the Hike ads. Facebook has not publicly responded to Hike's allegations whereas it's worth noting that Facebook-owned WhatsApp is the rival service to the Hike messaging app in the Indian market. April Fools' pranks On April 1, 2014, the app pranked its users with "HikeCoin", which was modeled after Bitcoin for direct cash transfers by announcing that a photo of real monetary note, attached and sent to friends would make the physical note invalid. On March 31, 2016, Hike announced "Hike Smell", a fictional feature added as a prank on April Fools' Day. Users were informed that by using special sensors in their smartphones, they could capture and attach smells to their messages. Shutdown On 6 January 2021 company announced end of messaging services effective 14 January 2021 12:00 PM IST by sending following text to its users: Today we're announcing that after so many years of helping you deepen friendships, we will be shutting down Hike Sticker Chat at 11.59pm on 14th Jan, 2021. We thank you for creating amazing memories with us on Hike Sticker Chat and giving us your love and trust for so many years We wouldn’t be here without each and every one of you. Hike also announced that all the Hike Stickers could still be used on other messaging platforms such as Signal, Whatsapp, and Telegram by downloading "Stickers by Hike". References External links Everything About Hike App Android (operating system) software BlackBerry software Indian brands Instant messaging clients Defunct instant messaging clients IOS software Japanese brands Softbank portfolio companies Social media Symbian software Windows Phone software Bharti Enterprises