Kik Messenger hesitant. No immediate plans for a Windows Phone 8 version.

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Well, color us disappointed. After nearly one year since the last update, the team behind Kik Messenger on Windows Phone recently revealed (via an email correspondence) that they don’t have a speedy proposal for a Windows Phone 8 update. (The app does work for Windows Phone 8, though it fails to take advantage of any new features and there are a few lingering issues with reliability). 

Reader of the site Jonathan S. emailed support over the need for a Windows Phone 8 update, noting how notifications have become unreliable (true) and there haven’t been any updates or additions since February of 2012 (also true).

A member of the Kik Team, Charlotte, replied with the following:

“Hey there, Thanks for your message! We don't have any immediate plans to develop a version of Kik for Windows Phone 8 - but you never know what the future may hold!Stay tuned to our blog (http://kik.com/blog/), Twitter (@Kik), and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/kikplaynice) for news of any updates to the Kik app.Thanks! The Kik team”

The good news there, if you were to find any, is Kik is not ruling out a Windows Phone 8 version in the future. But if you were hoping to get an update any day now for the service, well, you will be disappointed.

We know resources are tight at such companies—after all, when was the last time you saw an ad in Kik? So developing on nascent platforms can be a struggle. With that said, it’s still not a good sign to see such a popular (and Windows Phone Central endorsed) messaging app go by the wayside right as we’re hitting our stride.

Microsoft…Nokia…you want to step up here and maybe lend them a hand?

Windows Phone 8 brings with it access to the lockscreen for notifications, detailed info and a doublewide tile, in addition to improved alerts and faster app performance. Apps like Kik Messenger are perfect for the new OS, which seems to be gaining ground now more than ever.

Here’s hoping something changes the minds of the Kik Team. Until then, at least WhatsApp is getting continued support with promises of future updates. In fact, it’s become pretty reliable for us since the last update.

Daniel Rubino
Daniel Rubino

Daniel Rubino is the Executive Editor of Windows Central, head reviewer, podcast co-host, and analyst. He has been covering Microsoft here since 2007, back when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). His interests include Windows, Microsoft Surface, laptops, next-gen computing, and arguing with people on the internet.
88 Comments
  • Disappointed, but are you surprised? 
  • Check out WeChat. It has been kept up to date and has everything incuding voice, text, location, video, and more! I would suggest Line but it needs an update. But yeah, those are some pretty good apps! Also TalkBox is freaking awesome!!
  • Thanks! I tried and it is a good app, faster than Line, with a lot of functions.
  • Really?  I switched to Line from Kik because Kik was too buggy and wouldn't show any notifications.
  • Hmm, kinda dissapointed now. Really hope they are going to continue.
    Currently there arent many messaging apps and almost none support the new WP8 system well. Allthough Kik is working fine on my WP7 device, but i was hoping for some new WP8 features.
    So what messengers are left for us? Whatsapp has yet to come with an update. Of course WLM and facebook are included in the platform, but Skype is still pretty damn worthless, so i'm wondering. Kik was THE Whatsapp alternative, but now i'm thinking i might need to switch if they aren't going to support it anyways.
  • Maybe the reason is that SkyPe and Whatsup have 99% of market.
    If something does not sell, it is better to retire it.
  • hi, try LINE. it's great & pretty fast.
  • But is it WP8 compatible and does it have WP8 features
  • Hmm..this article makes it sound like the app doesn't work for WP8. That's not the case, is it?
  • What part makes it sound like that? We didn't say nor imply any such thing. Notifications (and their Live Tile alerts) are hit and miss though.
  • I actually thought it wouldn't work for WP8 from the article. So it's a non issue since it works on WP7 and WP8, right?
  • I'm still confused because no one is highlighting which part of the article says or implies that... Yes, it still works but notifications for new messages, as the article states, can be unreliable.
  • Just the general tone and this sentence in particular: " We don't have any immediate plans to develop a version of Kik for Windows Phone 8"
    If I as avid WP user wan't sure, people who are not familar with WP7 vs WP8 will definitely suspect it's not for WP8 from the article. And apparently I am not the only one here.
     
    I think it would have been more clear if you started with the article saying it works on WP8 but doesn't use some of the new OS features. Just my two cents.
  • Fair enough. I added that bit.
  • You bastards, im giong to whatsapp!
     
