GroupMe Gives Push Notifications A Big Hug, Also Maps And Foursquare Checkins
March 01, 2011 at 09:55 AM EST
Well, well, looky here . GroupMe just got a lot app-friendlier. The group texting app is pushing out a massive new update today for both the iPhone and Android that supports push notifications as the default messaging option instead of costly SMS, maps, inline photos in chats, better Foursquare integration, and contact syncing with Twitter, Facebook, and email. Up until now, the GroupMe app was basically a way to set up texting groups, but that was it. The actual messages would then go over SMS outside the app. With the new release, you can choose to get your messages inside the app and through push notifications instead. If the cellular data channel is weak, messages can always revert back to SMS in a pinch. Not only is this a much better experience for the user, but it could end up saving the startup a hell of a lot of money. With more than a million text messages a day , anything it can do to offload those messages to the free data pipe is smart. (Which is exactly what I've been arguing it should do all along).