There are also a number of live streaming apps (Periscope, Meerkat, and YouNow) and social apps (Instagram and Twitter) that integrate chat functionality, letting users directly communicate with other participants in real time.
Moreover, real time chats are considered one of the core features of most dating apps (including Tinder, Grindr, and Pure).
Hosted services are ready-made solutions that offer a quick and easy way to add messaging capabilities to your app using just a few lines of code.
Implementing a turnkey messaging solution allows businesses to focus on what makes their app different from others (unique features or style) while a messaging service provider takes care of the messaging.
Roughly speaking, a self-hosted solution is something between a chat project developed from scratch and a ready-made solution provided by a third-party platform.
Layer provides client and server APIs and SDKs and an impressive UI toolkit (Atlas) that enables developers to build rich and engaging messaging experiences that are “on par with iMessage and Facebook Messenger.”
