Random chat is a type of service designed to let complete strangers chat with each other online. The basic principle of most of these anonymous video chats is quite simple:
- Go to the site and allow access to your webcam and microphone.
- Click the “Start” button and wait for the system to find you a chat partner.
- Meet, chat and then switch the next person in one click when you wish.
This format was launched in 2009 and due to its novelty has become very popular. And the first random chats with strangers — Omegle and Chatroulette — gathered an audience of over a million users daily in less than a year. This is not surprising, because chat roulettes essentially became a new form of online dating.
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Chatrandom: from a basic service to a functional platform
Many of those who were there at the start and used the first anonymous video chats remember how primitive the sites were initially. Not just the design, but also the functionality. There were practically no settings for filtering chat partners — the user couldn’t specify gender, country or any other search parameters. This meant the people you were presented were absolutely random.
On one hand, classic simple chat roulettes have their advantages for those who want to be surprised. But on the other hand, many people want more control over search terms. So over time, random chat apps began to introduce additional features and settings:
- Gender and geographic filters
- Language filters
- Chat rooms for several participants
- Interests and tags
- Virtual gifts
- AI masks for video and much more
Official mobile chat roulette applications for easier, more convenient chat were launched too. Also in recent years developers have been actively introducing artificial intelligence for better moderation. This is a very important step in the development of random chats, because for a long time their standard of moderation was far from ideal.
There are several random chat services that offer their users very interesting features and functionality.
Random chat roulettes with useful features
ChatRoulette
Granted, this video chat is nowhere near as popular as it used to be. And functionally it’s a classic chat roulette without any real additional features. However, in 2020, when the developers decided to modernize ChatRoulette, they were among the first to introduce artificial intelligence into their site structure. Its purpose was to instantly detect inappropriate content and block users. While there used to be very big questions about the quality (or even existence) of moderation on the site, now thanks to AI the situation has changed dramatically.
OmeTV
Visually and technically this is a completely ordinary chat roulette. It has geographic and gender filters, as well as branded iOS and Android apps. But in another area it’s much more interesting for users — it offers automatic translation of messages in text into your selected language.
Something like this has been used in Skype for some time, but that’s a different service and is used for different purposes. For chat roulettes, auto-translation is still a novelty, but it does point where things are going. However, it currently works only in text chat, not in video calls.
CooMeet
The key feature of chatrandom CooMeet is its unique gender filter. When a girl registers on the service, she has to go through identity verification in order to keep the site free of fakes and bots. This means that men who use CooMeet, know for sure that the system will connect them exclusively with real girls. This makes life easy for those who want to meet the opposite sex, flirt or even have a serious relationship.
ChatRandom
Quite a straightforward chat roulette, which has chat rooms that deserve special attention. You can just go to the chat rooms page and choose a room according to your interests: “Affair”, “New acquaintances”, “Flirting”, “Music”, “Conversations” and much more. Dozens of people with common interests can be found in these chat rooms at the same time. The most active section is “Chat with girls”, but to access that you’ll have to pay for a premium account.
Emeraldchat
A shining representative of the new generation of random chats. In one sense, Emeraldchat can be seen as a social network, because here users can exchange photos and media files, and search for friends not only by gender and geolocation, but even by karma rating on the site. Communication takes place in text or video chat, and search for partners via selected interests is available.
Omegle
Perhaps many will disagree that the very first chat roulette has any exclusive features. But when you get past certain disadvantages and limitations (lack of gender or geographic filters, for example), Omegle has some interesting functions. First, it lets you search for chat partners by interest. Secondly, it offers an unmoderated section where you can chat without restrictions on any topic. Thirdly, there’s a separate section for university students. These features all open up useful opportunities to chat and make connections.
Why are random chats with strangers changing so quickly?
It’s quite simple. The Internet is evolving rapidly, and new services and formats for dating and chat are constantly appearing. Video chat apps, which are now no longer a fresh, new phenomenon, now need to offer their users additional features and opportunities to keep their attention.
You can guarantee that apps for anonymous video chat with strangers will continue to develop. Maybe more and more social network features will be added, or maybe they will start to look more like messenger apps. It’s hard to predict. But one thing is for sure — chat roulette sites will not lose their popularity for many years to come. This is because they really are more convenient, instant and private than dating sites and apps, which are massive time sinks, and only provide their most useful functions for a price. If you still haven’t explored the chat roulette format, it’s time to fix that!
