Messages are shown on Honk as you type, no chat history You can press Honk button to get someone’s attention Honk wants to usher in real-time messaging. Instant messaging? That's passé for Honk. The iPhone-only app launched Tuesday globally after months of testing, with the promise of an in-the-moment messaging experience. On Honk, your messages are shown to the other person as you type, right down to that typo, extra space, or the pause to think something over. There is no send button because there's no need for it. And you only have 160 characters (about the size of a traditional SMS text message) to convey your thoughts. Once you hit the limit, you hit a refresh button to start from scratch. Predictably, Honk has no chat history.