    jk, i dont use either. 
  • Heh.
  • KIK runs really well on WP8 for the most part; much better than other apps IMO.  Hopefully they reverse their stance.  Did they discsuss the possibility of a Win8 app?
  • It runs well, but I've often notice you need an occasional device restart (both on WP7 and WP8) to keep notifications coming in, in addition to the Live Tile not registering a new message. I've literally seen the toast notification come in but the Tile remains unchanged--very frustrating (and I say that as someone who really likes Kik).
  • I agree; I find it faster and easier to use than WhatsApp.  However, the toast / live tile sync seems to be a common problem with other apps too.  Even the WPCentral app's live tile counter doesn't reset after opening the app.  Overall, it is getting better.  However, I feel that this is one reason we don't have a notification center.  Just imagine if the notification center was updating properly and wasn't in sync with the toast and live tiles.  That would be a mess and very confusing.
  • I don't get why they can't make tiles work properly. I mean that's supposed to be one of the main selling points. I'm still going nuts over the unreliable tiles in WP7, even after a hard reset and in all different phones I have used (LG Quantum, Dell Venue Pro and currently Samsung Focus Flash). I'm this close to switching to a different OS.
  • I've used it for a while with a buddy who was on android and was visiting the Philippines. The app was ok. Nothing special. Other than seeing that he is actually in the process of responding. So to me it was a pretty basic massaging app. So really how much effort can their possibly be in supporting this app? Its not like its some complicated game.
    Maybe Jay Bennett should just bust out killer messaging app and be don with it. Seriously, you're already crowd sourcing feedback. Make him a hero.
  • It's probably the whole "not enough market share worth our while" routine. I like your idea about Jay Bennett becoming a messaging app hero ;-)
  • There are no issues, there are only opportunities. I'll take it one step further. This is Mobile Nations, right? Have Jay work with his ios and android counterpart who has some programming background to put together ad submit a cross platform messaging app. And got someone over at crackberry? Include them. Have it done by July. Launch on all platforms. Charge 99¢. Make it pretty, get noticed. Thank me later.
  • Perhaps they've seen a drop in the number of users for their app on WP; Whatsapp seems to be the cross platform fav, and maybe more people are using WhatsApp instead.
     
    Oh well, at least it's not a definitive 'No'.
     
     
  • Not a definitive 'No' but close enough, LOL.
  • I've never understood why people use these messaging clients.. Especially on a phone that integrates Facebook messanger.
  • Because not every phone can use Facebook messanger. At least in the case of Whatsapp, it can run on dumbphones and use substanially less data than "always-on" messanger services. Those are/were important considerations in the developing world. 
  • Describe to me a dumbphone that runs the whatsapp.
  • LOL!
  • Nokia's Asha phones aren't all that dumb, but a £30 Asha 203 can run WhatsApp but not Facebook messenger.
  • Because it's not dependable...at least not for me.  I don't know how many times I don't get notifications or people don't get my messages.  I used Kik for a long time, then stopped getting notifications.  I've been using Skype messenger for a while now.  It seems to be fixed for me.
  • Because not everyone uses Facebook? I mean really...is this so hard to understand? Also, it works well when contacting people oversees and cross-platform. Kind of simple, really.
  • No need to be hostile, guy. I was just making a statement. What are the numbers of people using Facebook vs people using Whatsapp or Kik? And Facebook Messanger is on I think literally every platform.
  • About nine out of ten of my contacts don't use Facebook or use it very minimally, whatsapp is definitely our solution. Im sure there are lots of 'social networks' like mine which have helped whatsapp rise in popularity
  • Not everybody uses facebook or have necessary contacts in facebook. And not everybody (including me) can afford a $20/mo SMS plan. Why should I pay for something that should be free? (yes, kik and whatsapp are not really free since they use data, but you get the point).
  • Whatsapp is cross platform. Your phone number is your account name. Don't need to "friend" anyone. Can make groups. Not everyone has Facebook.
  • @Ray, its like saying why people just use SMS, well because unlimited texting isn't in the budget.
  • Whatsapp FTW, installed KiK but when I send messages to my contacts, they all reply on whatsapp, weird, I had to uninstall it...
  • Doesn't matter, there's Whatsapp.
  • And what if Whatsapp is gone?
  • It matters because competition is important. Keeps devs on their toes.
  • yeah i've heard it works flawlessly
     
    /s
  • Hehehe
  • Kik was/is fairly unreliable so I dropped it for WhatsApp, which was even worse and more of a battery drain. But when WhatsApp came back in December it has worked pretty much perfectly. I'm getting all notifications and messages are being sent right away. I think I only had one time when the program stalled on me.
    Such is life in WP8...
  • Talkbox works great... Stop using KIK a long time ago due to notification problems.
  • Talkbox is kind of fun, for sure.
  • @Daniel, yeah it is. You can talk to it like walkie talkie. And the notification is awesome. I just hope the develope update to WP8 soon. ;)
  • Sigh. What is sad is good apps never get shown to users. BC MSFT sucks at promoting apps Example paperkarma. Great app, good reviews, never seen ms highlight it. So it got released and never updated BC no one downloads it.
  • Paperkarma.  Never heard of it until now,or even seen it reviewed here on WP Central, but just did a search in the store and it seems to be a useful app.  And it's cross platform, so kudos to the developer for bringing it to WP.  I will check it out :)
     
