How To Upload A Gif To Kik

Chat App Kik's Newest Characteristic Makes Sending GIFs As Easy As Emoji

Kik, the messaging app popular among teens and immature people in North America, has rolled out an interesting new feature that makes sending a GIF as easy every bit an emoji.

As of today, the chat app now includes an integrated GIF search characteristic which uses emoji search terms.

In other words, you use emoji to find the kind of GIFs that you want to share. No searching or typing needed.

Y'all just pull up the GIF tab in a chat, and then click on the relevant emoji to surface GIFs. The search bar can be enlarged to cover the whole screen, if y'all really want to become crazy and discover that prefect GIF.

Kik-GIFs-and-Emojis

The feature is powered by GIF keyboard company Riffsy, and seems — from my time using it, at least — to be a much meliorate option than Facebook Messenger and others. Messenger initially relied on tertiary party apps to provide GIFs. That, as I explained yesterday, is pretty annoying since information technology ways users have to toggle between two apps. In response, Messenger recently got an integrated GIF button which surfaces trending content and allows users to remain in one app. Just Kik's option is far more than intuitive — it spares everyone from sending the same GIFs to each other, or having to start typing out search queries on your phone.

"Search and discovery are built right into chat, and so sending a GIF is as piece of cake as a photo or video," Joe Rideout, Product Director at Kik, told u.s. in an interview. "You tin send GIFs without having to bring up a keyboard [which is of import] because every time you have to pull upward the keyboard information technology'south a pain in the ass. Typing is friction."

Kik, which claims over 240 million registered users, began letting brands on to its platform last twelvemonth. For now, its GIF feature is focused on serving the needs of its users but Rideout, who joined Kik when it acquired his GIF messenger startup Relay (yes, a certified GIF expert!) said there could exist scope for brands and advertisers in the future.

"Make GIFs are definitely something nosotros're looking into. You could totally imagine a baseball team wanting to sponsor a baseball emoji, for case," he said. "Priority number one is to brand certain we don't hinder the user experience, only if we can detect a way to get branded content in front of people in a delightful style, then nosotros will explore it."

Kik'southward GIFs are initially without audio, only the company is looking into adding that kind of content, too. For now though, Kik users can turn to Clipdis and GIFdub, both of which take integrated with Kik and offer GIFs with audio.