Kik has become one of the most popular instant messaging applications among young people and teenagers. Like Snapchat or Facebook Messanger, Kik’s main goal is to send text messages to one or more friends at a time.
To start using Kik, sign in with your email and password and allow this app to access your contacts. From there, it’s pretty simple to message a person on Kik.
Before you start
When you download the application, you must register your account. Tap the Register button on the home screen and enter your information. Once you complete this step, press the Register button again to confirm. If you have already registered, tap “Sign in” and enter your password and email.
Your contacts
The first time you log in, Kik will ask you to access your contacts. Press OK and the app will search for email addresses, names, and phone numbers to find other Kik users.
If you don’t want to do this right away, there is a way to do it manually later. Tap the “gear” icon to access Settings, then select “Chat Settings” and press Address Book Matching.
Add more friends
Sometimes the person you want to message using Kik isn’t in your contacts. If so, you can easily add them as long as they have a Kik account.
Tap the speech bubble at the top right and select search. Enter your friend’s real name or Kik username and choose Add. The same menu allows you to search for public Kik interest groups. Simply type in keywords like pets, fashion, or celebrities, for example. And you will be given a list of available groups.
Need to confirm your email address?
This step is not necessary to start chatting or finding friends on Kik. However, confirming your email is still a good idea because it allows you to recover your password.
Look for the message “Welcome to Kik Messenger!” email, open it and click or tap “Click here to complete your registration.”
Note: The welcome email may end up in your spam or junk folder. If you can’t find it, ask Kik to resend the email.
Messaging on Kik
Sending messages on Kik is not rocket science. Tap the speech bubble menu, select a friend and type their text in the message box. Hit Send once you’re done typing and you’re done.
Note: On some devices, the Send button is actually a blue speech bubble. So if there is no Send, press the speech bubble.
Add emoticons
Emoticons are there to give color and character to your Kik messages. Press the “emoticon” icon on the keyboard to reveal the emoticon window and tap one to add it to the text.
If you are not satisfied with the selection, you can get more emoticons in the Kik store. Tap the “plus” icon in the emoticon window and you’ll be taken directly to the store.
Video and photo messages
Like other messaging apps, Kik allows you to send videos or photos. There is a small camera icon below the chat box. Once you tap it, Kik will ask you to allow access to the reel. Press OK/Allow and select the image or video you want to send.
You can also write a message that goes with the content.
Photos and videos on the go
You can take photos, selfies or videos from the image/video sharing menu. Press the large circle at the bottom of the screen to record a video or tap it to take a photo. Hit Send when you’re done and that’s it.
Other content
In addition to photos and videos, Kik lets you send memes, YouTube videos, stickers, and more. Again, tap the “plus” icon and select a small balloon. The following menu gives you some options:
- Memes – use images to create a custom meme
- Sketch – create a cool doodle and send it to your friends
- Stickers – add stickers to your messages (the Kik store has a large selection of stickers, but some of them are not free)
- best sites – choose a website from the list of popular sites and send the link
- Image Search – browse the internet for images based on keywords you type
- Youtube videos – find your favorite video and tap it to share it
What about audio messages?
Kik is an easy-to-use messaging app with many cool features. Still, you can’t send audio messages like with Facebook Messenger, but there is a way to fix this problem. Press the big circle to record video, cover your camera and say whatever you want.
The app also includes read receipts, so it’s easy to track whether the recipient has read your message. For example, S means sent, D for delivered, and R for read.
