Literally everyone (93% of the population) in Korea uses KakaoTalk, the messaging app. More and more people outside Korea and even Obama uses the app with which you also can interact with companies or bands, do shopping and read the news! This article will tell you everything about the important things of KakaoTalk – it is the ultimate guide. The contents are:
The company KakaoTalk
How to download KakaoTalk
KakaoTalk web
Kakao Friends
Emoticons
About the app KakaoTalk
Gift shop
How to find friends
Log out
KakaoTalk advertising
What is the # (sharp) button for?
Types of chat
Let’s dive in!
The company KakaoTalk
Kakao is the corporation that developed the KakaoTalk app. Kakao company is a merger between Daum and Kakao. Daum is Korea’s third largest search engine / portal. Its rival Naver is Korea’s biggest search engine. In truly Korean fashion, the app (which launched in 2010) took Korea virally by storm. You could even argue that Kakao is Korea’s most successful startup. Its company culture is open and has a flat hierarchy. Tencent, the legal name of Chinese app WeChat, owns 13.5% of Kakao. Kakao’s subsidiaries are:
Kakao M (owned 76.40%)
Kakao Games
Kakao Friends
Kakao Mobility
Path, Inc.
Lycos, Inc.
Ground X
Besides the app KakaoTalk, the company publishes other apps like Daum, Daum Cafe, Daum Webtoon, KakaoMetro, KakaoBus, KakaoMap, Tistory, Brunch, KakaoMusic, KakaoHairshop and KakaoStory.
How to download KakaoTalk
There are multiple ways to download and install KakaoTalk, all of them are free.
You don’t need a Korean mobile phone number to use KakaoTalk – but many functions like # and shopping / gifting may not work without a Korean phone number.
Also, always back up your chats if you change numbers / device etc!
You cannot ever change the email address that is associated with your KakaoTalk account. So choose your email address carefully!
KakaoTalk web
You can download the web application of Kakao and login to KakaoTalk on your desktop or laptop. It is not possible yet to use Kakao in your browser. A screenshot of Kakao PC is below.
Some features of the PC version are:
Send files
Chat room with an Excel look
Change chat room transparency
Remote log out
Lock mode for privacy protection
Voice call / video call
Kakao Friends
Part of KakaoTalk’s identity and attractiveness comes from its emoticons, the funny and cute Kakao Friends.
Perhaps the most famous “Friend” is Ryan, the lion without a mane – who is not a bear (shock)!
Ryan: A male lion whose complex is his absence of a mane. “He is often misunderstood because of his large build and impassive expression, but in fact, he has an unexpected charm with the sensitivity of a young girl! Ryan was originally the successor to the throne on Dung Dung Island in Africa, but he escaped for a life of freedom! He is the reliable advisor among the Kakao Friends. His tail is short because it would be easy for him to get caught if it was long.”
If you want to use Kakao Friends stickers in your chats, there are simply too many sets to choose from! You can purchase them or send them as a gift. But don’t worry, many emoticons are also free and come automatically with KakaoTalk as soon as you download it.
You can also buy old fashioned adhesive stickers, that you can buy from Amazon, for example. Or, what about these cool looking enamel pins?
When in Seoul, you may have seen the photogenic Kakao Stores. Follow the link to check the locations of the stores. Not in Seoul? No problem, you can also find all kinds of the merchandise online.
The KakaoTalk emoticons are so popular, that many companies design their own custom sticker sets for their promotions. Brands create their own stickers and give away coupons to grow their Kakao Channel (which is similar to a Facebook Page).
Emoticons
Kakao emoticon studio
Do you want to create and sell emoticons for Kakao? That is possible with Kakao emoticon studio. You can sign up for Kakao emoticon studio with your Kakao ID. You can submit regular, moving and big emojis.
You cannot give away your emoticons for free, people have to pay for them to Kakao. The only emoticons that are free are emojis that were created by brands and special promotions.
Kakao emoticon shop
How to buy emoticons? You can visit the Kakao store in the app on your smartphone or via the website: https://e.kakao.com/. You can gift or purchase emojis there. You can use bank card (the card connected to your app / store account when on mobile) or Kakao Pay. Kakao Pay is not available yet for foreigners.
About the app KakaoTalk
Gift shop
One of the functions in KakaoTalk is sending gifts. There are many kinds of gifts that you can send. Below is a screenshot of the gift shop. Like mentioned before, you may need a Korean phone number to send gifts.
