To Mark Its First Birthday Yo Unveils Photo Messaging and Group Chats The overhaul is basically Yo with frills.
By Laura Entis
Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.
Remember Yo? Launched a year ago, the app's premise is ridiculously simple: It sends the word "Yo" to contacts who also have the app installed.
That was the old Yo, though.
Since its launch and having raised a miraculous $1.5 million from investors, the app has attempted a pivot into usefulness, allowing users to "Yo" a host of developers and publishers and receive notifications on everything from breaking news to nearby restaurant recommendations. But the company wasn't done with its overhaul.
Yesterday, in line with this move towards relevance, the app launched an updated version. Dubbed Yo 2.0, it includes a redesigned interface along with new features such as "Yo Groups," which enables users to blast out Yo's, photos or locations to multiple people at once, and "Yo Anyone," which lets users send SMS Yo's to contacts who do not have the Yo app.
Related: New Messaging App 'Tap' Aims to Be Even Simpler Than 'Yo'
While Yo 2.0 is arguably more useful than the original Yo -- admittedly not a hard bar to clear --the new features don't make the app that much less silly, really. How many circumstances require sending a location pin drop or a selfie blast to a group of friends? As with the original Yo, the applications are suspiciously limited.
Maybe that can be fixed? Yo co-founder Danny Hakimian told Mashable that in the future, he hopes to work with third-party apps to personalize the Yo experience for individual users.
"Down the line it could be that I Yo you my location and there's an option to order a Uber to that location," he told the outlet, although there are no plans, as of yet, to partner with Uber. "Or use your current context or previous interests. We can make the notification smarter than it already is."
Is it possible to contextualize a Yo into relevance? Looks like Yo's team won't rest until they find out.
Related: The "Yo' Explosion Comes Full Circle: Viral App Gets Hacked
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