Rawr Avatar-Powered Messaging App Launches on iOS

Finnish developer Futurefly released its first product, Rawr, an avatar-powered messaging application on iOS. The app allows users to create an avatar to represent them during text conversations.

With Rawr, users can edit their avatar's body shape, skin color, hairstyle, mouth shape and more. While chatting with another user, both users' avatars stand at the bottom of the screen, and they will animate as users talk.

Specifically, users can trigger animations by typing hashtag commands. For instance, users can type words commands as “#dizzy” or “#flag” to trigger animations.

Users can also trigger emoji effects by typing a specific hashtag and choosing an emoji to go along with it. For example, users can type the hashtag “#eat” and select the orange emoji to make their avatar eat an orange. Users can browse the available animation commands by first typing the hashtag symbol and scrolling through the list that appears.

Finally, thanks to natural language processing, avatars may animate in response to the current conversation, even without the use of a hashtag command. For instance, when talking about the time, a user's avatar may point to their watch.

In addition to chatting with people they already know, users can also anonymously chat with other Rawr users around the world through the app's Globetrotter feature, which automatically pairs two users into a chat at random.

While they're not chatting, users can spend coins on new clothing items and accessories for their avatar. Users can earn some free coins by using the app, and they can also purchase additional coins with real money. Interested brands can partner with Futurefly to add digital versions of their products to the app.

Finally, users can take pictures of their avatars to share to social media. Users can also share specific moments from chats to social platforms.

In a statement, Rawr founder and chief product officer Oskari 'Ozz' Häkkinen commented:

The face of communication has changed dramatically over the past few years, with consumers increasingly looking for exciting and unconventional ways to talk to each other. Rawr will be at the forefront of this shift, allowing people to build avatars that reflect their personalities (or how they aspire to be), and to perform hundreds of unique and entertaining interactions with their friends. As messaging overtakes social media in terms of ubiquity and popularity, we plan to be at the forefront of innovation in the space.

Rawr is available to download for free on the iTunes App Store.