The smartphone giant Samsung launched its first Galaxy Note in IFA Berlin in the year 2011. At that time, that smartphone was an anomaly due to its 5.3-inch screen, which was then considered humongous. The regular flagship Galaxy SII launched that year only had a 4.3-inch display. However, despite the spectacular success of Galaxy SII, it was the Galaxy Note that made history in 2011 by ushering in the arrival of phablets in the smartphone world. The most notable feature of the Galaxy Note undoubtedly was the stylus which was named as the ‘S Pen’ by Samsung.
With each iteration of the Galaxy Note, Samsung made further improvements to its Note flagships by making the displays larger and the S Pen more responsive. Galaxy Note 5 first brought metal build to the lineup and Galaxy Note 8 turned out to be the first Galaxy Note with a tall display and dual rear cameras. With the Galaxy Note 9 launched in 2018, Samsung brought certain significant improvements. Most importantly, Note 9 was in many ways, the complete smartphone that Samsung fans wanted. It had a massive 6.4 inch Quad HD AMOLED display with excellent outdoor visibility. It had a 4000 mah battery with support for wireless charging. It had a fantastic camera array, and it also retained the headphone jack unlike many flagships launched in 2018. S Pen also had reduced latency. Two small but exciting features which Samsung introduced with the Note 9 were the ability to use the S Pen as a remote shutter button and also a niche feature called Live Messaging that allowed the end-user to send customized written gifs to their friends or family members using the S Pen stylus.
The app ‘Live Message’ which is currently available in the Google Playstore attempts to port this feature to non Galaxy Note devices. The free version of the app comes with ads and also a large logo called LIVE MESSAGE at the bottom of the created gif. By paying up to 360 Rs (4.90 USD), users can unlock the full version that gets rid of the ads and the app logo. One big drawback of the app is the fact that the precision of S Pen stylus which is available only for the Galaxy Note devices cannot be emulated by the thick fingers of an average human being. This drawback, however, does not apply to those who own older Galaxy Notes like Galaxy Note 8 or the much older Galaxy Note 5 (running on custom software that supports S Pen).
I have used the full version of the app in my Oneplus7Pro and used it to send greetings to my friends and family members. The app allows the users to make use of various writing tools whether it be a paintbrush, normal pen, a pen that produces strokes made of little hearts, multicoloured pens or pens that have strokes made of the symbol of winter. Multiple colours are also on offer for the user to make use of in his or her creative pursuits. The user can also make use of various backgrounds for their gifs, whether it be single colours or other pictures or multiple gifs.
Overall, Live Message is a fun app that can prove handy when you want to send a customized message and thereby differentiate yourself from others who sent regular gifs or images without any personal touch.