Hike Takes A Page From Snapchat; Rolls Out Stories

Hike, the Indian messaging app that raised $175 million from Tencent of China this past August, has announced updates to its service, taking a page from popular messaging app Snapchat.

Some of the updates announced last week include Stories on Hike, which Hike is promoting as a new way for users to share their day with their friends. With the update, the users can share what’s happening during their day via photo. When a photo is added to a Story, it stays there for 48 hours before vanishing, making room for the next story. Hike said it chose 48 hours in part because it is the length of the weekend and most social apps, including Hike, peak during the weekend. What’s more, since India is still dealing with data constraints, it wants to ensure everyone has enough time to see the story before it disappears. Users can see who and how many people viewed the Story as well.

Hike also announced it built a camera into Hike and made it easy for people to share photos. “Hike has never been this easy. It’s literally just two taps. You can add text, emojis and even stickers to your photos. We’re starting off with just a set of 48 but expect us to expand this to the entire Hike sticker universe soon,” the company said in a blog post. The camera also includes over 15 Live Filters and Live Masks to spruce up the photos users are sharing.

In an interview with TechCrunch, Hike CEO Kavin Bharti Mittal said that, while Hike got its inspiration from Snapchat, it is focused on growing in India. Hike boasts 100 million downloads. “We’ve been thinking [about adding these features] for over a year now,” he said in an interview. “The idea isn’t new, but our content is localized, which makes it more fun. That’s something we’ve got good at thanks to stickers.”