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ChatON

From Alfawiki
ChatON
Company typeService
IndustryInstant messaging
FoundedSeptember 2011; 15 years ago (2011-09)
DefunctMarch 31, 2015 (2015-03-31)
FateDiscontinued
Area served
Worldwide (120+ countries)
ProductsMobile messaging platform
OwnerSamsung Electronics

Overview

ChatON was a worldwide mobile messaging platform operated by Samsung Electronics from September 2011 until its discontinuation in March 2015.

The service supported communication across more than 120 nations and was offered in 62 different languages. It was compatible with a range of operating systems including Android, iOS, BlackBerry, Windows Phone (notably Samsung Zone), Windows Mobile (primarily in Korea), and Bada devices. Furthermore, ChatON provided a web-based client enabling users to access the service through internet browsers.

Users had the option to add contacts by connecting through social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, and could also share ChatON content directly on Facebook. Distinctive features included the ability to send Animation messages, utilize Broadcast for distributing personal announcements within group chat rooms, and employ the Trunk function to store media exchanged during conversations.

Once logged into ChatON, users could access their buddy list seamlessly across all devices linked to their account.

History

ChatON was unveiled on August 29, 2011, at the IFA event held in Berlin, Germany, initially supporting iOS, Android, BlackBerry, and Samsung devices. Over time, compatibility extended to include Android tablets, Windows Phone, and Bada-powered phones. Users could download the ChatON app via Samsung Apps and Google Play for Android devices, Apple App Store for iOS, BlackBerry App World, and Microsoft Market for Windows Mobile.

The ChatON service ceased operations globally on March 31, 2015.

Devices

Samsung pre-installed ChatON on its Galaxy series smartphones and tablet PCs, including models like the Galaxy Pocket 2, Galaxy Young 2, Galaxy S Duos 3, Galaxy Gear, Galaxy Star 2, S5 Mini, S5, and Galaxy Camera. Availability on other devices depended on the operating system installed.

Operating system support

ChatON was compatible with mobile platforms such as Android (version 2.2 or later), Bada (version 2.0 or later), iOS (version 4.3 or later), BlackBerry (touchscreen devices running version 6.0 or above; non-touch devices with version 5.0 or higher), and Windows Mobile (version 6.5 exclusively for Omnia 2 and version 7.0 for Samsung-manufactured devices).

On desktop systems, ChatON supported Windows PCs running Windows XP or newer and Mac computers with OS X version 10.6 or later.

Web version

A web client was provided by ChatON to allow users without compatible smartphones to communicate through desktop and mobile browsers. The wider PC screen enabled multiple chat windows simultaneously for conversations and content sharing. Accessing the web client required a Samsung account rather than a phone number, with the ability to import contact lists from mobile accounts. Messages were synchronized across web and mobile versions while maintaining separate profiles on each platform. Deleting a user account resulted in resetting all connected devices and erasing chat room data from the server.

Features

Samsung discontinued the ChatON service in 2015. While active, it offered functionalities including voice and video calls, translation tools, PostON, animated icons known as Anicons, Animessage, SMS/MMS messaging, along with fundamental features like buddy management, chatting, and multimedia sharing.

  • Buddies: Contacts from the user's phonebook were automatically added as buddies. Only those registered on ChatON could be included as buddies through their phone numbers.
  • Translation: The translation feature was available in one-on-one chat rooms. Languages such as Korean, English, Chinese, and Japanese were mutually translatable, whereas German, French, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese were translated to or from English. Users could activate translation via the menu button within the chat or by long-pressing a message bubble to translate into a preferred language. Recipients viewed only the translated text, while senders could see both original and translated messages. This functionality was supported on Galaxy S4 and other devices equipped with S Translator.
  • Anicons: Known as animated icons unique to ChatON, Anicons served as the platform’s equivalent to stickers but with animation. These were accessible through the ChatON Shop and featured various playful characters designed to convey diverse emotions and contexts.[1] By May 2013, 127 Anicon sets were available for free download.
  • Animessage: This feature enabled users to create and share brief animations incorporating backgrounds, text, images, handwriting, and stamps.[2][3] Users could download various background templates and stamps. The animations played images and texts sequentially when received but were also delivered as static images.
  • Group Chat: Both individual and group conversations were supported. Inviting buddies during a one-on-one chat initiated a group chat room. Conversely, sending a whisper within a group chat created a private one-on-one chat if the recipient responded. Whisper messages allowed users to communicate privately with individual group members. Push notifications could be configured separately for each chat room.
  • Multimedia Messaging: Users had the ability to share diverse media types including text messages, photos, videos, voice notes, locations, contacts, and calendar events. Supported image formats included JPEG and PNG; video formats were MP4, 3GP, and MOV—with MOV files unsupported on Android, Bada, and BlackBerry platforms.
  • Video Calls: Video chats utilized both front and rear cameras simultaneously to display the user’s face alongside their surroundings. During video calls, users could share their mobile screen by selecting the share screen option. Group chat participants could remotely control the shared screen. Additionally, users could enhance video chats with animated emoticons overlaid on their faces or apply themed effects such as cartoon filters and frames like mustaches.[4]
  • Theme Customization: On Android devices running ChatON 3.0 or later and on Bada devices, users could freely download various font styles to personalize chat rooms. There were 22 font options categorized by four language groups: Korean, Chinese, Latin alphabet-based languages, and Arabic. Preceding messages with '#' increased text size upon sending.
  • SMS/MMS Integration: ChatON allowed sending SMS/MMS without disabling the app for communication with non-users. Messages could be sent directly from ChatON to any registered contact number. Enhanced expression was possible through Anicons and emoticons sent via MMS.
  • Multimedia Files: Shared multimedia content such as images and videos within chat rooms was automatically stored in the Trunk.[5] All chat participants had access to these saved files displayed as thumbnails sorted by recent activity. Selecting a file opened a detailed view where users could add comments or share it on Facebook.
  • PostON: Within users’ profile pages on ChatON, short text posts or comments could be published even if buddies were not connected via ChatON. Posts were limited to 140 characters without support for images or videos.
  • LIVEpartner: LIVEpartners offered news updates related to lifestyle topics such as travel, fashion, automobiles, and current events when added as buddies by users. These providers linked to external websites for more comprehensive information. As of May 2013, there were 52 LIVEpartners available.

Samsung provided an API enabling developers to create software that interacted with ChatON via an HTTPS connection.[6]

See also

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References

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  6. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).

External links

Template:Instant messaging

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