Chatloop, the unique mobile app that lets people loop in their friends to content on any website, anywhere, has been awarded default browser status by Apple.
The award makes Chatloop the only UK app to have received this accreditation, which means Chatloop is now available on 4.2 billion devices globally.
Chatloop now sits proudly alongside two other European browsers and eight others globally, including Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge and Mozilla’s Firefox, who also share the title.
The accreditation follows a £2.1m seed funding round from private investors as Chatloop announces its official UK rollout following a year of record growth.
The funds raised will allow Chatloop to drive user numbers and increase engagement, build out the internal team, and continue its fundraising ambitions. Launched in the UK in Beta in December 2022, the business has grown from three to 11 permanent employees in the past year and is set to pursue a wider Series A raise midway through 2024.
Andy Barlow, CEO of Chatloop says: “Being awarded default browser status by Apple is a huge milestone for the Chatloop team, who have worked tirelessly for the last ten months to ensure our app meets Apple’s stringent integration requirements. Our world-class browser is faster than both Chrome and Safari and default browser status across Apple’s products means that billions of people across the world can now enjoy the benefits of Chatloop every time they go online.
“Chatloop is bridging the gap between brands and users by making it much easier to share the things you love as you browse. Apple’s endorsement and the generous backing of our investors will supercharge our mission to deliver a people-first web experience that works for everyone.”
The new investment will also drive forward the implementation and delivery of Chatloop’s Open Innovation Programme for brands, which is partnering with brands across the retail, travel and hospitality sectors to co-create the company’s business proposition.
Founded in 2021 by CEO Andrew Barlow, an experienced technology developer and former co-founder of digital adoption platform AppLearn, Chatloop combines a world-class browser that claims to be faster than Chrome, Safari or Firefox with the best aspects of social sharing, allowing consumers to share as they browse give and get recommendations and loop in their friends, by creating shareable content ‘loops’ directly on the page.
With Chatloop, there is no need to copy and paste links, switch between multiple apps, or spend time writing online reviews that get lost in the noise. Chatloop allows consumers to instantly share valued experiences in the place where it matters the most – on the website itself.
Chatloop uses Face ID to verify its users, meaning every loop created is written and seen by real people – addressing concerns among consumers that the everyday web experience can’t be trusted.
According to new research undertaken by Chatloop, almost half (48 per cent) of consumers worry that recommendations and reviews about companies and brands they see online can’t be trusted, and over a quarter don’t trust reviews on Google, Facebook, Yelp and TripAdvisor because they don’t know who has written the reviews.
A further quarter (27 per cent) worry that algorithms mean they’re not getting the true picture about a product, brand or story and almost one in four (23 per cent) say they believe most online reviews about companies and brands are generated by bots and Ais.
The Apple announcement coincides with the rollout of the latest update to the Chatloop app, offering advanced profile creation, innovative scroll functionality and media upload features to make it more seamless for user types to create profiles suited to their needs and making it easier to navigate the web.
