Zift Advisory
The Airtime app is a group video chat app that allows users to watch YouTube videos, live messages, listen to music on Spotify, and chat in real-time. Airtime is free to download and use, and does not feature any in-app purchases or advertisements. The airtime app is not safe for kids to use.
What is Airtime | Meet your people?
Airtime is a flexible group video chat app similar to Facetime, but with additional social features. Users can video chat in groups of six or less, or exchange text-based messages with up to 250 other users at a time.
What sets Airtime apart from other video chat clients is the way it facilitates sharing user-generated content. Videos and music from popular media platforms, including YouTube, Soundcloud, and Spotify, can be imported directly into the chat and simultaneously shared between the group.
Airtime can be a decent Facetime alternative for Android phone users, as the app is compatible with both Android and iOS devices. Recent versions of the Airtime app also allow the ability to stream an Airtime chat session into Facebook Live.
Once users download the Airtime app, they’re prompted to enter their mobile phone number to receive a verification code, again, something parents should be aware of. Once the verification code is received, users enter the code and are brought to a login screen; users may opt to sign in with their Facebook login, or manually enter their name, email address and create a password.
Airtime users may also upload a photo to serve as the avatar for their profile on the app. Once users set up their account, they’re prompted to allow the app to access the contacts they have saved in their phone.
When creating a room in Airtime, users have multiple options available to them. Rooms can be set to private, meaning it won’t be visible on a user’s profile, nor will it appear in the list of room recommendations and messages posted in private rooms are only visible to room members.
Rooms can also be set to request only, ensuring that people who find the room must be approved by a member before they can join. Lastly, a doorbell feature announces when a member has joined a room, but can be turned off in the room settings.
Is Airtime | Meet your people safe for my kids?
Airtime is rated E for Everyone in Google Play, but the app is not safe for children. Private use of the Airtime app may only be appropriate for older teens who are able to engage maturely with adult content and situations.
Parents should be aware that Airtime is rated for users ages 17 years and older in the iTunes App Store, but users as young as 13 years of age are able to use the app, per Airtime’s terms of service. However, users under the age of 18 must have a parent or guardian agree to the terms, and take responsibility for monitoring minors’ activity with the app.
Some parents report effective control over safe use of the Airtime app by directly approving all of their child's contacts, limiting them to people with shared community standards of online conduct. This is easily circumvented by older children, however, and should be subject to verification.
Airtime requires a mobile number for registration and doesn't facilitate anonymous social interaction to the same degree as other social apps, like After School. This can help avoid some of the unsafe aspects of un-moderated online communities such as cyber bullying, harassment, and trolling by making it easier to hold specific users accountable for their behavior.
Airtime's association with a specific user's phone can create privacy concerns by facilitating direct sharing of media and other data from the user's mobile phone. This may include location data, which could be used to target unwary users for in-person harassment.
A common user complaint is that the app sends a message and link to every contact in the phone, which can make the user (and the app) seem spammy. Those contacts already using the app will populate the screen for users to add when creating a group.
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