The dream of PictoChat on the Nintendo DS lives on in this iMessage app
Published on: 2025-07-14 14:40:40
The Nintendo DS' stylus-based messaging app PictoChat wasn't the first place I instant-messaged (that would be my friend's AIM account) but it was absolutely the least overwhelming and most pleasant place it happened. PicoChat, an iMessage app from developer Idrees Hassan that you can download right now, attempts to recapture some of that peer-to-peer messaging magic on your iPhone.
PicoChat looks like a version of PictoChat that’s been squeezed into the lower-third of your iPhone, complete with alphanumeric and emoji keyboards, and controls to change the line weight of your drawings. It wouldn’t be PictoChat without the ability to draw and write with a stylus, so PicoChat also goes the extra mile and displays an onscreen stylus when you doodle with your finger.
ian Carlos Campbell for Engadget
Nintendo debuted PictoChat alongside the original Nintendo DS in 2004 as more of a curiosity than a play at messaging dominance. The app required both messengers to connect their handhelds ov
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