Kimbho was launched on May 30 as a swadeshi option against the Facebook-owned WhatsApp messaging app, but was removed from the Google Play Store, and Apple’s App Store within a day, with Patanjali announcing that an official launch would happen later.
Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali Ayurved is all set to officially re-launch its messaging app ‘Kimbho’ on August 27. Kimbho was launched on May 30 as a swadeshi option against the Facebook-owned WhatsApp messaging app, but was removed from the Google Play Store, and Apple’s App Store within a day, with Patanjali announcing that an official launch would happen later.
After Kimbho’s removal on May 31, an official statement from Patanjali said that the app was launched only for a day for trial purposes, and that owing to “technical work (that is) in progress”, the app would be officially launched later. Also, experts then had then raised security concerns over the messaging app.
However, on Independence Day, while making the announcement for the official launch of Kimbho, which is the Sanskrit word for “what’s up”, Ramdev, who was at the Haridwar-based Patanjali Yogpeeth, said that the Independence Day must be celebrated as a day of “digital independence”, and that Kimbho was a step towards attaining digital independence.
On August 27, the app will be re-launched in New Delhi in the presence of Union Minister Nitin Gadkari. A poster announcing the “new and advanced” Kimbho app, which was shared by Ramdev on Twitter on Wednesday, mentioned: “There may be shortcomings in the ‘Kimbho’ app, (but) with all improvements we will do an official launch on August 27”.
While the official launch is on August 27, the app is ready to be downloaded and used, Acharya Balkrishna, co-founder of Patanjali Yogpeeth, wrote on Twitter on Wednesday, while requesting people to download the “swadeshi” app and to “make it famous even before the official launch”.
However, Kimbho looks like a replica of the WhatsApp, with messaging, voice calling, video calling, location sharing and almost all other features same as WhatsApp.