Hike, the free messaging app launched by Bharthi SoftBank across the world in December last year. The company says that Hike app has crossed 5 million users.

Bharti SoftBank is a joint venture of Bharthi enterprises and mobile communication and broadband services firm Softbank.

"The free mobile messaging app Hike from Bharti SoftBank (BSB), has crossed the 5 million active usersmark in just four months after its launch. This makes Hike one of the fastest growing free mobile apps globally," the company said in a statement.

Hike allows unlimited texting between the users of the app and also to share photos, videos, audio files and location with other Hike users. The app also allows it's users to send free SMS to those who do not have Hike on their phones.

The unique feature in this app among all other messaging apps is that Hike enables the users to send free SMS to friends/contacts who do not have Hike installed in their handset. This unique feature plays a major role that made the app to cross 5 million users.

Bharti SoftBank has released an update for the app. Hike 2.0 has the features of status updates with moods that allows its users to post a status about what they are up to. Users can also make "Circle of Friends" in the app and can customize in showing the status updates with whom the users have added in their friend circle.

"We've been carefully listening to our users and we realized the biggest thing missing in Hike was status updates. With Hike 2.0, we are introducing status updates with moods," said BSB product
and strategy head Kavin Bharti Mittal.

Free Hike SMS seems to be getting very popular in a country like India, where not all the friends in a group has a data-enabled smartphones, he added.

Hike is currently available for Android, iOS, Nokia S40 platforms and Windows phone. And tha app will shortly available on Blackberry and Nokia S60 platforms.