iWorld
Bolo Indya makes big moves and redrafts several HR policies
MUMBAI: With Work from Home (WFH) culture becoming the new norm during and post-Covid2019, Bolo Indya, a UGC short videos app has also come up with a new WFH model for all its employees even after lockdown ends. While maintaining full operations for the business, Bolo Indya ensures that employees are safe and well taken care of. The core leadership team will resume office from July, Bolo Indya has announced that a blanket ‘Work from Home’ policy will be granted for the rest of the team till September 2020. The enterprise has introduced multiple significant changes in the HR policies to take care of both work-related efficiency, and mental wellbeing as well as the physical health of all of the team members.
Being a responsible employer, Bolo Indya is committed to support employees with the option to work from the comfort of their homes and takes continuous efforts to encourage their mental wellness amidst the ongoing crisis. Understanding employee’s liabilities and the efforts that they take to ensure the business is run smoothly. Bolo Indya has redrafted a new WFH policy which sponsors the work from home area at the employees’ house as per which it provides – work stations, wifi, back support sitting facility, this is going to be sponsored by the company. Employees need to ensure a dedicated work from home area away from the bedroom for the same. Also, the company will be taking care of operational expenses of AC in the work from home area of employees’ house. There will be mandatory 6 leaves in the quarter to ensure work balance and prevent over exhausting while working from home.
Bolo Indya co-founder and CEO Varun Saxena said “We follow sports team culture at Bolo Indya, thus ensuring both the efficiency and holistic fitness of all our team members at all times. Our company wide motto is, “ESP – Execution, Speed, Perfection” and we trust our team members that they would not let anything compromise the company’s objectives and time bound goals irrespective of working from office or home.”
Bolo Indya has continued its hiring activities even during lockdown and 3 new members have joined during the lockdown phase, while 2 more will be joining next month. Simultaneously, the company has aggressive hiring plans in technology team across Android, AI and ML roles for which remote interactions with multiple potential rockstars is going on.
“We took lockdown and its consequences as an opportunity to interact with some extraordinary talents and explore the synergies to join us on our mission to enable Bharat to transform social capital to financial independence through short videos in regional languages. We did not do a single lay off, and continue to strengthen the team with the right fits who share the same passion, ambition, and motivation,” On hiring and the current job market scenario, Saxena added.
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.