How to find friends
How to find friends on KakaoTalk? You can sync your phone’s address book with KakaoTalk. So if your contact has Kakao, that person will automatically show up. If you want to add someone new, there are 4 ways to do it, like in the screenshot below.
Just added a contact but (s)he is not in your friends list? Follow the steps below to update your contacts and to make your new friend appear.
Tap the gearbox in the top right corner
Manage friends
Refresh
Log out
Logged into a public device (desktop or laptop), but you want to log out? Grab your smartphone and follow the steps to log out remotely.
Click the gearbox in the top right
Go to “General Setting”
Go to “Privacy”
Go to “Manage Devices”
Go to “Registered Devices”
Remove the device you want to log out from.
Kakaotalk advertising
Besides creating your own custom made emoticons, there are many ways to promote your company in KakaoTalk. First, you need to make a “KakaoTalk Channel”. This is a company page where you can:
Post updates (with text, images and links)
Attract followers
Send messages to followers
Chat with followers (live or chatbot)
Post frequently asked questions (FAQs)
Start a shopping channel
Give away coupons
Advertise your channel / website / app
Check out the media kit and services to find out more about the advertising options!
What is the # (sharp) button for?
In the Kakaotalk mobile app menu, one of the four icons in the bottom is #. Doesn’t it remind you of a hashtag in Instagram? It is a little different in Kakaotalk.
Click it and you will see various media released news and entertainment contents such as news, shopping, movies, or sports appear. These are all sourced by ‘Daum news’ and the online community service ‘Daum Cafe’ (a Cafe is similar to a Facebook Group or subreddit).
You will also find “#” right next to the text box and emoticon button in your chat room. Press # then type in a word you want to look up. It will search and return results in people, news, images, websites from Daum’s search engine.
Have you ever had to switch apps to a browser or search engine to look something up while in chat with your buddy? In Kakaotalk chat you don’t need to do that at all. You can just do your search right there in the chat without going back and forth. Sharing the result with your contact is easy. Just press the yellow speech bubble buttom in the below. How convenient!
Note: the sharp (#) menu is only available if you use KakaoTalk with a Korean mobile number OR if you change the app language to Korean!
Types of chat
Besides the regular chat we all are familiar with, there is also a little unknown “Secret Chat” and fascinating “Open Chat” in Kakaotalk.
Firstly, secret chat is used to protect privacy in a 1 on 1 chat. Ideal for any user who is privacy conscious. Similar to secret chat in Telegram, Kakaotalk secret chat also uses end to end encryption and leaves no traces on their server. It just saves the data in your mobile. Secret chat is not accessible from Kakaotalk on your computer (like WhatsApp). It won’t show a preview of messages or photos unless you click and enter in that specific secret chat room. Instead of preview, it simply says ‘secret message’.
Next, there we have the bursting Open Chat. Open Chat room is a place where any Kakaotalk user can join and interact with others. Users are free to join and create a new chat room of their own interests. For example, there is an English Premier League Fan chatroom, a doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals chatroom and a Tesla model 3 owners chatroom – these are just few to name.
It seems certain that the open chat creates a new space where users share and connect with people beyond their contact lists. It has also become a hot place where marketing and advertising is very active.
KakaoTalk is free of charge with internet connection, wherever you are in the world. Engage in lively chat with friends with KakaoTalk's 1:1 and group chats. Send and receive chat and multimedia messages such photos, videos and more.
KakaoTalk not only has audio calling feature but also feature video chats as well. In addition, the instant messaging app also has animated emoticons as well. Unlike WhatsApp it doesn't need your mobile number but works on KaTalk ID.
In KakaoMap you can now change your preferred language from Korean to English, and search for locations in English. Kakao have been slowly integrating English accessibility into many of their apps, from their free messaging app, to their rideshare app.
You don't need a Korean mobile phone number to use KakaoTalk – but many functions like # and shopping / gifting may not work without a Korean phone number. Also, always back up your chats if you change numbers / device etc!
If you don't remember a friend's Kakao ID, you may use her or his phone numbers. The specific steps are as follows: Step 1: Access the Kakao Talk application, at the main page, click on the magnifying glass icon. Step 2: Click on Add Contacts and proceed to enter the phone number.
Short answer: Yes. WhatsApp is allowed in South Korea, and most of its population uses this app to communicate with friends and family and even with their colleagues.
