The former MessageMe (RIP) team that Yahoo acquired nearly a year ago, is behind this. I've had the pleasure of playing with the beta early on and was initially skeptical that audio-less video was a big enough differentiator from all the other mobile messaging apps. And tbh, I'm still unsure. I personally avoid synchronous communication and often ignore the "blue button" Snapchat video chat. That said, I'm probably not the target audience for Livetext.
Where did the idea for Livetext come from, @arjunsethi?
P.S. say hi! 😁
@ourielohayon you're quick. 😊 At the time, it was only available in a few geographies (e.g. New Zealand). Featuring it on the homepage would lead to disappointment to those outside those regions.
@rrhoover damn. maybe find a way to 1. inform submitters why this is not featured 2. maybe (i say maybe) find a way to still credit the attribution to early submitters. my 2 cents :)
@rrhoover well we got totally blindsided by this, but it's nice to get validation: we were in the middle of a stealth launch of our own silent video chat app, Low, when news of Livetext was broken by TC. Currently waiting for Apple to approve a less buggy version, but would love you to try it out Ryan 👉 http://getonlow.com
Within the year this will be gone. I don't see who the audience is for this product? Teens won't use it because they don't like to use video (they have FaceTime and several, similar apps and don't use them), adults won't use it because, as it's already been said here, it's too strange to see someone but have to text to communicate (right now, people are using it because it's new and different, that will go away soon).
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@fbara Lighten up, all this will be gone whenever it is. Everything that is launched has it critics, mostly the people who are not in their target audience. Snapchat was supposed to fail, because all the tech journalist swore it was only being used for sexting. Whatsapp was supposed to fail because there were lots of message/chat apps. Hmmm, guess they missed the memo. For the moment people will enjoy it.
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@delwilliams "Lighten up"?...sure, np. I'm glad you liked it and I hope you get hours and hours of enjoyment from it. I wasn't a "critic", as you put it, but providing an analysis and questioning who the target market was (see my comment where I ask who the audience is).
The point I was making, which you probably missed, is that I don't see who they'll market this to. For each WhatsApp and SnapChat you put out, I can point out dozens and dozen of other players who did get the memo and are no longer around. A company needs to market to someone and that product needs to be viable to that market. Yahoo might have an app but they don't have a market (once again, this is analysis, not a critique).
@fbara I 100% encourage people to share their honest opinion but to state "within a year this will be gone" on launch day isn't the most respectful delivery. It's also important to recognize that products evolve. Inevitably, Livetext will look much different years from now, if it still exists.
Or maybe I'm just a naive optimist... which is probably true. 😉
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@rrhoover@fbara My point exactly. From the buzz I am seeing on Twitter, it is going well. I think it is going to take a minute for growth since not integrated with facebook or twitter, but that could be good. I was in a library this morning when I was using it, and because it didn't require me to talk, I could use it and no one is the wiser. I like it a lot. As for the audience, clearly it's for younger people, but it's great in meetings. hehe
I've been using this product for a while now while it has been private. It's incredible how it feels to chat with someone and actually see them, regardless of what they are doing. If you are on a product team and are responsible for creating new products, it's definately worth trying out Yahoo Livetext with someone whom you care about. The experience actually feels magical. Lots to learn from what they've created. Kudos to the team!
Was skeptical at first but now pretty into this.
This morning I caught up with a friend on his way to work and then introduced my kids to another friend and his kid. The no voice seems to reduce barrier to entry. Like lots of people these days I avoid phone calls like the plague, and even though this is synchronous the limitations make it feel less demanding.
Feels like it requires less cognitive overhead than talking to people. Livetexts so far have been short and sweet and made me smile.
Will be playing with it a while. Add me! MackFlavelle
I love the feeling of live. So much on our phones is distracted time. With LiveText you truly have to be with the other person realtime. they know if you are looking away. And you can make funny faces at each other.
@dshan For me it's been using it in public. Had a livetext with me in a coffee shop and other person was on a train. Wouldn't have bothered if there was expectations of audio.
I don't know if it's just me but I don't have sms. So for apps that require me to verify code via sms, signup process is extremely frustrating. For most apps, it's fine because I can use temporary number. However, this app isn't one of them. It tells me that the number is invalid. Also, I dislike the fact that I have to create a yahoo account. Why does every single app from yahoo require you to create a yahoo account?
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