Elyments, homegrown social media app (Source: Play Store)

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu launched Elyments app on Sunday, a new social media platform under Aatmanirbhar Bharat campaign. The new Made in India app is available for download worldwide both on iOS and Android platforms amidst growing anti-China sentiment after the ban on 59 Chinese apps.

The homegrown app has been made keeping in mind Indian audiences as it is available in eight different regional languages. The app is free for download and lets the users make audio and video calls including conference calls. A unique feature is that you can give commands in regional languages as well.

Emphasis on privacy

One of the main selling points of the app is privacy. Data security has been an issue with various foreign and local apps but Elyments’ creators claim that their data will not be shared with third party without the user’s consent.

App’s features

Created by Sumeru Software Solutions, Elyments has basic features of popular social networking apps such as feeds, the discover option where you can follow celebrities, athletes, politicians, etc. The notifications bar has been replaced by Alerts which lets you track friend requests and activities such as likes, comments on your posts. You can also use filters while clicking photos, another common feature in various apps like Snapchat, Instagram, etc.

Elyments app screenshot, hub section

The app also aims to promote Indian brands on the platform, similar to the Facebook marketplace along with Elyments Pay for secure payments.

Elyments screenshot, discover section

Users’ response

Elyments has been trending on top in social networking apps on App store and has an impressive rating of 4/5 so far. On Google Play Store, Elyments has a rating of 4.4 after over 5,00,000 downloads in just one day.

A day before Elyments launch, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Aatmanirbhar Challenge urging the Indian tech community and start ups to create homegrown apps and create an Indian ecosystem of apps.