Amazon is reportedly building its own messaging app called Anytime that will function like WhatsApp, with added extras to make group chats and video chatting way more exciting.
According to the Amazon-centric site AFTVNews, Amazon let slip its plans by surveying users to find out which features in a messaging app are most important to them. It also released a list of possible features, which suggest it will go way beyond the duties of your average messaging platform, putting it in direct competition with the likes of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter and WhatsApp.
Those possible features range from reaching friends using their name rather than phone number, the ability to order food and split bills in a group chat, challenge friends to games, and video chat with masks and filters.
Being an online shopping giant, Amazon inevitably has plans to integrate shopping into Anytime. It’s toying with the idea of allowing users to chat with businesses, make reservations, check orders and even shop via the app. This could mean, we assume, that your Anytime profile would be an extension of your existing Amazon account.
Amazon's list of possible features for its Anytime messaging app
Amazon is also promising end-to-end encryption to keep private messages containing bank details secure, as well as compatibility across both Android, iOS and desktop platforms.
Right now, it’s not clear exactly how far Anytime is along the production line, or even if Amazon is giving it the green light. And there are still questions to be asked, like will Amazon Alexa have anything to do with it, and will Alexa-enabled devices such as the Amazon Echo get special Anytime privileges or features?
All we know is that if and when it launches, it’ll be Amazon’s first proper foray into the social media scene, and the online shopping giant has had a long time to observe what makes other platforms such as WhatsApp a hit.
