Why create a messaging app in the first place and who will use it? Messaging apps can be divided into two broad categories: apps for in-house company use, and commercial apps for the general public. Let’s look at each in more detail.
Apps for business use
Messaging apps are used in internal company communications to make business processes smoother, allow employees to chat with ease, and improve overall communications within a team.
Example: Slack
Created in 2013 and publicly launched in 2014, Slack is a highly popular invite-only messaging app. Employers can create a ‘desk’ and invite teammates via email. There are separate messaging ‘rooms’ and channels, and personal messages are supported too. In 2019, Slack’s active audience was 12 million people per day. Around 156,000 organizations use Slack’s PC and mobile app including Starbacks, Trivago, Lyft, and many news outlets such as BBC and The New York Times.
Example: StrongBox (MVP)
As an example from our practice, we created a minimal viable product (MVP), an early version of an app, for StrongBox. Not yet-released, this messaging app is designed for business communication. It was built with Signal protocol, which is also used in the chat app of the same name.
Apps for commercial use
Most messaging apps we know are built for public, commercial use. Their creators, and those who work in the development team, earn money as we use their frameworks in our everyday lives. Sure, these apps can be used for business communications as well, but most of the time, they’re used in peoples’ private lives with no work context.
Example: Telegram
Founded in 2013, this cloud-based service has in-house encryption protocols and even supports self-destructing ‘secret’ chats for users who are particular about their security. Unlike WhatsApp, which lets you link another device in a complicated way, Telegram is easier in terms of logging in. It allows users to access their messages from several devices simultaneously.