Wink, wink: Viber takes on Snapchat with new ephemeral messaging app

Viber has just issued an update to its popular messaging and voice-calling app of the same name, thereby bringing more improvements to the app and, more importantly, making the app compatible with a brand new app that it has just released.

The latest update to Viber for iOS delivers a handful of tweaks to make the app easier to use and even share.

For starters, there are design enhancements to the introduction screens, helping new users get comfortable with the app.

The interface for group chats has also been slightly modified so that you can now see which of your friends in the group chat have read your messages, as in Facebook Messenger.

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And there’s a new Keep Media setting that lets you select how long your shared photos and videos are stored for in the app — a quite useful setting if you want to save precious space on your device, particularly if it’s a 16GB iPhone. Just go to the More tab, tap Media, tap Keep Media, and choose if you want to keep shared media forever, for one year, for one month, or for one week. If you choose to keep media for only a certain period, all files shared prior to that period will be automatically deleted, with their total file size indicated accordingly.

Viber for iOS also has a revamped menu for letting others know of Viber and inviting them to use it as well. In the More tab, tap “Share Viber with friends” to do just that using the native iOS share sheet.

Most notably, the latest update to Viber adds support for Viber Wink, Viber’s new answer to Snapchat.

Instead of building an ephemeral messaging feature into its flagship app, Viber has opted to launch a standalone app for sending photos and videos that automatically disappear after they’ve been viewed — even as it essentially requires the Viber app itself.

As you might expect from an app that’s evidently “inspired” by Snapchat, Wink lets you take a photo or a short video, add a text overlay, and choose how long it can be viewed for (1, 3, 7 or 12 seconds, or no time limit). But since the app is made by Viber, it’s no surprise that Wink allows you to share your captures with your friends on Viber only; it prompts you to open the Viber app itself to initiate sending of media. And once your shared photo or video has been seen by the recipient for the set time, it automatically disappears.

As suggested by Viber, Wink is perfect for those moments that “are meant to be shared just once, then forgotten.”

Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad running iOS 7.0 or later, the new version of Viber is available now on the App Store for free, with in-app purchases for additional call credits and sticker packs.

Designed for iPhone and iPod touch running iOS 8.0 or later, Viber Wink is available now on the App Store for free.

Viber also offers on the App Store the Viber-integrated games Viber Backgammon and Viber Wonderball.

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