Snatch App – Text and Video Chat for Free - Interview with the developer of a fantastic app

Did you have any prior development or coding experience?

Long story short, I am a self-taught full-stack developer. As such, it is fair to say that I am proficient in both front and back-end coding.

I lead the group’s long-term technology vision and I am responsible for running all facets of the tech side of the business, which includes being the architect of the SnatchBot and Snatch App platforms and UI interfaces. I have a proven tech track record and more than fifteen years of demonstrated career success developing tech initiatives for organizations of varying size and scope. I possess in-depth experience in developing digital marketplaces within the sectors of FinTech and AI.

As CTO and founder, I have also been driving profits, performance, new Sales and I have also been bringing potential investors. I have been a pioneer in the chatbot business while joining the company in 2015 when most people ignored what chatbot and AI was all about.

I have built and developed the company’s API that serves as a source and reference for SnatchBot and Snatch App. For this purpose, SnatchApp’s users need to access SnatchBot’s functionalities so they can benefit from our expertise and give our users the experience they’ve longed for. Likewise, through SnatchApp, I have created the framework, design, content, technology, and API while building the User Interface (UI) and user experience (UX). I am also an AWS Certified Solutions Architect.

Today, my expectation while leading Snatch App and SnatchBot is to teach technology to speak and understand human language. Natural language understanding and artificial intelligence are some of the most challenging problems to solve in computer science, requiring sophisticated deep-learning algorithms to be trained on massive amounts of data and infrastructure. While leading both companies, I want to democratize these deep-learning technologies and scales automatically, negating the need to manage infrastructure.

All these achievements cannot be the fruit of only one person obviously. Across Snatch App and SnatchBot, we have a team of 70 experts in their respective fields. Mr. Ravi Jacob as chairman was also a very important milestone for the company. Indeed, Ravi was the Corporate Treasurer of Intel Corporation for 35 years.

We strive to attract the most proficient personnel at all levels of our companies, which include technical and customer service backgrounds, and we retain them by treating them with the integrity and respect they deserve.

There is mutual trust between our companies and our employees that are not commonly found in a workplace; we place responsibility on our workforce with the knowledge that they are resourceful, intelligent, and reliable. The culture we have instilled within the two separate firms allows us to act decisively and make decisions swiftly. It is on this platform that we build sustained relationships with users and partners that rely on SnatchBot and SnatchApp for sound business practices, pragmatic thinking, and creative solutions, all with our resolute devotion to excellence.

Our primary responsibility is and always will be to our community of users. As two privately-owned companies, we are able to make decisions swiftly and resolutely. We have the personnel, experience, and technology at our disposal to make intelligent connections, optimize economies of scale and create enduring partnerships.

What was the most challenging aspect of developing mobile app?

My brother and I have worked together in the Telco and Tech industry for the past 20 years. This experience has allowed us to see the transformation of the sector and more importantly to grasp the needs of users. Coming from these industries we were already familiar with the issues that communication and building application would entail. We know that a simple, reliable, and end-to-end encrypted messaging and calling app is essential for our users.

Like everything worthwhile in life, building a chat and calling app poses some challenges.

Over the past six years, our teams have worked relentlessly to build a stable and robust messaging and calling application with all the features that users should get as a basis of secured communication today: full end-to-end encryption for messages, voice, and video calls, voice messages, video messages, sharing documents (files, videos, and photos), location sharing and group collaboration.
We also added the broadcast feature and configurable ephemerality which include disappearing messages, allowing the ability to time a message so that it disappears from both the sender’s and the receiver’s devices a certain amount of time after it's read, and hiding messages).

One of the first challenges was building the server architecture which is a major part of a chat app. From the single point of entry (load balancer) through the application logic, all the way to its database and back. It was important to make sure that our database was able to scale properly. As far as databases go, we needed them to scale horizontally. Updating and storing information on our database(DB) wasn’t magic either. Though algorithms are much faster at information retrieval, with a messaging app, databases quickly become huge in size and complexity.

Overcoming security concerns
Security is not taken lightly when it comes to the cloud communication services out there. Build an always-on, strong, truly end-to-end encryption where no one can decipher the content of the messages, making it so that the private key is stored on the device itself and therefore inaccessible without the device became the requested norm today although very few applications can deliver such statement today. It was indeed a great challenge to deliver proprietary encryption and we are proud to have delivered it. . WhatsApp, Telegram had security flaws that let hackers change what you see.

