KakaoTalk Overhaul Adds Social Media, AI

KakaoTalk, the nation’s messenger, is undergoing a major overhaul after 15 years.

Kakao announced the KakaoTalk overhaul plan, which it had been pursuing under the name "Big Bang Project," at the "if Kakao 25" developer conference held at the Kakao AI (Artificial Intelligence) Campus in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, on the 23rd. KakaoTalk, which has focused on chat services since its launch in 2010, is being rebranded as "KakaoTalk 2.0" with the addition of numerous social media features and AI after 15 years. Chung Shin-a, Kakao’s Chief Executive Officer, CEO, said, "This scale of change is unprecedented in KakaoTalk’s history," and added, "We aim to prepare for Kakao’s next 15 years by listening to users’ voices and swiftly responding to changes in the era." The updated KakaoTalk with new features will be rolled out sequentially starting in the afternoon of the 23rd.

◇ Addition of social media features... Message editing function also included

The biggest change is the overhaul of the first tab, the "Friends" tab, from the existing phonebook format to a social media service similar to "Instagram." The "Friends" tab previously displayed the phonebook list registered on the mobile phone in "alphabetical" order. However, it will now be reorganized to show various posts uploaded by users. This will display profile photos, status messages, and posts on the profile home. A feature to set the visibility range so that posts can be shown only to desired people will also be applied.

The second tab, the "Chatting" tab, will also be overhauled. A "Message Edit" function, allowing users to edit sent messages within 24 hours, has been added. Edited messages will be marked with small text reading "Edited" at the bottom. A "Chat Room Folder" feature will be introduced, allowing users to categorize chat rooms as "Family," "Friends," "Workplace," "Ads," "Public Institutions," etc., according to their preference. Users can create up to 10 folders, each containing up to 100 chat rooms. Additionally, an "Unread" folder, which collects unread messages separately, will be added. Tapping the "Unread" tab will sort only the chat rooms with unread messages. A source from Kakao said, "In the future, we plan to add a feature that allows users to preview unread conversations without entering group chat rooms."

The "Reply" function, which allowed users to select specific messages to respond to, will be removed and replaced with a "Comment" feature. This feature will manage comments on messages posted in group chats, organizing them by specific topics. Hong Mintaek, Kakao’s Chief Product Officer, CPO, said, "This feature will first be applied to open chat rooms."

The "Voice Talk" feature, which allows voice calls through KakaoTalk, will also be updated. By pressing a single button, users can record Voice Talk calls, and AI will immediately transcribe or summarize the conversation. Hong CPO said, "Some may find the new KakaoTalk overhaul convenient, while others may find it unfamiliar," and added, "The overhaul is an attempt to provide a better conversation experience."

◇ AI search, conversation summarization, and more to be applied within this year

Kakao will significantly implement AI features in KakaoTalk. The goal is to enable AI to handle searches, schedule management, reservations, and payments within KakaoTalk. First, the search function will be provided by applying Kakao’s AI service "Kanana." Currently, the "#" (hash) button on the far right of the chat input window allows searches, but this will be replaced by the Kanana search function. A feature where Kanana summarizes conversations in chat rooms with unread messages is also planned. This will summarize the conversations in the "Unread" folder among the newly applied "Chat Room Folders." A source from Kakao said, "This feature allows users to quickly check conversation content without having to go through dozens of messages one by one."

Additionally, OpenAI’s ChatGPT will be applied starting next month. Earlier, Kakao announced a collaboration with OpenAI in February. By pressing the "ChatGPT" button at the top of the chat tab, users will be able to use ChatGPT, which will utilize OpenAI’s latest model, GPT-5. Users can use the same search and image generation features available in the existing ChatGPT. The "Kakao Agent" will also be released next month. It operates various Kakao services such as KakaoMap and Melon through AI. Users can access these services by simply requesting the AI without having to launch separate apps.

◇ Success of KakaoTalk overhaul depends on user evaluation

Kakao’s extensive overhaul of KakaoTalk is analyzed as an intention to increase user engagement time and improve profitability. The average monthly engagement time per user decreased from 822 minutes in May 2021 to 686 minutes in January of this year. Many users in their 10s and 20s do not install KakaoTalk on their smartphones at all and communicate through Instagram, Telegram, etc. An IT industry insider said, "From Kakao’s perspective, it seems they had no choice but to add social media features to attract this generation to KakaoTalk," and added, "They can also improve profitability by inserting ads between various posts on the Friends tab." Kakao has already started placing ads between chat lists from the beginning of this month.

The success of the KakaoTalk overhaul depends on the evaluations of the majority of users. Among users who tried the updated KakaoTalk in the afternoon of the 23rd, reactions were mixed depending on the feature. One user said, "I was taken aback by unexpected posts appearing after the update that I wasn’t particularly interested in," while another said, "I’m relieved that the message editing feature, which I really needed, has been implemented."

A source from Kakao said, "We will listen to user feedback regarding this large-scale overhaul and improve the features accordingly," and added, "We will continue to provide updates for a comfortable user experience in the future."