Charge Bot Arrives In Messenger
Remember the short-lived days of PDAs, or better yet, the Apple Newton? The notion of a personal digital assistant never fully came to fruition as a standalone device. Rather, PDAs opened innovators' eyes to the idea of 2-in-1 devices now known as smartphones.
Siri and Google Now provide smartphone users with voice-operated personal assistance, which transformed the vision, or voice, of a PDA into something regular people could use. While Siri provides a treasure trove of knowledge and snarky responses, a voice-recognition bot is really only useful if and when you have the time to chat.
While voice recognition is neat, the growth in textual communication is undeniable. A Pew Research study earlier this year found that “text messaging is the most widely-used smartphone feature”. Whether we are communicating with friends via SMS, email, social media, or apps like our very own Charge Messenger, typing is increasingly our mode of choice.
The transition from voice to text paved the way for an explosion of text-based bots. Instead of having to talk to Siri, service developers are increasingly creating textbots to help automate solutions.
Yay! You don’t have to be “that guy” talking at your phone on the bus anymore.
We crafted a bot to better assist new users in navigating our Charge Messenger app. The Charge bot, who we dubbed “Chargie”, is a friendly assistant built right into the app. Download Messenger and you'll instantly have a new best friend! Chargie will walk you through the process of sending a message and even show you how to utilize fun features like our +GIF button.
Today’s software bots are pushing to fulfill the PDA’s promise of a personal assistant in your pocket. The move towards automation or “smart” systems produces a new form of assistance, giving developers the ability to write software bots that make onboarding easier, answer FAQs and potentially much more.
So how can Chargie make your life easier? He is a work in progress, but he wants to know how Charge Messenger can improve. Say hello to Chargie and let him know if you have feedback :)
Love,
The Charge Team