Chatous

Zift Advisory

Chatous is a social networking app that randomly matches people across the globe for chat sessions. It is free to download and use, but has in-app purchases available. Users must be 17 years of age or older to download, but there is no verification available. It is not recommended for kids.

About Chatous

What is Chatous?

Chatous is a social networking app that randomly matches people across the globe for chat sessions. Hashtags can be used to find and interact with like-minded people.

While Chatous is free to download and use, and in-app purchases greatly enhance the user experience.

Chatous is anonymous, allowing people to interact in a more private manner. In fact, Chatous doesn’t even verify users, so users could be anyone behind the profiles seen in the app.

The app's privacy settings allows users to censor the information they want to make public about themselves, in addition to the ability to change display names whenever they want.

Users have the ability to add up to five hashtags, describing their interests, in order to be matched with other users with similar traits. In addition to hashtags, users may use filtering options to search for other members by age or country of residence.

Once a user is matched, the user’s profile photo appears, with options to “Open text chat,” “Skip,” or “Report profile” along the bottom. It’s important to note that any moderation taking place within the app comes from the users, with an option to Block/Report an offensive user.

While free to download, Chatous prominently features ads, and offers a variety of in-app purchases, ranging in price from $0.99 to $199.99. Users paying for a premium account have the ability to choose whether they are matched only with males or females, while unpaid accounts are served randomly selected matches of both sexes.

Is Chatous safe for my kids?

Chatous is not safe for kids or teens. This app may be rated for teens, but any social networking app that randomly matches strangers for chats is a concern for parents.

While Chatous doesn’t position itself as a dating app, it would appear that many of the users on the platform are there to flirt with strangers.

Apart from glitches, the biggest user complaint was the immense number of fake profiles. Users have reported some men posing as women and the increasing prevalence of strangers contacting underage kids.

Users can also send photos and videos, with an expire option similar to Snapchat, which can be a problem for many reasons, mainly, you don't know what other users are sending your child or what your child chooses to send them. Some users have reported receiving videos of sex acts from other users.

It is easy for users to search by age, as there is a specific age category for users 13 to 17-years old and there is little account verification available to vet users setting up profiles.