App that lets you leave a video message for recipient to reply to later, Marco Polo is an app store hit amid coronavirus crisis

The Marco Polo video messaging app combines texting, social media and video chats, and allows recipients to reply when they have time

The coronavirus lockdown has led to a huge increase in business for its creators

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Screen grabs from the Marco Polo app, a video messaging app that lets users reply whenever they have time. Photo: Marco Polo

Published: 9:15pm, 1 Apr 2020Updated: 9:15pm, 1 Apr 2020

This week, more people downloaded the Marco Polo app from the Apple iOS app store than long-established household names including Google Chrome, WhatsApp, Skype or Twitter, according to market tracker Apptopia.

This is a big deal for a small app run by a who left Poland and Ukraine to find a better life in the US. They created the video messaging app as a way to better communicate with the folks back home. It was released in 2014, so it’s been around for some time and already has its fans. But the effect of being housebound during the coronavirus shutdown has had folks looking for novel ways to stay in touch with other people, and word has spread fast about Marco Polo.

“Chat apps are great if you have lots of free time,” says Vlada Bortnik, who co-founded Marco Polo with husband Michal and serves as the chief executive. “But if you’re like most of us – mothers who are home-schooling, running a business and cooking dinner – it’s hard to find the time.”

Marco Polo is as simple as the old swimming pool game with the same name. It’s a walkie-talkie video message app. You shoot a “Marco” video message and send it to your friend who then responds with a “Polo” response video.

A screen grab from the Marco Polo app. Photo: Marco Polo

Thus, you’ve made contact, but you don’t have to both be ready to connect live at the same time.

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