    Edit:  Checked out Paperkarma - Definitely not the app for me. 
  • MS hurry up and get Skype dialed in so it can make using all these other solutions worthless.  Thanks. =)
  • Amen.... Hurry SKYPE..... March is way too long.
  • Well, I don't find this surprising at all.  As I said in another comment, companies like this are hesitent to begin with, and Microsoft REALLY needs to step up their support with developers.  It seems ever since Brandon Watson left for Amazon, developer support with WP has dipped, and certainly the preception isn't looking good.  While yes adoption is increasing, that doesn't mean it's increasing at a faster rate.  We all know that people who have invested in another platform/ecosystem, they want the apps available in the WP ecosystem that just aren't there.  It's discouraging at best.
  • I just heard from Kayne West. He said nobody cares about Windows Phone.
  • Nobody cares about Kanye West.
  • I just heard from LL cool J. He said his mama said knock you out.
  • Why bother? Skype / What's app are the only apps we need.
  • who's 'we'?
  • Me
  • and You
  • Probably not you. 
  • ...but probably another dude, LOL.
  • That's sad news for me. My entire work staff uses kik as does my family. I'm the only person with issues being I have a W8 phone. Yes it works, but notifications work very very spotty.
  • KIK doesn't even have an app for Windows 8. I think more changes are being made in the backend to unify both platforms. Devs are probably aware.
    Dev's aren't going to spend $$ developing on two different platforms. MS knows that and we should have a true answer shortly.
  • "Dev's aren't going to spend $$ developing on two different platforms."
    WTH? Why are most good apps on iOS and Android, then?
  • Well, I'm pretty much stuck with viber at this point. For some reason I never got the confirmation SMS on whatsapp, and literally none of my friends have kik. There's like two, who know about it. Damn shame IMHO. I'm hoping they'll fix Skype so I'll be able to ditch all of these apps, bit that doesn't seem likely in the near future :/
  • I'm fine, hell I don't need it.
  • I guess I don't understand what all the hoopla is over these types of apps. Why not just text or sms? That always seems to work just fine. I don't know anyone who uses these thrid party chat clients. Only benefit I can see is that you don't have to "pay" for texts. I used Straight Talk where texts were free, and now ATT Shared Data Plan where texs are unlmited as part of the plan. I thought texts were pretty much included in most plans now days. Anyway, too bad. I could never see myself using something like this, but the more apps that are widly used that are not coming to WP it not great news.
  • I don't (because I don't really have many friends) but I have a friend who uses Kik quite a bit to communicate with people she might not want to give her mobile number to and at least one of the main ones is in Australia. International texting isn't cheap.
  • "I guess I don't understand what all the hoopla is over these types of apps. Why not just text or sms? "
    You obviously don't know or correspond with people overseas...and while SMS may be included in most plans, that doesn't mean they are unlimited. In fact, most don't have unlimited SMS because iti's $20 extra. Another benefit: if you have multiple mobile phones, you don't need a phone number with Kik.
  • Sounds good. Not something I need or ever see myself using, but others do, so it's too bad it not coming to WP right now.
  • Even with an unlimited SMS plan, you get charged for international texts.
  • Eh, let them go. If they have to decide to support a platform that has existed for years now, they're decision is already made.
  • No kidding.
  • This has got to stop. Viber (Lumia version and others) and more don't have plans for WP8.
  • I'm normally very positive about Windows Phone but I have got to say that things seem to be taking a downward turn for WP8 at the moment. :(
  • It's almost like everyone outside of WP wants it to fail...
  • Same old song that has gotten tired and useless.
  • They have been blaming Microsoft for extremely poor live tile update and inability of WP to "refresh" data after a toast notification. Basically, I get a toast notification, but the live tile almost never update to show a text. And sometimes even after opening the app, it could take several minutes to actually show the new text. It's not surprising if they have been losing customers because it's simply not reliable for some of the functions.
  • Personally, I'd like to see MS roll more of these services into the native messaging. I realize these companies need to make money, so maybe you could pay for the option to include it. Built in messenger and Facebook chat is nice, but it would be great to get everything integrated.
  • There is actually a forum about this very topic and different replies in the wpcentral forums.
  • Is there a cross platform messenger app that support lock screen notifications yet?
    I like WhatsApp, which i used after Kik no longer got updated and worked poorly. I just really wish it had lock screen notifications.
  • Kik users creep me out. Just check the reviews for it in the marketplace.
  • What's app is not an alternative to kik. What'sapp needs a phone number. My daughter has a galaxy player and her friends have iPod touches. You can't use whatsapp on either of those devices since they don't have phone numbers. We really need kik messenger to work!
  • About every 6 months I launch kik to check if some of my friends are using it now. And as of today I'm still the only one while whatsapp is being used by about 50 of my contacts.
  • They better make a damn app for WP8
  • Never heard of them!
  • How quickly they forget.  It wasn't long ago that KiK was praising Windows Phone for expanding their user base...even with Android and iOS users.  I guess it's like Jay-Z says, "on to the next one".  I've been playing with TalkBox lately and I'm anxious for Skype to come to the table with some awesome sauce. http://techcrunch.com/2011/08/30/why-kik-loves-windows-phone-7-spoiler-i...
  • I am in sudan & i use watsup in nokia n95 and have 280 contacts 70 use watsup no one use kik and i think 5-8 from them had a smart phone but stil its a bad for wp