Here’s everything to know about Bondee, the new SG-based ‘virtual plaza’ powered by AWS

Here’s everything to know about Bondee, the new SG-based ‘virtual plaza’ powered by AWSSource: Bondee

Its Bondee time, the new Singapore-based ‘virtual plaza’ powered by AWS

  • A Singapore-based tech startup developed Bondee to create a virtual world where users can design avatars, share their moods, statuses, and daily lives, and add friends to chat and interact with online. 
  • Bondee’s computing, storage, networks, databases, and data analytics are powered by AWS.

Earlier this month, Singapore-based tech firm Metadream launched a virtual avatar social app, Bondee, offering new ways for users to communicate and interact. Within a week of its official launch on January 17, the social networking app, dubbed a ‘virtual plaza’, topped app store charts in multiple countries.

Metadream developed Bondee to create a virtual world where users can design avatars, share their moods, statuses and daily lives, and add friends to chat and interact with online. It started when Metadream acquired the intellectual property rights of the app True.ly in May 2022 and gave it a creative and international overhaul.

Under its new brand Bondee, users can also personalize their spaces, visit friends, and post comments as if they were with them in person. Users can also have their avatars participate in virtual activities made possible by Metadream. Regarding conversations, users have an in-built instant messaging platform function to use for their avatars, where they can even select a status, action, or animation to enliven these interactions.

According to users, the appeal of Bondee is its addictive and endearing nature. The seemingly simple features of the social app hold a huge potential. On social platforms, many users have left comments hoping for the engaging app to be released in more countries and regions.

What is Bondee powered by?

According to the team at Amazon Web Services (AWS), Bondee’s computing, storage, networks, databases, and data analytics are powered by them. “Users can be assured of Bondee’s data security and compliance with regional privacy protection laws. In addition to providing security accreditation, capabilities, and organizational support, AWS has a dedicated team that delivers high service levels,” AWS said in a statement to the media.

AWS also stated that the cloud firm had leveraged the latest security technologies and services “to build Bondee’s world-class personal information security system, ensuring user privacy and data security.” Bondee boosts its security posture and protects its accounts, workloads, and data with AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) for secure access management, AWS CloudHSM for compliance on data security, Amazon GuardDuty for intelligent threat detection and continuous monitoring, and AWS Security Hub for automated security checks and centralized security alerts.

Metadream’s head of local operations, Kyu Nam, highlighted how Bondee ensures the security and data privacy of applications and data in the cloud, which has won the trust of users around the world. “We worked well with AWS and built a robust information security ecosystem to pave the way for future development. Thanks to the support of their tech team, we have created a safer and more reliable world in Bondee,” Nam said.

Interestingly, just as the hype around Bondee grows in the region, there have been allegations that its users’ credit card information was leaked through the platform.

“We would like to assure our users that such rumors are false and untrue, as Metadream does not currently collect users’ credit card information or any other financial information,” Metadream said in a statement.

The tech firm also said that it has also undertaken a precautionary review of its systems and told users that their personal data remained safe and secure. For now, singing up for the social media app is free and users only need to verify their account through their mobile phone number. Bondee does not require any financial information.