Hike, the Made-in-India Messaging App, is Officially Gone

Hike StickerChat, the messaging app owned by Bharti Enterprises, has officially closed. The news of the messaging service's closure was first revealed by its founder and CEO Kavin Bharti Mittal on January 6 on Twitter. Now, after the WhatsApp controversy, his tweet is going viral. The app has since been removed from the Google Play Store and Apple's App Store.

"Today we're announcing that we will be sunsetting StickerChat in Jan '21. We thank you all for giving us your trust. We wouldn't be here without you," Mittal wrote on Twitter.

Users can download their data within the application. However, the announcement does not mean the end of other applications in development by the company. On the same day, Mittal announced that the company would focus on Vibe and Rush, which will use Hike emojis and include mini-games. The Vibe, for example, is an invite-only community.

Mittal said in his tweet that 1,00,000 people have already requested Vibe. On the other hand, Rush is available to download on iOS and soon be available on the Play Store.

Despite an increase in demand for self-produced applications, the reason for Hike's closure is still unknown. Mittal feels that India will not have its messenger as the "global effects are too strong (unless India bans Western companies)". He also praised Telegram and Signal for being more user-oriented.

Mr Mittal stated that shared experiences are social media's future as he talks about Hikeland. Virtual space was once a part of Hike. Now, Vibe by Hike will be a renamed version of Hikeland.

"There's literally been no innovation in social whatsoever. And we're sort of stuck with these experiences of the last decade that were built for the 2G world and in some cases built for PC first. We are finally in a place where we can change that, build experiences that are rich, that are joyful, that can potentially put relationships at the centre," Mittal said.

With the closure of the Hike, the apps are expected to go live soon this year. Mittal hasn't given an official date when the two will be available. He claims that Vibe already has 100,000 people waiting for invitations to join the community.