Peanut, a mobile app for women has added a video chat feature to assist users amid the coronavirus crisis. Peanut started with its focus on motherhood and has expanded over the years to cater to women who want to discuss different topics like pregnancy, parenthood, marriage, etc.
Like many social media apps, Peanut too saw a rise in its usage amid the coronavirus outbreak and had a 30% increase in engagement. The app also saw a rise in followers as it went from 1 million in December 2019 to 1.6 million in April 2020.
Peanut kicked off by providing a dating app like experience to users by matching users with new people. This idea came to Michelle Kennedy - CEO of Peanut, who previously served as former deputy CEO of the dating app Badoo, she was also a board member at Bumble. The app allowed users to swipe profiles to find their "match." Before COVID-19, women used to match with other nearby women to meet up face to face and even find playdates for their children.
But ever since lockdowns were imposed, the app's users have been looking for a new way to connect with each other, said the company. This increased the number of requests for a video chat feature in the app that the company has now rolled out.
The company says that this new addition will be great for women to support each other and connect their network during these difficult times. Via video chat, mothers can even introduce their kids to other children or just chat with other moms about life.
To make use of this feature, the user will have to connect with another user before to direct message to each other. Users can exchange photos, texts and send GIFs to make conversations interesting and now even video call each other with just a tap of a button.
Peanut has said that feature will be launched today and that the company is also working on introducing a group chat feature pretty soon that users have asked for.
