Yahoo plays catch-up in messaging with video texting app

The company’s press release said Livetext “blends the convenience and ease of texting, with the immediacy and vividness of live video, but without the audio – so you can use it in any context”.

The app is already available in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and will arrive in the US, Canada, UK, France and Germany on Thursday for smartphones running on iOS or Android operating systems.

Including audio chat may discourage sometimes users from using an app, according to Yahoo’s senior vice president of design, video and emerging products, Adam Cahan.

All chats in the app are only between two people, and can not begin until both chatters agree to stream video.

Built by Yahoo, the app will let you see the person you’re talking to, but you can only communicate through text.

Still, Livetext is the latest attempt by Yahoo to provide a messaging app that resonates with users.

The messaging space has attracted enormous amounts of attention in recent years, from users, investors as well as the media. Of the 91 percent of U.S. adults who owned a cellphone in 2013, 81 percent used it for texting, according to the Pew Research Center.

Cahan draws a parallel to the indicator on the iPhone that someone is typing-the three glowing dots before the message appears. Since taking over at Yahoo, Mayer has bolstered the companies mobile engineering team through a series of acquisitions.

Despite its similarities to Snapchat, Cahan said Livetext wasn’t meant as a competitor to that service. “Now we need to discover the newest and biggest – so want evaluations – to make a reservation, get an Uber after which share the invoice”.

“Yahoo Livetext puts your words and your friend’s real-time reactions at the center of your conversation”. Yahoo’s apps didn’t crack the top 15.

Earlier this month, the company introduced Yahoo Sports Daily Fantasy, a betting service available on mobile devices that signalled Yahoo’s entrance into the US$2.6 billion online sports gambling business. Call it Active Messaging: We’re still just texting, but I know you’re there reading it. Somehow, that changes the way it feels.