The way most people use Kik Messenger is as an app on their smart phones. This is unsurprising for, after all, this is how this hugely popular instant messenger chat application was designed to work in the first place. The Kik Messenger mobile app is incredibly straightforward to download and install across the overwhelming majority of mobile smartphones available today. This makes it a hugely convenient tool to both instead in touch with your current friends and to meet new people online and make new friends, even when you are on the move! However, there is a certain tendency at least for people to use Kik Messenger online from a computer be it at home, at work, or at school. In order words, using Kik Messenger without the app (application)
There is just one issue with this, and that is that if you try to find a version for Kik Messenger online you will soon realize that there is not one. There is no a web version and desktop applications of Kik Messenger. This in theory puts the Kik Messenger platform in disadvantage in relation to some of its competitors, such as the Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp. If you use the Facebook Messenger on your smart phone or any other mobile device, you could access the messenger from any computer just by launching the web browser service of your choice, including:
- Apple’s Safari
- Google Chrome,
- Internet Explorer,
- Firefox Mozilla,
- or any other internet browser
You can use those to head Facebook and login in. Similarly, you can access WhatsApp from any web browser although the process is a little bit less straightforward. For WhatsApp you will need to head over to WhatsApp app and scan the QR code with your smart phone through the WhatsApp application.
When it comes to Kik Messenger, though, the only official way of using the messaging platform would be to grab your smart phone and head over to the relevant app (application store).
So, if you have an iOS (Apple’s mobile operating system) such as an iPhone or an iPod Touch you will need to head over to the Apple App store and search for “Kik Messenger”. If, however, you have an Android Phones (Google‘s mobile operating system) smart phone, you will need to head over to the Google Play Store, instead and make a similar search to download Kik Messenger.
There is simply not a web version of the Kik Messenger platform or even an app that you could download to any devices other than smart phones.
The fact that you will not be able to access download or install the Kik Messenger app in your computer from one of the available app stores around, however, does not necessarily mean that it is impossible to have access to this great instant messaging platform from your computer. So, whether you use PC or Mac computers, there is a way for you to access Kik Messenger online from it.
Kik Messenger
The first thing that you must know about using Kik Messenger on your computer is that you will need to first make sure that you have access to the Kik Messenger on an Android device.
Okay, we realize that this may sound like a bit of a contradiction if you do not know what we really mean. So, let us explain what we mean in more detail:
You will be able to get Kik Messenger in your computer (any computer with an Internet connection) as long as you have a Google Play account. This is because the only current way in which to get access to Kik Messenger from a computer is, as we will explain later, through an Android emulator.
As we will explain later also in more detail, using an desktop app called Android emulator will give you access not only to the Kik Messenger app on your computer but also to any other free and paid apps (applications) available on the Google Play Store for Android users. So, having a functioning account on the Google Play App Store is essential.
Features of Kik Messenger Online
One of the best things about accessing Kik Messenger online from any computer is that doing so will give you access to all the many wonderful features available to all Kik Messenger app users on their smart phones.
So, using the Kik Messenger app whether on a smart phone or a computer will make no difference, at least, in terms of the features that you will be able to enjoy. And it is all for free!
The Kik Messenger app has had amazing features available to all its users since the day it was originally launched back in October 2010. Over the years, however, Kik Interactive (the company from Canada that is behind the Kik Messenger app) has been adding new features and improving on existing features constantly.
Of course, the number one feature and the reason most users are drawn to the Kik Messenger app is the one that allows them to send and receive instant messages to and from other users around the world.
There are many different instant messaging apps available other that Kik Messenger, most famously perhaps WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Telegram, WeChat, and others. Sometimes, those others messaging apps are a little bit “out there” in terms of there approach and features (like, for example, Snapchat) but what it comes to a straightforward app that allows its members to exchange text messages without imposing any word limits or any other limitations, the Kik Messenger app has to be up there among the best ones app messenger in the market.
We could not really talk about features if all you could with the Kik Messenger app was to chat with your friends. There is so much more that can be done with the Kik Messenger app whether online or using a smart phone that we would never have enough space to talk about each and every one of all the features in this article. All we can do is merely highlight the most popular features.
One of the most popular features of the Kik Messenger app is, without a doubt, the one that allows members to chat in groups.
Unlike other somehow similar instant messenger, Kik Messenger allows you to decide whether you would like to other members on an individual one to one basis or create groups for many users to chat together. Some Kik users even organize Kik parties, for which they even often put out notices on social media (more on this in the next section of this article).
