of what biteSMS can do.
Fans of biteSMS will be happy to learn that a major update has been released today that brings several new improvements. The Cydia app’s developers have also offered a 50% discount for those of you wishing to buy the version without ads.
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