Snapchat lately got in a bind with the FTC due to misleading users over photos being deleted after users hit the send button, which ended up not being totally true. Well, Snapchat has a rival that offers a similar service called "Blink!."
This is a mobile messaging app that lets users share images that self-destruct and it has just been acquired by Yahoo!. This app is none other than "Blink!" and comes from a company called Meh Labs. Blink! launched about a year ago on iOS and you can grab it from the App Store for free. Since then, it has been available on Android's Google Play as well.
The app's features include the ability to not just send digital media secretly, but private messages that self-destruct as well. Users can also be anonymous without revealing their phone number or name during the messaging sessions.
"All your stuff is encrypted from the moment you create it until the timer runs out and it disappears forever," says the app description. "Live in the moment and start having fun with Blink today!"
Meh Labs is a startup that first focused on a location-based service called Kismet. However, due to Kismet not taking off the way the team hoped, Meh Labs started working on Blink! The Yahoo! acquisition should fund the company and help it move in new directions with Blink! or other services.
"We're excited to announce that as of May 13, 2014, Blink! is joining Yahoo!," the company says on its website. "We built Blink! because we believe everyone should be free to show the same honesty and spontaneity in their online conversations as they can in person. We look forward to the possibilities that will come from bringing the Blink! vision to Yahoo!."
The terms of the acquisition or how much it went for still haven't been revealed, but Yahoo! needs all the help in the world to stay relevant in the social media and Web space.
There is some speculation, however, that Yahoo! may not be trying to build up the service itself, but the acquisition was meant to grab the talent behind the app. This is why Snapchat may not have to be so worried about Yahoo! pumping millions into the service and app.
