iWorld
Q India launches on MX Player
MUMBAI: QYOU Media on Friday announced the launch of Q India on MX Player, one of the fastest growing OTT platforms in India and the world. MX Player currently has over 175M monthly average users in India alone and features a vast array of content targeting the millennial India demographic. This marks another significant milestone for Q India as it continues to grow its base of ad supported distribution partnerships.
MX Player launched its OTT service formally in February of 2019 and has quickly become the second largest streaming platform in India. Digital TV Research has cited that India will be the fastest growing OTT territory in the world from 2019 – 2024. In addition, ad revenue in India is expected to realize similar rapid growth according to recent reports from WPP/GroupM that project India ad spend growing at a rate of 14.3% annually as compared to a global average of 3.6%.
Q India has established itself as a leading Hindi language channel for Young India featuring India’s top digital creators and influencers. Q India's content partners include Arre, Pocket Aces, Ms. Malini, SpotboyE, Culture Machine, Power Drift, UngliBaaz, AajTak, Nirvana Digital, StarTruck, CurlyTales and hundreds of other popular digital creators.
“Q India is perfectly matched for the users of MX Player," MX Player CEO Karan Bedi said. "Our mission is to create India’s leading entertainment platform for millennials and young audiences that demand an anytime/anywhere viewing platform. We are excited to have Q India join our offering of the best free entertainment on one platform,” he added.
“The Q India is thrilled by the partnership we have now forged with MX Player, which is emblematic of our strategy: to engage with Young India on leading platforms, across OTT, mobile and television. We expect that The Q India relationship with MX Player will be long and fruitful, and that The Q itself will be a terrific value addition for all the MX Player subscribers,” Q India co-founder and general manager Sunder Aaron 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.
