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Viber Messenger Takes Page Out of Telegram’s Book

Viber Messenger Takes Page Out of Telegram’s Book
Viber Messenger Takes Page Out of Telegram’s Book

Former local favorite messaging application Viber, has introduced a new feature called "Secret Messages." 

The new update follows other apps like Telegram messenger which has offered the service for at least two years. 

In essence, the app allows two users to create a temporary chat which self destructs after a set period of time, or if one of the users leaves the chatbox. 

For pictures at first it appears blurry in the chat box and when the other side opens the messages it is removed on the other person's phone immediately after. 

Another new feature Viber is rolling out is Instant Video Messages, which enables people to send 30-second clips to each other. It works much like the short audio recordings which several messaging apps offer.

The company announced on January 30 that it would indefinitely waive the fees for calls to landlines or mobile numbers between the US and the seven countries impacted by the travel ban, including Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, Tech Cruch reported. 

The company saw the immigration ban as an opportunity to grow their user base in those countries.

Viber has fallen behind in the Iranian market in the past two years after the app's access was throttled by the authorities for non-compliance, this ultimately made many of the instant messaging users shift to Telegram messenger. 

Meanwhile the app is popular in other countries. Accordingly the app shows strong popularity in Eastern Europe, and is the top app in Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine, and others. 

In fact, as of April 2016, Viber was installed on 65% of all Android devices in Ukraine and was used for an average of 16 minutes a day. 

Viber’s popularity also reaches other parts of the world including countries such as Iraq, Libya, and Sri Lanka. 

 

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