Messages between Snatch App users are protected with the AES-256-CBC encryption algorithm so that third parties and Snatch App itself cannot read them and so that the messages can only be decrypted by a Recipient. Every type of Snatch App private message (including chats, images, videos, voice messages, and files) and Snatch App calls are protected by the AES-256-CBC encryption algorithm. Snatch App servers do not have access to the private keys of users and Snatch App users have the option to verify keys in order to ensure the integrity of their communication.

Snatch App users additionally have the option to verify the keys of the other users with whom they are communicating so that they are able to confirm that an unauthorized third party has not initiated a man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack. This can be done by scanning a QR code or by comparing an 80-digit number.

The QR code contains the encrypted Snatch ID. When scanning, it will be decrypted so the application will be able to confirm if a conversation is taking place only with the person the user wanted to chat with. The 80-digit number is a Combined key converted to base64 shown byte-by-byte. The User and the Recipient can compare the keys to make sure there’s no MITM attack.

Handling ubiquity
User expectations are growing and users are becoming more demanding every day. Now, users expect messenger apps to function as a tool for everything and we are currently getting there.
Snatch App was built by and for bot builders. While developing SnatchBot, we found that many of the existing channels are somewhat limited in terms of functionality. For example, even some of the most ubiquitous messaging apps, like Skype, Slack, and Facebook Messenger, are lacking in natural language processing capabilities, and no one offers voice recognition with their messaging apps. For all these reasons and more, we recognized the necessity of building our own messaging app that can accommodate the functionality and natural language processing capabilities of the bots built with SnatchBot.
We are currently integrating our Intelligent Virtual Assistant Platform called SnatchBot into Snatch App. SnatchBot is a platform for all the enterprise virtual needs, including proprietary technologies that improve and automate customer, employee, and agent experience at scale to design, build, test and deploy AI-powered virtual assistants. Snatch App is going to be the first free messaging app that provides its users access to a real chatbot directory with more than 15 000 bots already built. Each bot available on the Directory has been built on the SnatchBot platform. For users having access to a chatbot directory allow them to connect to any of their favorite brands anytime and even purchase any item without having the need to download their app or having to go through a phone call or a browser. Integrating a bot directory to Snatch App will entail having a very high percentage of increasing user engagement.
Our goal with SnatchApp is simple: We want to be the first true messaging app with powerful AI-embedded functions, which will include a virtual assistant together with access to a Bot Directory. SnatchApp will allow users to make payments (including currency exchange) to other users or third parties, such as online stores, financial institutions, and utilities, to name a few.
Nothing like SnatchApp currently exists in the European market. In Asia, the Chinese-developed WeChat has a billion users and is one of the few messaging apps that allow payments; our aim is to rival it. We have been working on these features and we do not see them as challenges but rather as tremendous opportunities.

_{The Snatch Group Ltd.}

The Snatch Group Ltd. was founded in 2015 by two entrepreneurial brothers who have thrived in the Telecom business for two decades. Based in Herzliya Pituach – the heart of the Start Up Nation- Available in 53 languages, Snatch App is the best way to connect with friends, no matter where you are. But it’s also so much more. As the only chat platform built especially for people and as a clear leader in chatbots, Snatch App is becoming the central hub for everyday life for people across the world.

Name a few of your favorite apps and reason you love them.

One App I really like is WeChat, China’s most popular messaging app with a monthly user base of 1.2 billion people. On top of being a one-stop solution messaging application, WeChat continues to advance its shopping ambitions as the social networking app turns 10 years old. The Chinese messenger facilitated 1.6 trillion yuan (close to $250 billion) in annual transactions through its “mini programs,” third-party services that run on the super app that allow users to buy clothes, order food, hail taxis, and more. WeChat introduced mini-programs in early 2017 in a move some saw as a challenge to Apple’s App Store and has over time shaped the messenger into an online infrastructure that keeps people’s lives running. It hasn’t recently disclosed how many third-party lite apps it houses, but by 2018 the number reached one million, half the size of the App Store at the time. the growth in mini program-based transactions helps further the company’s goal to strengthen its fintech business, which counts digital payments as a major revenue driver. I am a big fan of WeChat’s vision, and I strongly believe that a similar app in Europe and in the US should already be available, and I am confident Snatch App will soon deliver the same experience.

How long have you been working on this app?

Snatch App was founded on the belief that privacy is a universal right that enables innovation and economic growth. Our goal at Snatch App from day one is simple: Help people stay in contact with those they care about and in order to bring that to fruition, we’ve created an App that’s user-friendly offering real end-to-end encryption.

What need of the user did you have in mind when developing this app?

