Path rolls out 3.0 with private messaging and a sticker shop

The social-networking app Path, debuted a major upgrade today, adding on private messages, stickers, and the "Shop." The company says the goal is to boost personalized communication between users, but it looks like Path is also working to monetize the app.

The company describes its objective with private messaging in a blog post today -- the messages are not supposed to be like text messages or Facebook or Twitter posts, but rather aim to make users feel like they're truly interacting with friends.

"When we speak with friends, share a joke, a quiet word, or a conversation over drinks, there is so much more than words that pass between us," the blog post says. "How can a technology hope to recreate our unspoken language?"

What Path has done to try to achieve this goal is make the messages available in several forms, including text, voice, location, stickers, songs, books, movies, photos, and videos.

"There's utility and context," Path wrote. "For example, if you're running late, you can tap the location button to let a friend know where you are. Or if you don't have free hands to type, you can record a voice message."

Users can also send stickers to their friends, which like emoticons, can visually show how one feels. This is where Path gets into monetizing its app. Each user gets two free sticker packs designed by artists David Lanham, Hugh MacLeod, and Richard Perez. If users want more stickers, they can buy them in the "Shop." According to The Next Web, packs of around a dozen stickers go for $1.99 a pop.

Before today, Path's most recent update was in December. Path 3 is available for both iOS and Android devices and comes in 19 languages.