Forget WhatsApp, leave Viber alone, and move along Google Hangouts. Yep, yuilop is here to let you talk, text, message and group chat as much as you want. For FREE! Wellll, almost.

When you hear something that’s surely too good to be true, you have to wonder, so this just got us curious.

yuilop (note the definite lack of a capital) is a hyper powered instant messaging app whose mission statement is to make talking free again. The app is available in over 200 countries including Germany, Italy, Mexico and the US with more than 5 million active users and growing fast. yuilop is based in Barcelona, so its a truly international service.

It states its cross platform, and indeed has clients for Android, iOS, Blackberry, Windows Phone (7.5 and 8). and even an iPod.You can text message normal phones though, and these come through as a second number, so make sure your friends have the yuilop number too. Before I decided to download it, it took a look through its website to find out how all this international calling and messaging works. How can you provide a comprehensive service that also has international dialling across 200 countries for nothing?

The answer is a little hidden further back in the website in the rates section, and its a rather interesting take. yuilop operates on the concept of credits aka Energy. You get 25 credits to start, and you get more credits for using the service through getting your friends to join yuilop, chatting with your friends on yuilop or the last part: the app tips and offers.

I couldn’t find any more information on the app tips part of things, but it seems the offers are actually ads. So, if you watch one of their partner sponsored ads, yuilop will give you a certain amount of credit. Its not clear on how many ads you’ll need to watch to gain Energy, or how much credit you’ll gain per ad that you watch. For those of you who don’t want to use the app to SMS or international calling option, it seems like you won’t need to take the time out to watch the ads as the in-app messaging appears to be free. Can’t complain about free, no you can’t.

The other thing that caught the eye is that it appears to take its security responsibilities seriously by encrypting the data during transmission and confirming your personal information is protected and will not be shared by third parties. That does sound nice, however it would have been even nicer to advise on whether a copy of your messages are kept by the server, or even if it uses a central server, a la the new Skype service. As for keeping your personal information safe, nowhere does it state what personal information you have to give the service in the first place – its a messaging client, not a banking app.

Overall, yuilop looks both promising and perplexing. It has an international scope, allows you to bridge the gap between traditional calls and texts and the datacentric world of instant messaging. Its available on the big four mobile operating systems. Then it confounds by pushing its security as a feature, but only not mentioning what happens on the back end systems. If it operates in 200 countries, does that mean 200 different authorities have access to your messages?

I honestly can’t tell whether this is potentially the next big thing or another entrant in an already crowded market.with the likes of Truphone, iMessage and Skype. We’d like to like it, but with something like four different messaging clients in use on a daily basis, is there room for one more?

What the hey, its free, right?

Show Press Release (470 More Words)

yuilop Becomes First Cloud-Based Global Communication Service in the U.K.

Posted on August 13, 2013 — 10:08 am

Offers users one mobile number to be used across devices and even more free calling and SMS

BARCELONA & LONDON—August 13, 2013— yuilop today launches its yuilop.me mobile phone number option in the U.K., making it even easier for its users to send and received free calls and SMS. In addition to the traditional benefits of using yuilop for free calling, texting and group chat, users who register for a yuilop number gain more credits on inbound calls and SMS, can avoid roaming charges while travelling, and can use one number across multiple devices. By offering ‘07’ mobile numbers, yuilop becomes the U.K.’s first cloud-based global communication service and expands on its mission to make talking free again.

“With the launch of the yuilop.me mobile number feature in the U.K., yuilop proves it’s much more than just another messaging app; we’re your mobile phone in the cloud,” says yuilop CEO, Jochen Doppelhammer. “yuilop lets you take your mobile number, and the ability to make calls and send SMS, with you across devices.”

Accessed by over 5 million users, and currently available in 200 countries, yuilop users worldwide can call, send and receive individual or group messages, their location, photos and emoji with any of their contacts for free over 3G/4G/LTE or WiFi. Unlike other communications services, yuilop connects to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). This allows yuilop to give its users their own mobile phone number. It’s also what lets yuilop users communicate with anyone else, even with contacts who don’t have the app.

Communication via yuilop is free, even off network, thanks to a virtual credit system that rewards users with free credits. Users are gifted credits for various activities including receiving a call or SMS to their yuilop phone number, initial sign up, inviting other users, using the app for chats, watching ads or downloading promotions on the yuilop offer wall. Having a yuilop number reduces or eliminates the need for credit to make outbound calls or SMS.

In addition to the U.K., yuilop.me is currently available in Germany, Spain and the U.S., and will be released in more countries this year.

About yuilop

yuilop, the cloud-based global communications service that allows users to make free calls and texts to anyone, anywhere – even when contacts don’t have the app, is headquartered in Barcelona, Spain and was founded in 2010 by CEO Jochen Doppelhammer.

Presently yuilop is available in over 200 countries including Germany, Italy, Israel, Mexico, Russia, the U.K. and the U.S. with 5+ million users. The company has raised a round of Series A funding from multiple investors including Nauta Capital, Shortcut Ventures and Bright Capital. yuilop is available for download for iOS, Android, Blackberry and Windows Phone. For more information follow @yuilop on Twitter or like our Facebook page.