Yesterday, when going through a list of updates that had to be installed, I noticed that the icon of the messenger had changed into a round-er, and light colored one, rather like the new icons in iOS7, this:

The icon’s what forced me into upgrading; _had to _try as it was bound to come with a number of new features and not just a change of icon. Well, I installed it, and ran it.

I was welcom-ed by a screen, all white (they dropped the light-blue background), which asked me if I was indeed ‘Anas Ismail Khan.’ As I proceeded, I was asked to confirm my number, which would ensure that people find me using my number, regardless _of whether or not I’m part of the friendlist, but, this is optional. The reason behind it, I guess, is that they are moving towards making it into an independent messenger, which combines the best of both Kik and whatsapp. It’s similar to whatsapp in the sense that just having your number might do the trick, however the _friendlist of course is still there, and thus the contacts list would consist of both your phone’s contacts and your Facebook Friends. However, due to privacy settings perhaps, usernames dont always work either, and just like the number _thing _this might be optional as well.

They also eradicated the ‘__sms integration’  feature. You can no longer use this app as your primary messaging app, though the changelog might say something similar.

A strange _con _of the app happens to be the fact that there is no _‘log out’ _option. On androids, clearing the app data does the trick though..