Do you use microblogging platforms like X (formerly Twitter) and Koo often to stay connected with the world and your loved ones? The user interface of X especially is hooking and in a way soothing to the eyes which is why we end up spending more time than expected. The combination of blue white and black colours fit in so well that we get drawn to it and eventually spend more time on social media. Koo on the other hand mainly plays with Yellow and white which is decent but not as effective as X.
In the Indian scenario, there are a few good options when we talk about social media. Out of them, X, Instagram, Facebook and Koo mainly dominate the landscape. However, in the aforementioned, only Koo is an app which has been made in India. Do you want to explore another made-in-India social media platform and something more than just that but don’t know which one to try? There is another such app, Khul Ke. Let’s take a dive deep into the app and see how it fares in terms of experience.
Khul Ke App Review: User Interface & The Play Of Colours
Kicking things off with the graphics. When you open the app you are greeted with the dark-themed mode which takes some strain off of your eyes by eliminating the blue light. This in a way is both akin to and different from its competitors X, Koo. Akin because both the apps offer a dark theme depending on the preference of its users and different because Khul Ke does not offer that choice to you, it just has the dark theme mode.
If we talk about the overall appearance and layout of the homepage, it appears more like YouTube which is uncommon for a social media platform. Various sections will appear on it which makes the overall layout appear more like YouTube. There is a reason behind it but, the reason will be revealed soon as it is also the differentiating factor which sets Khul Ke apart from X and Koo.
However, the appearance needs a bit more fine-tuning to make it stand tall as a competitor against X.
If you play any video then the buffering of the video somewhat resembles Netflix which gives a whole other feel to the user.
Like any other social media platform, you may join a group or in this case, a ‘Klub’ or chat with your friends who are also using the app. Let us now have a look at what other features the app brings to the table and how it is different from its competitors.
Khul Ke App Review: Key Differentiating Factors
- The first and probably the biggest reason which sets it apart is that it posts its own vox pops for the viewers to watch. In these vox pops, a range of issues are discussed with the people.
- The second reason is the presence of both long-form as well as short-form videos akin to Instagram.
- The third reason is its multifunctionality. In this app, you can also schedule meetings like you do in Gmeet.
- The fourth is interactive live-streaming.
Khul Ke App Review: Lags, Glitches
While using the app for quite some time, no lags or glitches as such were noticed. The app works just fine without any obstruction which would have resulted in it crashing suddenly.
Overall, the app is fine and is worth trying but do you have some questions in your head about this? Fret not, ABP Live is here to make your life easier.
We asked the Founder & CEO of Khul Ke, Piyush Kulshreshtha, about his creation and he generously answered some of the most frequently asked questions (FAQs) himself.
‘Serve India’s National Interest’
ABP Live first asked Kulshreshtha about how he got the idea of making such a different social media app to which he responded by saying, “The potential of social networks to mobilise the masses appeared as a very attractive idea. If these mobilisations can be towards India’s National Interests, we can gain massively from the mobilisation of 140 crore people. Since my initial attempts in 2016, the goal has remained the same.”
He also shared the reason behind such reasoning for the app. He responded by saying that open and friendly engagements are key to possibilities for valuable collaborations hence he chose the name ‘Khul Ke’ which in English means to be open.
Obviously starting anything is not easy let alone such a big social media app. The CEO shared the problems that he faced during the creation of this. He said that building an experienced team was the biggest challenge. He added, “Indians are great at using social media but we are still learning to build these platforms. So from concept to execution, marketing and onboarding, all require skills that are not easily available. But we are learning fast. And also, many trained people are expected to join us in the coming months. We are in talks.”
The journey of such creation is never easy but the help of government in this can make it easier. While talking about whether he received any help from the government for the development of this or not, Kulshreshtha said, “Not yet, but we are trying. We certainly look forward to it. Especially from the Departments of Public Relations, Education, Women and Children and Panchayats. When the government introduces policies and schemes such as Digital India, Start-up India, and Atmanirbhar Bharat, and encourages start-ups like us to invest years in developing indigenous platforms with the support of investors’ funds, it becomes vital for the government to adopt effective initiatives to support efforts of homegrown apps like ours.”
When he was asked about what differentiating factor Khul Ke have, he said, “For one, we are clearly India-centric, which means we invite usage, networking, engagement and collaboration around subjects that serve India’s National Interest. Nobody else in Social Networking is working in this direction. Secondly, the bouquet of engagement capabilities we offer on a single platform to achieve the above goal is offered by none. On Khul Ke, we offer Online Meetings, Interactive Livestreaming, Long and Short-form videos, Microblogging and Private Messaging, all on a single platform.”
Khul Ke App Review: Verdict
Khul Ke is a worth trying social media platform especially because of the kind of content that we see on it. There’s a plethora of informative content available on the platform which we can consume to increase our knowledge about the world. Additionally, the ease of setting up virtual meetings in this like we can in Teams or Google Meet adds another layer of convenience that we can enjoy.
ABP Live Rating: 8/10
Khul Ke app is available to download for free via Google Play and App Store.
