Hike 4.0 Update Brings Chat Search, New Themes, and More

Hike, a popular messaging app, has released what it claims to be its 'biggest update ever', bringing the app version up to 4.0. The firm also announced that it has crossed the 20 billion messages per month milestone. It also claimed that the number has doubled in less than a year, since the previous announcement of 10 billion messages per month in August last year.

Hike 4.0, which is already available for Android users via Google Play, is claimed to be five times faster that its previous versions and is "designed for the next billion Indian consumers". The company says the latest update is optimised for low-end smartphones and for those handsets that are having poor network connections.

The Hike 4.0 update also brings new app design, including seven new chat themes. Also new is 'Sticker Suggestions', which would recommend stickers from Hike's 5,000 sticker catalogue as the users type on the keyboard. The app now also allows up to 500 members in a single group chat and the ability to create multiple admins for a group.

Also new is the option to 'Like' users' status and profile pictures, as well as the ability to post photos on the timeline and clear the timeline. Users can also search for messages inside a particular chat.

Hike 4.0 features a section called News, which would give Hike users news and information in less than 100 characters. The company claims to have over a million daily active users for the News service within 24 hours of its launch. While the updated app is already available for Android users, it would reach iOS users by next week.

"We're extremely excited to bring hike 4.0 to the market. It's been 6 months in the making and it's a really big update from it's predecessors. One can immediately tell the difference on how quick 4.0 is within a few minutes of using it and with the update we've also brought a ton of new features to the market including Sticker Suggestions, 100 MB files, Photo Filters amongst a host of others. We can't wait for users across India to upgrade to hike 4.0," said Kavin Bharti Mittal CEO & Founder, Hike.