iWorld
ALTBalaji’s new daily show ‘Dil Hi Toh Hai’ streaming now on the app and website
MUMBAI: ALTBalaji, India’s largest platform for original and exclusive digital content, is now streaming its first ever daily show ‘Dil Hi Toh Hai’. The OTT platform will stream a new episode every Tuesday to Saturday at 10:30PM. By leveraging the digital rights of this show, Balaji Telefilms and ALTBalaji have become game changers in the Indian media and entertainment industry.
Starring TV heartthrob Karan Kundra in the lead, ‘Dil Hi Toh Hai’ is a story about the Noon’s – a family with values, traditions, and legacy. The show revolves around Rithwik (Karan Kundra), the eldest son of the family, and how his life is all about work and family, leaving no room for love, especially since he doesn’t believe in it. But will a perfect son always be this perfect? Or will love trap him? Also starring Poonam Dhillon, Bijay Anand, Pooja Banerjee, Akshay Dogra, Sudeepa Singh, Gurpreet Bedi, YogitaBihani, Nyra Banerjee, and AsmitaSood in pivotal roles, the show has a look and feel that is undoubtedly magnificent.
Commenting on this development, ALTBalaji – Chief Marketing Officer, Mr. Manav Sethi said, “We are front-runners in creating original and exclusive digital content. Over the years, Balaji Telefilms has crafted unique stories for several television networks and recently, we retained the rights of the TV show ‘Dil Hi Toh Hai’. Streaming a daily show on a homegrown OTT platform is one of the many firsts for us. It’s also for the first time, that a content producer has earmarked the intellectual property of a TV show and this marks a major shift in the industry. With this, ALTBalaji aims to drive its expansion in the B2C segment for a promising digital future.”
ALTBalaji has already acquired a leadership position as India’s largest platform for original and exclusive digital shows with more than 15 million viewers from over 90 countries on both mobileand web platforms. The digital platform currently offers 20 original shows in Indian languages across various genres such as romance, mystery, drama, and comedy. The platform also offers entertaining original shows for kids, along with short, hilarious regional stand-up comedy videos in Marathi, Punjabi, Hindi, Gujarati, Tamil, and Telugu.
With a new episode streaming every Tuesday to Saturday at 10:30PM, ‘Dil Hi Toh’ is now streaming on the ALTBalaji app and the website.
iWorld
X launches XChat messaging app on iOS with calls and encryption
Standalone app marks shift from “everything app” vision, adds E2E messaging.
MUMBAI: From one big app to many small chats, X seems to be splitting its ambitions. X has rolled out its standalone messaging app, XChat, to iOS users, opening up a new front in its evolving product strategy. The app allows users to connect with existing X contacts through private and group messages, file sharing, as well as audio and video calls. The launch follows a limited beta phase, where the platform tested the product with a smaller user base to refine the experience. Now available publicly, XChat marks a notable pivot from earlier ambitions championed by Elon Musk to turn X into a single “everything app” combining messaging, payments, commerce and more.
Instead, the company under xAI ownership and backed by SpaceX appears to be building a suite of standalone applications, each targeting specific use cases while expanding its broader ecosystem.
At launch, XChat includes end-to-end encrypted messaging, PIN-based access, disappearing messages, and features such as message editing, deletion for all participants, and screenshot blocking. The company has also said the app is free from advertisements and tracking mechanisms, positioning it as a privacy-first alternative in a crowded messaging space.
However, security claims around the platform are likely to face scrutiny. Earlier iterations of XChat drew criticism from experts who argued it fell short of established encrypted platforms like Signal. With the wider rollout, the app is expected to undergo fresh evaluation to assess whether those concerns have been addressed.
Beyond messaging, XChat will also house X’s Communities feature, which is being discontinued on the main platform due to low usage and spam concerns. Migrating these users could provide an early boost to adoption, effectively turning XChat into both a communication and community hub.
The move underscores a broader recalibration at X less about cramming everything into one app, and more about spreading bets across multiple touchpoints, one message at a time.