I believe Snatch App is a much better app compared to its peers in many ways. First, we can truly claim that our app has better encryption and was developed in-house. Second, our UI is more appealing than what you currently find in the market. With our deep expertise in Natural Language Processing, Voice Recognition, and Machine Learning, we will soon offer a virtual assistant to all of our users, this is what it’s going to make Snatch App a new generation messaging and mobile App. This will be complemented with our upcoming money transfer features and chatbot directory.
SnatchApp is more than just a messaging app; it is a mobile ecosystem. With a focus on AI, access to a complete chatbot directory, and payment features, SnatchApp is uniquely poised to connect people with people, individuals with services, and consumers with brands, all in the same capacity by which any conversational messaging app might be used.
Our company also plans to implement currency exchange and e-commerce capabilities in the near future to facilitate payments between individuals and enterprises, thus eliminating the need for a third-party application, and all with the highest levels of security and safety available.
According to a recent Global Web Index article, I recently read, more than 85% of Telegram, WhatsApp, and line active users desire money transfer features within their messaging Apps… Users are waiting for such features yet competitors are not listening to their community.
Payments made through messaging apps will surge. In the US, mobile wallets are expected to surpass the use of both credit and debit cards within the next few years. In-store mobile payments will reach more than $500 Billion by 2022, making in-app payments a logical next step for businesses. We have now reached a critical step whereby consumers are now entrusting their phones with access to their banking information. We, at Snatch App, understand this and we want to give that feature to our community of users.
What makes SnatchApp particularly versatile is not simply the messaging or calling functions, but the supplemental capabilities.

In what way do you think your app is better than similar apps on the market? Please describe in detail what innovation you think you bring and what you are proud of in your app.

I believe Snatch App is a much better app compared to its peers in many ways. First, we can truly claim that our app has better encryption and was developed in-house. Second, our UI is more appealing than what you currently find in the market. With our deep expertise in Natural Language Processing, Voice Recognition, and Machine Learning, we will soon offer a virtual assistant to all of our users, this is what it’s going to make Snatch App a new generation messaging and mobile App. This will be complemented with our upcoming money transfer features and chatbot directory.
SnatchApp is more than just a messaging app; it is a mobile ecosystem. With a focus on AI, access to a complete chatbot directory, and payment features, SnatchApp is uniquely poised to connect people with people, individuals with services, and consumers with brands, all in the same capacity by which any conversational messaging app might be used.
Our company also plans to implement currency exchange and e-commerce capabilities in the near future to facilitate payments between individuals and enterprises, thus eliminating the need for a third-party application, and all with the highest levels of security and safety available.
According to a recent Global Web Index article, I recently read, more than 85% of Telegram, WhatsApp, and line active users desire money transfer features within their messaging Apps… Users are waiting for such features yet competitors are not listening to their community.
Payments made through messaging apps will surge. In the US, mobile wallets are expected to surpass the use of both credit and debit cards within the next few years. In-store mobile payments will reach more than $500 Billion by 2022, making in-app payments a logical next step for businesses. We have now reached a critical step whereby consumers are now entrusting their phones with access to their banking information. We, at Snatch App, understand this and we want to give that feature to our community of users.
What makes SnatchApp particularly versatile is not simply the messaging or calling functions, but the supplemental capabilities.

What are your future plans and expected features of the coming new versions of this app?

As mentioned above, we are really excited to be offering our two new upcoming features: the implementation of the chatbot directory and money transfer features. The chatbot directory, to which SnatchApp users have full access, is therefore powered by SnatchBot, which utilizes an intelligent NLP (natural language processing) engine and peerless machine-learning capabilities. To date, SnatchBot has reached more than 100 million users; in conjunction with SnatchApp, parent company Snatch Group Limited empowers each individual user with potent AI on a robust and fully automated platform to deliver a truly unparalleled—and much desired—experience.

These two will be a real game-changer in the market. In the medium term, we will be adding compelling features of our virtual assistant that will transform the way we communicate with our friends and to ourselves. We also believe that adding real-time translation features is about to be a must and we are currently working on this, stay tuned!

Assuming new users of your app are reading this page. What do you want to ask them to do (contact you about X, Share the app, etc.)?

First I want to tell them thank you for their trust and I strongly encourage them to share their feedback with us. It is very important to us to build and maintain an ongoing dialogue with our community and listen to their feedbacks and understand their needs.

Obviously, they should share the app to everyone. They should stay tuned and wait until we will release the new and upcoming features. It will be a game changer within the industry.