OMG, There's An ICQ Mobile App!
It's packed with some pretty cool features like ICQ Stories and free video calls!
By John Lim — 06 Dec 2016, 01:15 PM
If you’re old enough, you probably remember ICQ! The Israeli-developed instant messenger, with the eye-catching green flower logo and goofy "uh oh” notification sound, had 100 million users at its peak.
Who still remembers their ICQ number?
Sadly, the messaging platform withered away since the emergence of Facebook and Twitter. It has since been bought and sold by multiple companies.
ICQ has merged with Time Warner after being acquired by AOL. Now, Mail.ru Group, an Internet company based in Russia, is trying to bring ICQ back from the dead.
So how do you make an instant messaging service relevant again in the 2010s? Come out with an Android and iOS app of course!
Quick fact: ICQ was also one of the first mobile chat apps ever to be released. It was released for Symbian 60, the now-discontinued mobile operating system.
The company's Android and iOS app were released in 2012, but it has since been updated with some pretty nifty features.
Keeping up with digital trends, the app integrates with other platforms like Facebook and Google Talk. Users can use photo and location sharing too, as well as better offline functions so you can read or compose messages without a connection.
In addition to free text messages, ICQ’s smartphone app let users attach photos and videos, as well as make video calls.
ICQ Messenger also allows you to send smileys and emojis and unlike some of its competitors, you can set ICQ Messenger to require a PIN when opened to hide the name of the contact and the text in notifications.
This app also offers group messaging with an unlimited number of participants, while some of the others. Some apps, like WhatsApp, have a limit number of participants you can add to a group.
ICQ Messenger also allows you to send smileys and emoji and unlike some of its competitors, you can set ICQ Messenger to require a PIN when opened to hide the name of the contact and the text in notifications.
Design wise, it offers a clean and minimal layout that's user-friendly
The app combines your friends list into one window. Each service had its own little icon that made it easy to follow who you were talking to and from which social network, whether it was Google+ or Facebook.
Most recently, the company added ICQ Stories. It's just like Instagram stories where you can record a small video clip which users can comment on.
The live feed of photos and short videos, which will be visible to all friends and subscribers, will only be available within 24 hours.
Take a trip down memory lane and download the ICQ app on Google Playstore and iTunes
