Line (software)
| Line | |||||||||||
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Screenshot featuring the "Line Friends" stickers | |||||||||||
| Developer(s) |
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| Initial release | June 23, 2011 | ||||||||||
| Stable release(s) | |||||||||||
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| Repository | github | ||||||||||
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| Platform | Smartphone, PC, iPad, Smartwatch | ||||||||||
| Size | |||||||||||
| Available in | 17 languages | ||||||||||
List of languages English, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Indonesian, Malay, Arabic, Turkish | |||||||||||
| Type | Instant messaging, Social networking service | ||||||||||
| License | Proprietary software | ||||||||||
| Website | line | ||||||||||
Line is a freeware app and service for instant messaging and social networking, operated by the Korean-Japanese company LY Corporation, co-owned by SoftBank Group and Naver. Line was launched in Japan in June 2011 by NHN Japan, a subsidiary of Naver.
Initially designed for text messaging and VoIP voice and video calling, it has gradually expanded to become a super-app providing services including a digital wallet (Line Pay), news stream (Line Today), video on demand (Line TV) and digital comic distribution (Line Manga and Line Webtoon).
Line became Japan's largest social network in 2013 and is used by over 70% of the population as of 2023; it is also popular mainly in Indonesia, Taiwan and Thailand.