The last few months have been very crucial for some app developers in India. We have seen multiple Chinese app bans during this time and our desi Janta’s love for the homegrown app has grown all-time high. Recently, #BanTwitterInIndia was trending after some controversy and then emerged the Koo app and people have already started calling it Twitter’s desi alternative, just like they did for Tooter if you remember.
The Koo app was launched back in March 2020 and till now it has more than 3 million downloads on the Play Store and App Store. Some celebrities and ministers have already joined this desi Twitter as of now.
Great to have 5 Lakh followers on Koo- an Indian micro blogging platform. Thank you everyone for your love and support #VocalForLocal
You can follow me on Koo App – https://t.co/lImf0anORa
— Ravi Shankar Prasad (@rsprasad) February 12, 2021
So, what is this Koo app that everyone is talking about? Who is the founder? What features does it have? Is it better than Twitter? We’ll try to find answers to these questions in this article.
Everything About Koo App
“Koo: Connect with Indians in Indian Languages” is the full name of the app which is currently available in Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada. The app has won the AatmaNirbhar App Innovation Challenge by the Government of India in August 2020 and Google also awarded it as one of the best essential apps of 2020.
Let’s get into the details of the app here.
Who is Koo App Founder?
The app is developed by Aprameya Radhakrishna and Mayank Bidawatka in March 2020 with its headquarter based in Bengaluru, Karnataka. The app has received funding from investors like Kalaari Capital, 3one4 Capital, and Blume Ventures.
Interestingly, the app’s parent company also has received funding from Shunwei Capital, a company that has some Chinese-origin people. But to be noted, the investor has now decided to sell its stake in the company. So, yes! Koo app is Indian.
Koo App Privacy Policy
The Koo app collects usual personal information just like any other social media app. It includes such as your name, email ID, contact number, device information, browser information, third-party account credentials.
It obviously collects content uploaded by you on the platform. Personal information also includes the information and content entered by you while registering on the app.
The personal information of users will be shared with affiliated businesses and third-party websites, third-party partners. The app’s privacy page also states that in certain situations, some of its third-party partners may sell items or provide services to you.
Although you can opt-out of Koo’s services anytime and choose not to disclose your information. However, you will still need some info to register on it or to take advantage of some of its features. So, you may not be able to access the app without providing the data.
App Permissions
The Koo app requires access to your:
- Storage, Photos/Media, and other files
- Device & app history, Wi-Fi information
- Camera, and Microphone
- Location, Contacts.
How to Sign up on Koo App?
You can start using the app by providing your mobile number and signing using OTP. But this will only create a guest account for you.
If you want a personal profile with your name, you’ll need to take up a username.
- Download the Koo app from Google Play Store or App Store. Or Go to https://www.kooapp.com.
- Select your preferred language and enter your mobile number to sign up for a new account.
- You will receive an OTP on the phone number. Enter it.
- After that, you can select a username for yourself and fill in other details like Name, Profession, Location, Bio, etc.
Koo App Features
The app has all the features that Twitter has. On Twitter, it’s called Tweet, and here it’s called Koo. On Twitter you Retweet someone’s tweet, here you do ReKoo. You get options of sharing anything including text, audio, video, weblink, GIFs, polls, etc.
Just like Twitter, you can also control who can comment on your Koos. It also gives the options to share Koo on Facebook and Twitter.
You can also search anyone with ‘@’ and trends with ‘#’. However, the search is not that refined as of now and you will need to scroll to find your desired result unless you know exactly what to search.
Apart from this, you can also find people to follow based on the category. You can also DM (Direct Message) feature on Koo, but for this, the other person must have switched on the chat and you will need to send a request for that.
Is Koo better than Twitter?
The app looks just like Twitter with a different color scheme. But some features are hidden from the homepage. For example, on Twitter, your profile options, trends, news, etc are visible on the homepage, but on Koo, these features are readily available on your screen and you will need to go through the options mentioned on the top menu bar.
It does have some extra features as you can also share video Koo, alongside text and audio. Twitter also recently got an audio tweet feature.
Another plus point you will get in Koo is the character limit. Koo has 400 characters limit, unlike Twitter which still has a 280 character limit. One important feature that is missing in Koo is Twitter Fleets.
Final Words
At first, Koo seems an exact replica of Twitter, however, when you start using it, you may find some additional features here. Overall, the app does for what it is made, but there are still some issues such as the “search” algorithm of the app needs some work. If you want to join a new and trending social media bandwagon to impress your friends or want to move to a “desi” alternative of Twitter, you can try the Koo app.
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