Apparently it wasn’t everyone cup of tea but personally I loved it. It makes for a different sort of conversation - more live than the asynchronous back and forth messaging of most apps today. You can often reply to someone while they’re typing their message - and if you guess right they can stop typing and move on to read / reply to your response in turn.

I’m not sure how well it works in groups but 1-on-1 it feels more like a phone call than a messaging app; except it’s over text, it seamlessly transitions to offline asynchronous messaging if someone isn’t there and you can both “talk” (type) at the same time.

Just make it an option duh!

But it was an option wasn't it?

You could write in draft mode I think, and people couldn't see the result

When I'm annoyed with something I've received on any given platform, I find it cathartic to type out a really sarcastic/vicious response to then just delete it all and reply with something a bit more balanced/respectful. Live updates make that impossible.