Bryan Pelz was splitting his time between Vietnam and San Francisco when he began working on an idea for a new app called Klamr (pronounced "clamor"). He and his friends overseas had been using various over-the-top (OTT) messaging apps—Line, WhatsApp, and others—to chat with each other for years, but in the United States, SMS still reigns supreme.
Klamr is a brand-new social messaging app for iOS and Android that combines group chats with planning tools and location-based search. If you're planning a birthday party or a happy hour, Klamr will help you rope in your friends, pick a time and place, and hammer out the details.
Klamr and other apps of its ilk represent the next phase in mobile messaging: more visual, more interactive, and—let's be honest—more time-sucking than ever before. Social networks are getting in on the act, too, with Facebook and Path pushing group chats and stickers as a way to appeal to teens.
Path began selling sticker packs after seeing their success in Asia.
What's the appeal?
Over-the-top messaging apps have been growing in popularity for one very obvious reason: They're free. Unlike SMS texts, OTT messages aren't transmitted by your cell phone carrier and don't cost you a dime.
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