Yahoo Messenger gets a new life w/ redesigned mobile & web apps

The updates aim to help users easily create groups, share multiple photos and use GIF graphics through a partnership with the Tumblr property. In fact, the new messenger, which is now available for mobile, web and on Yahoo Mail, will let you unsend text messages as well as photos.

New Yahoo Messenger apps were released in English for smartphones or tablets powered by Apple or Android software, as were versions of the service tailored for use on the Web or on desktop computers.

Remember Yahoo Messenger, the company’s instant messaging client that was popular in the late ’90s and early 2000s?

It is the first complete remake of Yahoo Messenger since it was introduced 17 years ago and comes as smartphone lifestyles have led to a booming trend of firing off digital missives or photos at almost any opportunity. Posts that are “unsent” vanish from conversation threads at the service. There’s also the ability of sharing photos in bulk nearly instantly, regardless of the type of Internet connection you work with – via Yahoo-owned Flickr – and the possibility of “liking” individual messages. Built on a new modern platform, it understands the relationship between contacts so adding people to group conversations is fast and simple.

Of course, GIFs are bigger part of messaging than ever, so Skype now allows you to pull in GIFs straight from Tumblr – taking on Facebook and Wire’s tight Giphy implementation.

According to a recent company statement, the old web-based Yahoo Messenger will soon meet its retirement, sometime in the next couple months.

Yahoo! Inc. doesn’t think the battle for messaging apps is over. But, Shoemaker noted, such services are proven to attract and engage users, which should lead to opportunities for generating revenue. “It has always been one of our core products but it was time to redesign the product from the ground up and reinvest in one of the most important products in our history as a company”, said Jeff Bonforte, senior vice president of communication products and engineering at Yahoo.