Cola, the super smart messaging platform that wants to make your life easier, is opening up to third-party developers to become even more powerful.
With the new Bubble Development Kit (BDK), third parties have the opportunity to create their very own interactive Cola bubbles — and the possibilities are incredible!
Cola isn’t just another messaging app; it’s more like a mini operating system. The magic is in the messenger bubbles, which bring all kinds of functionality to your conversations. They’re so powerful, they’re more like mini apps.
Bubbles can be used for simple things, like tracking parcels or checking flight data. But they can also be used for much more complex things, like collaborating with a colleague on an important report in real-time.
Each one runs in a secure sandboxed container that’s based on Facebook’s React Native framework. Bubbles are written in JavaScript and do not require Xcode or run in web views, so they’re faster and more efficient than web apps.
Cola bubbles also have their own APIs that allow for extra functionality, and they can call on third-party APIs. And now that developers can tap into them, they’re about to become even more useful.
“In just a few months since we launched Cola, we’ve seen every industry titan put forth their own vision of the future of messaging – everything from intelligent bots to messages written in invisible ink,” said David Temkin, CEO and co-founder of Cola, in a clear swipe at Apple.
“What we have not seen yet is a clear commitment to enabling developers to shape the future of messaging in a way that offers open and extensible interactivity.”
To demonstrate just how powerful Cola bubbles can be, Cola is launching four interactive bubbles built with the BDK:
- UberConference:
- Start a conference call via UberConference with an entire group directly fromCola. Simply send an UberConference bubble and all group members can instantly join with just a tap.
- FlightStats:
- Send live flight updates to group members before you travel so everyone can stay on top of arrival times, gates, delays and more, right inside a Cola thread.
- Giphy:
- Express yourself in GIF form, searching for the perfect reaction gif from Giphy’s extensive library.
- YouTube:
- Easily search for and share YouTube videos without ever leaving your conversation.
If you’re a developer who wants to build Cola bubbles, you can download the BDK and get started today.
