Dubsmash Adds Video Messaging - Business Insider

Dubsmash quickly became an overnight success when it debuted in late 2014.

The app let users create videos of themselves lip syncing to popular songs or movie lines. But unlike Instagram or Vine, these videos, called "dubs," weren't shared directly onto Dubsmash. They were meant to go viral on other platforms.

But, 100 million users and countless celebrity dubs later, Dubsmash is changing its tune.

Last month, the app was completely revamped to become a full-fledged messaging service. Dubsmash now lets users send private messages and videos to individuals and groups. Dubsmash also added Profile Dubs, which let users highlight their favorite dub and connect with friends, in addition to some new features that help users easily find videos and audio.

As Dubsmash's president Suchit Dash told Tech Insider, it's all part of a plan to transform Dubsmash into the premiere video messaging platform.

A video posted by Celebrity dubsmash (@celebrity.dubsmash)Mar 4, 2016 at 6:14am PST

“A lot of people associated Dubsmash with karaoke and lip-syncing,” Dash said. “We think people, more and more, are going to communicate through video. And we want to be the primary way people do that.”

Celebrities have been central to Dubsmash's success. A number of famous faces posted dubs made by the app to their Instagram feeds. Jimmy Fallon, to the surprise of Dubsmash, asked Selena Gomez to make a dub during an appearance on "The Tonight Show." (He's since repeated the segment with Kate Hudson and Penelope Cruz.) And Rihanna teamed up with Dubsmash to debut her 2015 single "Bitch Better Have My Money" exclusively on the app.