SOMA Messenger is a

cross-platform In computing, cross-platform software (also called multi-platform software, platform-agnostic software, or platform-independent software) is computer software that is designed to work in several computing platforms. Some cross-platform software ...

instant messaging Instant messaging (IM) technology is a type of online chat allowing real-time text transmission over the Internet or another computer network. Messages are typically transmitted between two or more parties, when each user inputs text and trigge ...

and communication application that specializes in video calls and voice calls for

smartphones A smartphone is a Mobile device, portable computer device that combines Mobile phone, mobile telephone and Mobile computing, computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities ...

. Users can also send each other

text messages Text messaging, or texting, is the act of composing and sending electronic messages, typically consisting of alphabetic and numeric characters, between two or more users of mobile devices, desktops/ laptops, or another type of compatible comput ...

emoticon An emoticon (, , rarely , ), short for "emotion icon", also known simply as an emote, is a pictorial representation of a facial expression using characters—usually punctuation marks, numbers, and letters—to express a person's feelings, m ...

s, images, videos, voice messages, contacts, user location, as well as create group chats, group video calls and conference calls. It was first released in July 2015, and grew to 10 million users within 30 days of its release, making it one of the fastest growing messaging apps globally. As of 1 July 2020, the app is no longer available for iOS or Android. In August 2015, it was the most downloaded app on both

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also include ...

and

Android Android may refer to: Science and technology * Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), Google's mobile operating system ** Bugdroid, a Google mascot sometimes referred to ...

in every country in the Middle East. SOMA Messenger is headquartered in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

with branch offices in China and the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at ...

, with

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived ...

and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

offices opening soon. SOMA Messenger has a total of 35 employees globally.

Etymology

The name of the

software Software is a set of computer programs and associated software documentation, documentation and data (computing), data. This is in contrast to Computer hardware, hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. ...

SOMA stands for “Simple Optimized Messaging App”. It's also a reference to the

Soma Soma may refer to: Businesses and brands * SOMA (architects), a New York–based firm of architects * Soma (company), a company that designs eco-friendly water filtration systems * SOMA Fabrications, a builder of bicycle frames and other bicycl ...

(South of Market) district of

History

Instanza Inc. was founded in 2011 in

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

to address the problem of communicating with people across different time zones. It was one of the first

startups A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship refers to all new businesses, including self-employment and businesses that never intend t ...

incubated in the

Harvard Innovation Lab Harvard Innovation Labs (i-Lab) is an institution which aims to promote team-based and entrepreneurial activities among Harvard students, faculty, entrepreneurs, and members of the Allston and Greater Boston communities. The i-Lab's mission is to ...

just outside

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

. At the time, they developed the communication app Coco Voice and 4 years later, they launched SOMA Messenger, a messenger for the global community. It offered a broader set of user-friendly communication tools that were focused on consumer

security" \n\n\nsecurity.txt is a proposed standard for websites' security information that is meant to allow security researchers to easily report security vulnerabilities. The standard prescribes a text file called \"security.txt\" in the well known locat ...

and

privacy Privacy (, ) is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves, and thereby express themselves selectively. The domain of privacy partially overlaps with security, which can include the concepts of a ...

Technical

SOMA Messenger launched as the world's fastest messenger app, delivering high quality voice, video calls, and text messaging with a wide range of other communication features and capabilities with no buffering. SOMA Messenger uses proprietary distributed

server Server may refer to: Computing *Server (computing), a computer program or a device that provides functionality for other programs or devices, called clients Role * Waiting staff, those who work at a restaurant or a bar attending customers and su ...

technology with servers strategically placed in multiple countries to provide fast speeds and stability. In addition to making voice and video calls more stable, SOMA Messenger's distributed server infrastructure allows for voice and video calls to be accessed in high quality in almost every country in the world. Each interaction on SOMA Messenger is handled by a server in the nearest country to the user.

