Not Another Anonymous Texting App

two cans connected by string

Another anonymous messaging app enters the market, but faces an uphill battle against Whisper and the like.

From MTel, a Hong Kong tech company, PURE is a no-thrills anonymous messenger entering an already saturated arena.

Setting up an account entails downloading the app and creating a user name. That’s it.

No pictures to upload. No phone number tethering your phone and account. No verification email.

There’s also no identifying information on any of the users, not even geolocation. You have no clue who you’re talking with, assuming you have someone to talk to.

The app launched worldwide this month and at the time of this post, PURE has been downloaded from Google Play just 1,000 times. I’ll take $1,000 any day, but for a texting app, the user base needs to increase.

Then there’s the conversation starters. Called “intelligent suggestion,” it’s a database of pre-written questions for lulls in the conversation. These gems include “do you love gatherings?”, “do you hate eating anything?”, and my favorite “when will you marry?”

Are they suggestions? You bet your sweet ass they are. Intelligent? Not so much.

Here’s the bottom line: I like the idea of anonymous texting apps in a world where online anonymity is shrinking. But in a competitive market, apps like PURE have to bring their A-game at launch. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

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