I'm #62935 on the waitlist for Daze, an expressive messenger app that's already got over 150,000 signups

Group of diverse young friends checking their mobile phones together while standing in front of a purple wall

(Image credit: Mapodile via Getty Images)

Sometimes, the best way to sell something is to let the product speak for itself. This has been messaging app Daze's approach, to the tune of 8 million views on their most popular TikTok alone.

So, what's the draw? Let me paint you a picture: Daze pitches itself as an expressive messaging platform that offers chatters a blank canvas to scrawl all over as opposed to the straight-laced speech bubble back and forth most of us are used to. Their TikTok pitches up with teen drama 'storylines' such as that old chestnut of tick box love confessions to target a distinctly Gen Z audience, but there's a playful, remixing aspect to Daze that's bound to appeal across age groups.

@daze.chat
♬ Sailor Song - Gigi Perez

According to TechCrunch, these widely watched product demo TikTok videos have resulted in 156,000 signups to its waitlist ahead of Daze's November 4th launch.

Besides sketching up a storm, there's a suite of creative tools on offer, from libraries of gifs and stickers, to photos and fonts. I, for one, can't wait to terrorise my contacts list with some truly retina scarring, noughties era word art missives. To power the app's collaborative canvas vibe, Daze is described as 'leveraging' AI.

In conversation with TechCrunch, project founder Willem Simons didn't go into detail about what sort of heavy-lifting AI is doing for Daze, instead explaining the app's position in the market. The New York-based entrepreneur said:

"Our goal with Daze has been to make a feature complete messenger that is competitive with iMessage, WhatsApp, etc., while still having a suite of really fun and creative features. You can quickly type a message and press send, or drag the message anywhere within the chat. It is easy to use and utilitarian, but also very free and unconstrained."

But, while those product demo videos are very slick, does Daze have any staying power? It's currently in testing with around 1,400 invite-only beta users, and one source close to the company shared with TechCrunch that, of the users that have sent a message on Daze, over 50% of them were still using the app 60 days later. So it may not just be a passing daydream after all.

You'll not have to wait much longer to find out for yourself. Daze has been built using React Native, meaning that it'll launch simultaneously on both iOS and Android devices from November 4th.

Hold on, someone signed up using my referral link and I've been bumped up the waitlist…to #2428. Yeah, I've definitely got my feet on the ground now.

Jess has been writing about games for over ten years, spending the last seven working on print publications PLAY and Official PlayStation Magazine. When she’s not writing about all things hardware here, she’s getting cosy with a horror classic, ranting about a cult hit to a captive audience, or tinkering with some tabletop nonsense.