Viber has become the latest in a number of messaging and calling apps to offer in-app purchases to its users as it looks to monetize its popularity-gaining application, which we first heard about in our exclusive interview with CEO Talmon Marco in June. Today, the company has announced in-app stickers available for purchase by its 200 million users.
Viber will be creating its own paid stickers and will also license content from other sources
The company will be creating its own paid content, as well as licensing content from other sources such as television shows, characters, and more, though the company has not disclosed which characters it would be featuring. You will be able to find some free stickers in the Sticker Market — which is labeled as coming soon in an upcoming update — so not everything will require money.
Viber first introduced stickers back on December 29, 2012 for iOS and Android and then later rolled the feature out to Windows Phone on July 9, 2013, but has chosen to keep the purchases completely free. Today marks the first time the company has charged for content within the application.
An app-based doodle feature was also introduced in July so it’s possible this might eventually extend to that feature, although that’s pure speculation at this point.
In order to be ready for the launch of the new content, make sure you download the latest version of Viber onto your device. What features would you pay for in Viber? Let us know in the comments!