TikTok owner ByteDance has introduced a new messaging-focused app called as Feiliao or FlipChat in English. FlipChat is the interest-based social app for iOS and Android which combines the usual chats and video call with social network style feed.
FlipChat encourages users to create forums and chat groups based on their hobbies. Users can join different chat groups of different topics, ranging from eccentric boyfriend to popular TV series. Inside the app, there are two chat groups Open group and other is a Normal group. In the open group, all the posts are visible to all users and there is no limit to the number of members. Whereas, normal chat groups are similar to the other chat groups and have a limit of 100 users per group.
As of now, the biggest chat group in the app contains 3500 people which appears to be a group of testing features and not posting actual content. The person who creates a group automatically becomes a group administrator and can name other members as moderators. The other features of FlipChat include sharing photos and videos along with text-based posts, voice recognition to chat including support for GIFs. There’s also a camera with special effects, beauty filter, rich stickers along with mood stickers and soundtrack.
Before the launch of Feiliao, ByteDance had already made its moves with video chat app called as “Duoshan” which was launched this year in January. This app is currently limited to China. Alibaba has partnered with ByteDance providing Alipay as the only payment method in the app. This enables users to transfer cash between users using hongbao or red packets and tip official accounts using gold “likes”.
The app can be downloaded on iOS devices from the Apple app store, Android users have to download the APK from the official website and then install it, for now. While downloading the app from the App store it shows that the app is still at early stages of its launch. FlipChat is set to compete with WeChat, the messaging app that dominates China. The arrival of FlipChat might also be a threat to Facebook. In its F8 conference, Facebook has bet on private messaging as the future of the company. With TikTok’s popularity, FlipChat may create a strong competition for privacy oriented Facebook’s messaging apps.
According to the reports from Forbes and Bloomberg, ByteDance is the world highest valued start-up. Over 11% of Chinese users spent time on super apps and it is growing rapidly. TikTok being the most downloaded app on the app store for the fifth consecutive quarter, their success might help FlipChat to expand beyond the Chinese audience.