Looking for replacement to Microsoft messenger

[El Squish]

I've been using 8.1 for 2 months now and the worst change for me has been the loss of messenger. I have multiple family members that used it to communicate and I have been unable to find a replacement that comes anywhere close to it's functionality. Skype at the moment is awful for messaging. It loads slow, I often don't get messages until 30 minutes or more have passed, it does not save drafts of messages I'm writing when I close the app, and it has no text to voice or voice to text features.

I've looked at other messaging apps and haven't found anything that offers the same features. The most important features I'm looking for in a messaging app is one that can read messages to me, convert speech to text, and send those messages by voice commands. In other words I want to be able to send and receive messages hands free while I'm driving. Does anyone have any advice?

 

[Kaushik Dash]

Try Viber.

 

[El Squish]

Unfortunately that is unable to do any of what I was looking for. No text to speech or speech to text. Only recorded voice messaging that I have to press and hold to accomplish. I'm looking for hands free messaging.