WordPress.com Owner Automattic Acquires Texts.com, Enhancing Messaging Experience for Users
In a recent announcement, Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com and Tumblr, revealed its acquisition of the all-in-one messaging app Texts.com. This strategic move adds to Automattic’s growing portfolio of online platforms and tools designed to improve the modern web experience.
Texts.com stands out from other similar apps with its end-to-end encryption feature, ensuring the privacy and security of users’ chats. Additionally, it offers highly sought-after functionalities, including the ability to schedule messages at the recipient’s convenience and mark messages as unread on platforms that lack this capability. The app also provides users with summaries of lengthy group chats, keeping them up to date even if they missed the conversation.
Automattic’s CEO, Matt Mullenweg, expressed his personal frustration with juggling multiple messaging apps and the difficulty of tracking conversations across different platforms. This frustration led to Automattic’s investment in various messaging solutions, including Element and Beeper. However, Texts.com caught Mullenweg’s attention for its impressive product offering.
The acquisition of Texts.com allows Automattic to venture into the messaging market, which Mullenweg believes is essential to the modern web experience. Automattic’s existing platforms cater to online publishing, e-commerce, blogging, and social networking. With Texts.com, Automattic further expands its capabilities and aims to develop the app quickly while maintaining a user-centric focus.
Mullenweg also acknowledged the regulatory landscape as a crucial factor in the viability of this acquisition. The stringent EU regulations on tech giants, such as Apple, Google, and Meta, potentially favor smaller players like Texts.com due to its user-centric approach, client-side operation, and robust encryption. The app’s security measures make it comparable to desktop apps, eliminating concerns about its compatibility with Apple’s ecosystem.
Texts.com emphasizes its commitment to user privacy by ensuring that messages never pass through its servers. Instead, they are sent directly to the respective platforms, preserving end-to-end encryption. This approach aligns with Automattic’s user-centric values, focusing on supporting diverse messaging preferences.
The Texts.com founder, Kishan Bagaria, and the entire Texts.com team will join Automattic through this acquisition. The collaboration aims to further improve the messaging experience for users and capitalize on the synergies between the two companies.
Texts.com operates on various operating systems, including Mac, Windows, and Linux, with iOS and Android apps in development. Currently, it supports iMessage on Mac and SMS on all platforms. Other major messaging apps, such as WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, Messenger, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, IRC, Slack, and Discord DMs, are also available on Texts.com.
By expanding its portfolio to include Texts.com, Automattic continues to demonstrate its commitment to empowering users and providing innovative solutions for the evolving digital landscape.
