Meanwhile, the government & Twitter are in disagreement as the former asked the latter to remove accounts from the platform. 

People including ministers and departments of the Union government have turned to a home-made, Twitter alternative- the Koo app. 

But before we jump on this bandwagon, here’s everything you should know about this app. 

What is the Koo app? 

The Koo app provides microblogging services just like Twitter where users can share their thoughts and opinions through ‘koos.’ It was co-founded by Aprameya Radhakrishna and Mayank Bidwatka.

Users of the Koo app can share their thoughts in their local languages. In their ‘About Us‘ section, they have shared that: 

They can now participate on the internet in their mother tongue by listening to the views of some of the sharpest Indian minds and also speak their mind by sharing their thoughts.

When was the app made and why is it in news now? 

Reportedly, it was launched in the early 2020s and even won the Atmanirbhar App Innovation Challenge. 

Recently, Piyush Goyal, Commerce minister, tweeted that he is on Koo and invited others to join him. 

Who all are there on the Koo App? 

Along with Piyush Goyal, Law & IT minister Ravi Shankar, Chief Minister of Karnataka BS Yediyurappa, Javagal Srinath, Anil Kumble, Jaggi Vasudev from the Isha Foundation, Members of Parliament such as Shobha Karandlaje and Tejasvi Surya are there on the app.

Government departments such as Union IT Ministry, Niti Aayog, and the India Post have also chimed in. 

While in conversation with TOI, co-founder Radhakrishna shared that the infrastructure of Koo and its engineering workforce is being increased to be able to welcome and host many such big names in the future.  

So, what does it mean for ministers joining the Koo App? 

Ministers joining the home-made app signifies that they want to encourage an alternative to Twitter in a time when Twitter has not fulfilled the government’s demands. 

Where can I download this app from? 

The app is free for users and is available both on Android and iOS. 

What are its features that I should know about? 

-Instead of tweets, you can share your thoughts and opinions through ‘Koos.’
-A Koo can be of 400 characters.
-Just like Twitter, you can follow people and scroll through the feed. 
-You can share messages in text, audio/video formats. 
-It has provisions for many languages such as- Telugu, Tamil, English, Kannada. 
-There are apparently language communities that reflect the contents in their respective language. 

Meanwhile, there are also talks of the app leaking information about its users. 

Well, now the question is to ‘koo’ or not to ‘koo.’