After years of conceding to the innovations of rivals like Google and Facebook, Yahoo finally launched the latest version of its messenger app, which is called LiveText.

For so long, Yahoo stood on the sidelines as chat and messaging platforms like Facebook Messenger, Skype, Google Hangouts, and Whatsapp took control of the smartphone platform. Today, LiveText launched with a promise to be "the most natural way to have real conversations."

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The app's official name for its iOS release is "Yahoo Livetext - Video Messenger." According to Techcrunch, the app aims to help customers experience a new form of video texting with a blend of text messages that could include a silent video without an audio feed. This way, users are presented with smoother communication that allows them to show their reactions to the discussions or conversations in real-time, without the fuss of including a video clip along with their messages.

Tech giant Yahoo has been silent previous to this launch, but even after the fact, they have had little to divulge. The same Techcrunch article said that a Yahoo correspondent had this to say about the launch: "We're always experimenting with new product experiences that delight our users. We have nothing further to share at this time." The correspondent also included his own silent video to go along with his message.

Other sources report that this new app looks like the brainchild of a series of acquisitions, which the tech company has made over the past years. This includes the purchase of apps like MessageMe. Reportedly, Yahoo has also acquired some talent who used to work for famous messaging platforms like Kicksend.

In terms of reach, Yahoo's LiveText could prove to be appealing to millennials who need to send messages to friends in class, in meetings, or other places where sound is discouraged. This brings back memories of the GIFs which were so popular back in the day, and it just might prove to make a comeback in social media.

For now, LiveText is only available from the Hong Kong iTunes app store. While this means that it is only in the market test phase, there's no telling exactly what the future holds for Yahoo and its new messenger service.

TagsYahoo, messenger, apps