Kik Taking Longer Than It Should

Kik makes it easier than ever before to keep in touch with your friends and family. Unlike other apps that require y'all to disclose your phone number, Kik allows you to sign up and transport letters with simply your e-mail address, which helps maintain your privacy.

Whether you’re looking to protect your privacy or you’re just looking for a new fashion to keep in touch, there’south a lot to know about this popular messaging app. In this commodity, we’ll encompass everything you demand to know.

What is Kik?

Kik Messenger is a free instant messaging and social networking app, at present owned by the California based MediaLab, that uses your smartphone’s data plan or Wi-Fi connection to ship letters to other Kik users, bypassing SMS (short message service). It’s available on
iOS, Android, and
Amazon for Kindle Fire.

While Kik is not unique in how it transmits communications, it differentiates itself with a distinctive merely controversial effort to target a specific demographic: Kik appeals to the teenage crowd because of its emphasis on privacy and anonymity. As of 2016, Kik Messenger had some 300 million registered users and was used by an estimated xl% of teenagers in the U.S. It hasn’t disclosed any user figures since 2016.

The trick is that you do not have to annals your phone number with Kik — it needs only your name and email — which lets you maintain a super-private presence on the platform that’southward identifiable only past your username, the name you register with. With only a username as an ID, Kik lets y'all exchange messages, photos, videos, sketches, stickers, mobile webpages, emoji, and other content with others on the platform. This greatly appeals to teen users (the official minimum age is 13 years sometime) besides every bit others with privacy concerns.

With a username instead of a phone number, yous don’t automatically share personal information with others — your chat companions on Kik can simply run across your display name, username, and profile film. They can’t see your electronic mail accost, phone number, or birthday, though within a Kik group, everyone can see your username. An optional feature checks for Kik accounts that match email addresses or phone numbers on your smartphone to assist you find your contacts.

Kik features

The easy-to-use yet total-featured app has the familiar look and feel of an SMS text messenger only with a number of appealing perks. Like virtually messaging apps, Kik sends notifications to let you lot know when y'all accept sent your bulletin and when it was received. Yous can personalize audio notifications with different tones and receive them when someone messages yous, and y'all tin too employ themes to your chats. A live typing feature indicates in existent time when your contact is replying to your text. This way, yous know at least that in that location’south a message in progress. You tin also run across when a message y'all’ve sent has been read.

Kik really stands out for its social media integration. You tin use Kik to invite friends or family via SMS, email, or through Facebook and Twitter. If friends whose contact information yous have saved on your phone sign up via their phone number or email, Kik detects that you are continued and sends notifications to link up on the service. You tin as well bring together public groups organized according to interest. In addition, Kik’s “Meet New People” feature throws you into new chats with other Kik users based on your interests.

Recently added features include the pick to add together bots to your individual and group chats, so you can play quizzes and games with the bot and your friends.

Kik codes

Kik users each have a unique QR-like lawmaking they can access from their settings that allows them to find or invite new members to the service. To add together a user from a Kik code, tap the Settings icon at the elevation right, then tap
Your Kik Code. You must allow Kik to access your camera before you lot can browse a 2nd Kik code. When someone scans your code, a conversation opens, and they tin can immediately send you a message. Also, you can find Kik codes online in social media or at cafes and other venues.

Group chats

Yous can initiate a group chat past tapping the plus icon in the bottom left, tapping
Start a Group, and then adding users to your group. You can join a grouping conversation — either public or private — with upward to 49 other participants. Private groups are non searchable via the app and people tin can join by scanning the group Kik lawmaking or if they’re added to the grouping by 1 of their own contacts. Public groups are searchable and identified by a hashtag. Yous too accept the option to direct chat with a group member, and you control whether or not you’re available for direct messages. Disabling the direct message characteristic means others in the group cannot message y'all.

A previously available video chat toggle, likewise as a third-political party bots platform, was removed in 2019 with Kik’s conquering by MediaLab.

Immature chat challenges

Kik’due south teenage fan base has generated quite a fleck of rut concerning the amount of privacy and anonymity the app affords equally well as fears and some deplorable existent-world examples of predatory criminal behavior past adults and other abusive behavior. In 2017, a Forbes and Point report revealed a large number of crimes against youths linked to the service. Kik responded to such concerns by publishing expansive guidelines for parents whose kids may be on the platform.

Kik recommends condom measures and general tips for keeping kids safe. Still, parents cannot automatically view their kid’s Kik chats remotely — they must have the password for access. They as well have to view chats on the same device as there’due south no remote surveillance feature. At that place is also no technical fashion to enforce the 13-or-over rule for the platform. Kik too can’t guarantee that a young person will not register on the service with a false birth date.

The cops

Kik has a policy of disclosure, making a point to

reach out to law enforcement

before anything comes up on its own. Kik complies with any advances by law enforcement as well. The app’s Trust and Safety team is on call 24/7 for emergency disclosure requests.

Generally, Kik can’t read your messages, merely information technology can view images and videos, retaining them until they are sent. If someone makes a lawful request for information, they tin reach back 90 days to comply. Kik takes an active stance with constabulary enforcement, posting police request forms in downloadable PDF format on its website and sponsoring webinars to educate law enforcement about how the app works. Kik even participated in the 2018 Crimes Confronting Children Briefing.

To help prevent delays and go you the data y'all need, the visitor recommends that you continue the verbal username you’re watching handy. If yous need to request information, make certain you lot’re going through the proper channels to speed upwardly the process.

Is Kik for your family?

Kik isn’t for everyone. The principal audience for this app is preteens and teenagers. Partially for that reason, Kik has helped with initiatives that include law enforcement, parents, and consumers, in an endeavour to

protect the safety

of its young clientele. However, even with the visitor’s work, parents must monitor any online activity to go on minors safe from child predators, hackers, and anyone who seeks to exploit or take advantage of kids.

If you lot exercise allow your kid to download Kik, we recommend having an ongoing conversation with them nigh online rubber. Whenever a person is online, there’s a risk of inappropriate or unwelcome content, fifty-fifty with all of Kik’s efforts to protect young patrons. Starting that conversation with your kids can help teach them techniques to stay safe online. Exist sure to proceed an eye on their other internet activeness too. The cyberspace can be a fun place for users if it’south used safely and responsibly.