[DigitalToday reporter Ho-jung Lee (이호정)] Kakao introduced a reply feature in KakaoTalk open chat through the 26.1.0 update. It aims to address the inconvenience of mixed conversations in open chatrooms with many participants and increase focus on topic-based discussions.

Kakao said on Jan. 28 that the key to the update is a reply function that lets users focus on a single message. Previously, when many people sent messages at the same time, conversations on a specific topic were often cut off or mixed with other discussions.

With the new feature, users can continue a conversation by posting replies to a specific message. It allows users to maintain the flow of communication on a topic of interest even as other conversations take place. The feature was first applied to the Open Chat Community and was verified there, and it will be rolled out sequentially to regular open chatrooms starting with this update.

Improving work efficiency with shared call summaries, simpler file viewing

The update also includes a large number of features that use the artificial intelligence (AI) tool Kanana to improve work and communication efficiency.

First, it added a feature to share VoiceTalk call summaries. Previously, AI Kanana only provided a text summary of the call, but now users can immediately share the summary in the chatroom or in another chatroom. It is expected to make collaboration easier by conveying key context with the summary alone, without adding separate explanations.

How users view files in chatrooms has also been improved with a user experience (UX) focus. Previously, users had to open and close each file one by one to check what was sent. With the overhaul, users can now swipe left and right on the file preview screen to review files continuously, like viewing photos or videos.

It also added a new feature to create short videos using images within KakaoTalk. Users can choose 1 of 15 Kanana templates and generate and share videos easily without special editing skills.