Connecting with new people and making new friends on the Kik Messenger app is not only easy but also one of the main reasons many people are attracted to the application.
However, many people also like to chat to their existing friends on the Kik Messenger app. It was with such people in mind that Kik Interactive decided to create the “Address Book Matching Feature”. That feature allows the Kik users who activate it (in the app settings) to have their smart phone contacts synched with Kik Messenger and to allow other users to synch their apps with their contacts too.
This is another reason why Kik Messenger online needs to be considered as a secondary use or a complement to using it on a smart phone. Your primary use should be on your smart phone, at least, so that you can make the most of all its features.
If you think text-based messages is all that can be sent out and received on the Kik Messenger app, then you will need to think again. With the Kik Messenger app you will also be able to send and receive pictures and video files.
The benefits of using video on Kik Messenger do not stop at the possibility of sending and receiving video messages anymore. Late in 2016, Kik Messenger launched video chats. Now, it is also possible to chat on cam (whether you use the Kik Messenger app on your smart phone or on your computer using an Android emulator).
This has been one of the best things to have ever happened to Kik Messenger users. The introduction of video chat put the Kik on at least an even keel with the likes of Skype and somehow above the likes of WhatsApp or the Facebook Messenger.
Other great features include what I would term chat enhancers. By chat enhancers I mean features such as stickers, emojis, and Kik bots. Without a doubt, the most revolutionary of Kik features has been the Kik bots. The sheer number of Kik bots available but also, most importantly their scope keeps growing all the time.
From checking the local weather, getting fashion or beauty tips, translating your text messages into other languages, getting jokes, following the news, are just some of the many things that Kik bots can help you with, whether you use the app on your smart phone or access it from a computer.
Kik Messenger And Social Media
One of the advantages of using the Kik Messenger app, regardless of how to access it, is that you can combine it with your social media presence.
The best and most popular way to do this is by using your social media presence across different platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or Tumblr to advertise your Kik Messenger account.
Of course, this is not something every Kik Messenger user would want to do, but it is a popular and highly effective way to find new people to chat with online, particularly if you are creating a Kik party or are interested in joining an existing one. What is recommended regardless of whether your intention be to either create a Kik party or join one is to use the right hash tags on social media.
Using Android Emulators
Emulate (verb)- to imitate, or to match
There are many different Android emulators you can use. And as long as you already have a Google Play Store account, you will also then be able to download the Kik Messenger app through the emulator and use it from any computer.
Choosing which Android emulator to use is a very personal decision that will depend on your own personal needs. We can really recommend one Android emulator or Virtual Device Platform that would fit everyone’s needs, because there just is not such a thing. Conversely, it would not be possible to offer you a full account of each and every Android emulator currently available.
So, instead we will talk of two hugely popular Android emulators that represent the main two kinds of emulators there are: browser based (Manymo), and downloadable (Bluestacks).
So, if you are not really comfortable downloading an Android emulator, then Manymo is probably the kind of emulator that you are looking for. Also, if it is not possible for you to download software in the computer you intend to use Kik Messenger on, then you should look no further than Manymo.
Manymo is basically a website that you register in and which you should be able to access from pretty much any computer.
So, if you often use different computers, perhaps in public places such as schools or libraries, Manymo will offer you the best possible solution to accessing the Kik Messenger app or any other Android app from anywhere, even when you do not have access to your smart phone.
There are two options when registering to Manymo: one free and one available for a fee. Obviously, which one you choose is totally up to you. The good news is that if you just want to have access to the Kik Messenger app, you will only need to free version. However, you cannot rely on this version for all your Kik Messenger usage. Manymo will always be better seen as an alternative to accessing the Kik Messenger app on your smart phone.
Once you have registered to Manymo, all you will have to do is download the Kik Messenger app through it from the Google Play App, launch it, and use it with your login details as you would normally do on your smart phone.
If you are happy downloading an Android emulator on your computer, perhaps because you do not want to be bothered with having to login kik every time you wish to use the Kik Messenger app this method is for you, Bluestacks is an awesome option for you. The only problem with Bluestacks is that fairly regularly users report bugs with it. But, again, if you do not rely on Bluestacks for all your Kik Messenger usage and only use it occasionally, you may be lucky enough to never encounter any problems with it.
How To Download and Install Bluestack
Download link: https://www.bluestacks.com/
Even though it is not currently possible to use Kik Messenger without the app, there are ways that would allow you to access the app from your computer, if you so wish. If you already do this, we would love to hear from you. Likewise, if you have any feedback about this article, please leave us a message in the comments section below.