Kik Messenger app on Wednesday announced a new bot store from where users can easily pull information, find gifs, play games, and more using the help of artificial intelligence - bots.
The messenger application in the past already has offered bots that converse with the users over text and perform common Web tasks. However, now users can do a lot more using any of the 16 bots from partners such as Funny Or Die, The Weather Channel, and Vine.
For developers, the Kik messaging app will let them create their own bots and offer them to users via the Kik Bot Shop. However, the firm will be approving each bot developed before it hits the store. Users can view new bots by navigating inside the 'Find people' tab in the Kik search bar.
"We wanted to find a way to get more out of chat without adding to the clutter or detracting from the simplicity of the experience in Kik. We've found that bots offer a great low-friction way to do that. There's nothing to download, no new registration required, and you can use an interface you're already familiar with: chat," said the company blog post.
Kik added that it is also launching Kik's web bubbles ("wubbles") feature to give a new way to display "rich media" in conversation threads. It has also revamped "suggested responses," that now take the complete keyboard space and allows users to select options while chatting to a bot without having to type anything. The mentions feature lets users call a bot into a conversation by typing the "@" symbol.
The updated app can be downloaded from Google Play and App Store.
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