Kakao Talk is the most widely used text message phone app in Korea, and is thought by many to be the Korean version of What’s App or Blackberry’s BBM. The makers of Kakao released a new app a few days ago which has already gained millions of users in Korea, but Korean netizens accuse it of being a copy of Path.
Kakao Story is a picture sharing phone which allows users to share pictures and status updates via your phone, with Kakao Talk friends. Pictures can be taken, edited with different hues, and uploaded all within the app, and one can view other friends’ uploaded pictures in a news feed style. Unlike Kakao Talk, the program is currently only available in Korean.
From Digital Times:
Kakao Talk’s Huge Transformation… In Just 3 Days 5 Million Users, Sooo Crazy
Kakao Talk’s new social network platform, KaKao Story, which was just released three days ago, is approaching 5 000 000 members.
According to Kakao, on the morning of the 23rd Kakao Story, passed 4 700 000 members. Kakao Story which has profiles linked with Kakao Talk, launched its album sharing service on the 20th.
Kakao Story even at this early stage, has already vaulted passed Kakao talk in terms of popularity. Kakao Story also shot to the number one spot in the free section, of social network category of the App Store (In Korea). In just two days it broke the 3 million-member mark. And again after one more day, it started approaching 5 million members. It appears as if this steep growth in users will continue. It took Kakao Talk nine months to break the 5 million members mark.
Kakao Story is also proving to be popular abroad. As of the night of the 22nd, it has won 4th place in the Social Network section of the American version of the App Store, on the morning of the 23rd it had gone up to the 26th place in free section, the American App Store.
Kakao Story spokesperson Jeong Yong Jun said “There has been a lot of demand from users for app which allows them to share their albums and this new app satisfies that demand. People of all ages will be able to easily use this app, due to its very intuitive user interface design and because we have placed all the core functions in the center of the users sight.” Adding “With this, Kakao Talk’s core strength, which is its large network, will be able to solidify it’s position in the mobile platform arena.”
손상훈
They made it really well so that Koreans can use it easily… But I’m not sure if tying it to Kakao Talk was a good idea… Also, people only like foreign products and so are being to pessimistic about how successful Kakao Talk will be.
김수아, Sooa Kim
The number of real users is like 500.
소현
I just searched the popularity charts and it hit number 1. thumbs this up if in the next 5 minutes when you take a look it already lost the spot! ㅋ
Yun Minho
If you look, there are actually a lot of people that signed up… But there aren’t any people that actually write anything, I guess they are all people like me. ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Roxy Eris
I really need this…
The Kakao Talk users trust them, so the number of members has really shot up but no one is actually using it. So I didn’t join. I guess I will use it when the number of real users increases.
ristin
Since it came out I figured it is something I would end up joining. At some point I will upload some pictures. And at some point I guess I will be inviting my friends to join it… ㅎㅎ; In a short while I will become a child’s mother, and I will upload some baby pictures. Then later on the child’s first birthday and all that, it won’t be to bad for sharing those pictures with all the people I’m connected with.
아라라기군
What’s App is for white people, and Kakao Talk is for….
Path is for white people, and now Kakao Story is for…
Even though both of them are worse, I like that Kakao Talk is free. We had our own national successful version with Kakao Talk, I wonder if Kakao Story will be the same? Honestly I’m not holding my breath.
Moonlight_SA
I don’t think I will be able to not sign up… I guess I’d better… Kakao Talk always comes up and is used so… I might as well just be happy about it and sign up already… There is nothing bad about it but… ㅋ
Xammond7
Oh Kakao Story… I like Kakao Talk in itself, but until my damn friends invite me or I see that it isn’t just a passing fad and there is actually a large number of real users, I wont use it.
Comments From iTunes:
별명: 땡삼
This is a copy of Path… Kakao Talk is a copy of What’s App. (1 star)
This is a copy of Path. Last time Kakao Talk copied What’s App, this time they ending up copying a really old version of Path. It is embarrassing isn’t it?
별명: 머시야
It is a “Pathtagram” ha ha.
They could copy Chinese noodles and they would be successful!
별명: 또또윤
This is so annoying. (1 star)
This is even adding people I blocked on Kakao Talk. This stupid thing automatically adds people as friends.
There are people I purposely put on my block list, but they have my phone number, and so by horrible luck they have been added. They didn’t really need to have an add friend message at all, they could have just asked permission to use your contacts information from Kakao Talk couldn’t they? I mean this is just a freakin masterpiece!
Note: This article was modified April 7th 2012. Originally the article had Koreans saying it was a copy of Facebook. However there was a mistranslation from Korean, and they were actually saying ‘Path’ which at the time, we did not know was a competing SNS. Thank you BaoBei for catching this.
