The competition between the mobile VoIP and messaging apps of the world is continually rising as new features, additions, and acquisitions are made seemingly every single day. Not content to rest on its laurels, LINE has also decided to embrace this new normal.
LINE CEO Akira Morikawa announced a collaboration with Metaps, an ad network which has built up over 120 million downloads from partner apps in 22 months, to promote third party Android apps and developers around the world through an incentivised third party app discovery feature.
LINE Coins can be earned by installing apps and then exchanged for in-app purchases
Called “LINE Free Coin,” the service looks to push selected apps in front of LINE users, who are given virtual currency called “LINE Free Coin” for installing these applications. The LINE Coin can then be exchanged for in-app goods and services. These services may include everything from stickers to games, though it isn’t specified what exactly the virtual currency can be spent on.
It definitely marks a new direction for LINE and could also represent the future of the mobile VoIP and messaging space as app makers look at new and different ways to monetize their services for a new and growing generation of app users. No word yet on when and if this service will roll out to other platforms, but download the latest version of LINE here so you’ll be ready if and when it does come to your platform.