Is KakaoTalk a Dating App? No, at least not intentionally. Some might be confused since the app involves chatting, but KakaoTalk is used by all generations in South Korea, with its main purpose being P2P communication.
1. KakaoTalk. Kakao Talk is the most popular messaging app in Korea used by almost the entire population. It is usually abbreviated as 'KaTalk' or just 'Kakao' by its Korean users.
WhatsApp is a popular voice, video, and text chat app, but there are many alternatives to choose from as well. Similar apps that offer end-to-end encryption include Telegram, Signal, and Threema.
If you unregister from KakaoTalk, all of your data including your phone number, friends list and chat history will be deleted. Your friends will no longer see you on their friends list and you will no longer be able to chat with them. Please note that your data cannot be restored even if you reinstall the app later.
Koreans began using the Kakaotalk app as it was a free application. They could save money through the app as normal texting costs money. It is not that Koreans hate using normal texts, but why pay when you can text for free?
Kakao Corp. (then known as Kakao Inc.) is based in Seoul, South Korea. Manson Yeo and Sean Joh serve as the current co-CEOs. In August 2013, three of globally ranked top 10 Android games (according to analytics provider App Annie) are tied into the KakaoTalk platform—Everybody's Marble, Cookie Run, and Anipang.
Request a ride up to 30 days in advance, at any time and on any day of the year. Press the down arrow key to interact with the calendar and select a date. Press the escape button to close the calendar. Selected date is 2022/12/25.
KakaoTalk is one of the most popular mobile messaging apps in South Korea. According to Kakao Corp, in Q3 2022, there were 53.5 million active users worldwide and more than 47.6 million were based in South Korea. On average, 1 billion messages are sent daily through KakaoTalk.
Secret Chat uses end-to-end encryption which offers greater levels of privacy and bolsters security of user information. All messages are encrypted with a key held only by the participants of the chat so no third parties can access secret chat content without accessing the device itself.
If you hide your friends, they will be removed from your friends list. (You will still receive messages from your hidden friends.) If you want to reinstate any hidden friends to your friends list, go to the Friends tab, tap the three-dotted button on the top-right corner and select Manage Friends.
WhatsApp. Don't bother adding an international plan to your phone service for the time you are in South Korea. Instead, download WhatsApp. WhatsApp is a free multiplatform messaging app that lets you make video and voice calls, send text messages and more - all with just a Wi-fi connection.
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Age Requirement: According to KaKao's Terms of Service, if you are under 14 years of age, your parent or legal guardian's consent must be obtained to create your KAKAO account.
However, there are a few ways for foreigners to use Naver Pay and Kakao Pay without a Korean bank account or phone number. For example, foreign visitors can link their credit cards to a Naver or Kakao account, or use a prepaid card that can be purchased at convenience stores.
* NOTE : You may only use one Kakao Account per mobile number (and vice versa); you may not set more than one number to your Kakao Account. It is possible to have more than one mobile number registered to separate Kakao Accounts using a separate email address.
The app is not connected to your phone number, so you can use it on devices such as tablets without needing a SIM card. You do not need a SIM card to log in: is this important to you?
If you don't have a Korean phone number, you won't be able to add a card to the Kakao Taxi app. Registering a card is convenient for expats living in Korea, but not necessary for tourists and impossible without a Korean phone number anyway.
The app is also used by 93% of smartphone owners in South Korea, where it is the most widely used messaging app for smart phones and personal computers. ... KakaoTalk.
Screenshot Screenshot showing the "Live Talk" feature in a group chat
MEEFF is the place for you. Regardless of race, language, or nationality, you can find your potential best friends here. In MEEFF community, you can find a significant number of Korean users who would like to make international friends or learn foreign languages.
South Korea loves social media. If you have a presence on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp or even Battle.net, you can find friends in Korea without even leaving the house. You can even use these social platforms to meet people before you arrive in Korea.
Secret Chat uses end-to-end encryption which offers greater levels of privacy and bolsters security of user information. All messages are encrypted with a key held only by the participants of the chat so no third parties can access secret chat content without accessing the device itself.
KakaoTalk ID is an identification username used in place of a phone number. Users can easily search and add friends by KakaoTalk IDs instead of by phone number.
To start a Video Call, KakaoTalk users simply need to open up their friend's profile page and press the Free Call button. This reveals a secondary menu from which users can choose between the pre-existing Voice Call or the newly added Video Call.
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