Features

SOMA Messenger supports unlimited free service with no additional charges for international calls or messages. After downloading SOMA Messenger, users can invite their friends to also sign up for the service. Users can send text messages to their contacts even if the recipient hasn't downloaded the app, with these messages including a link for them to download SOMA Messenger as well. Users can select from a variety of template status messages, and can track their usage statistics via their profile. Users can see the number of messages, calls and photos they've sent and received. In November 2015, SOMA Messenger announced that it launched free, high-quality group video and voice calls on mobile, for up to four participants. The new video and voice features function cohesively within a group communication, allowing users the choice to have a conversation via text, voice, video, or combination of all three. SOMA Messenger supports text message,

push-to-talk Push-to-talk (PTT), also known as press-to-transmit, is a method of having conversations or talking on half-duplex communication lines, including two-way radio, using a momentary button to switch from voice reception mode to transmit mode. H ...

voice message, video message, emoticons as well as contact and location sharing. SOMA Messenger supports group messaging with up to 500 people. SOMA Messenger supports

end-to-end encryption End-to-end encryption (E2EE) is a system of communication where only the communicating users can read the messages. In principle, it prevents potential eavesdroppers – including telecom providers, Internet providers, malicious actors, and eve ...

for all messages and communication using a

cryptographic protocol A security protocol (cryptographic protocol or encryption protocol) is an abstract or concrete protocol that performs a security-related function and applies cryptographic methods, often as sequences of cryptographic primitives. A protocol descr ...

based on 2048-bit-RSA and 256-bit-AES.

Security

SOMA Messenger has strict

security policies Security policy is a definition of what it means to ''be secure'' for a system, organization or other entity. For an organization, it addresses the constraints on behavior of its members as well as constraints imposed on adversaries by mechanisms ...

that apply to all messages, including voice and video calls, texts, images, or voice messages, everywhere in the world. All messages and calls are

encrypted In cryptography, encryption is the process of encoding information. This process converts the original representation of the information, known as plaintext, into an alternative form known as ciphertext. Ideally, only authorized parties can decip ...

using a combination of 2048-bit RSA and 256-bit AES. All messages, no matter where they come from or where they are sent, are permanently deleted from SOMA Messenger's servers immediately after delivery. Undelivered messages expire and are permanently deleted after seven days from the server. Messages are never stored on SOMA Messenger's servers or in any

cloud In meteorology, a cloud is an aerosol consisting of a visible mass of miniature liquid droplets, frozen crystals, or other particles suspended in the atmosphere of a planetary body or similar space. Water or various other chemicals may ...

after they are deleted, and phone numbers stored in users address books cannot be seen by SOMA Messenger. Chat history and message content is stored only on a user's device. In September 2015, SOMA Messenger released security updates for Android and iOS. The updates include optimization of the messenger's secure encryption algorithm. The makers claim it is “safe enough for the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

.”

Privacy

SOMA Messenger asks for only the essential user permissions required for the app to function. These permissions are requested in order for the app's basic functions to work, such as sending photos, recording voice messages, voice and video chatting, and location sharing.

End-to-end encryption End-to-end encryption (E2EE) is a system of communication where only the communicating users can read the messages. In principle, it prevents potential eavesdroppers – including telecom providers, Internet providers, malicious actors, and eve ...

is used for maximum privacy, and SOMA Messenger stores the

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (ma ...

only on a user's device. SOMA Messenger does not have access to users’ address books or phone numbers. In September 2015, SOMA Messenger made an update to the app's user permission requests by removing all redundant user permissions. As of the update, SOMA Messenger requires fewer permissions than similar messaging services such as

WhatsApp WhatsApp (also called WhatsApp Messenger) is an internationally available freeware, cross-platform, centralized instant messaging (IM) and voice-over-IP (VoIP) service owned by American company Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook). It allows user ...

and

Skype Skype () is a proprietary telecommunications application operated by Skype Technologies, a division of Microsoft, best known for VoIP-based videotelephony, videoconferencing and voice calls. It also has instant messaging, file transfer, ...

References

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External links

Official Website
Android (operating system) software IOS software Instant messaging clients Cross-platform mobile software Communication software Companies based in California Companies based in San Francisco