Chat Hour

A throwback to the days of the early internet where chat rooms were all the rage for meeting new people, Chat Hour is an Android app that really brings out the nostalgia.

Overview of Chat Hour

If you're old enough to remember dial-up internet and AOL chat rooms where interested parties asked questions like “A/S/L?” then you might really appreciate Chat Hour. This Android app is a relatively new dating application that does things a whole lot differently than its competitors. Rather than trying to model itself after new social media sites, or trying to look like all the other dating apps on the market, Chat Hour actually turns back the clock and offers legitimate old-school chat rooms to users.

The idea here is to allow people to meet, mix and match like how they did in the early 2000s, with popular chat rooms. You're not messaging individuals directly, although it does have that feature. With this app, it's about finding an actual chat room and conversing with a group of people. This is as much for making new friends as it is meeting a possible romance. It's all about the online social experience of chatting.

How Chat Hour Works

After downloading an opening this app, the same way you would any other for your Android device, you will be prompted to add a name. You don't have to actually create a full profile, though you can, and the app will walk you through the easy steps. But you will at least need to enter a user name in order to enter the chat rooms. This app runs on live servers that will take you directly to where people are chatting live, in rooms.

Granted, these chat rooms aren't the best-looking graphically speaking. However, they were designed to look more like throwback chat rooms from the AOL and Yahoo! days, so they're not exactly streamlined and light blue, like most social media today. They're green and can look a bit clunky, but they're always filled with new people.

Chat Hour Features

The features for Chat Hour are pretty basic. There aren't a whole lot of bells and whistles to get lost in, which can be a great thing, as this also means that you won't be spending a ton of money on in-app products in order to chat with people. You will see the display page and get to see which rooms are available. You have a Chat Room, and People search, as well as a profile button, and you can even create your own chat room, for your friends, or for the general public.

One nice aspect of this app is that you can easily browse people individually and then enter a chat room to speak with them. If you want to message someone directly, you can. You can also whittle down your preferences to narrow your search.

Pros and Cons of Chat Hour

Pros

• A throwback to fun chat rooms
• Very easy to set up and use
• Do not have to pay money to use
• You can create your own rooms

Cons

• Not the most attractive app out there
• Things can get a bit clunky
• Always a danger of scammers here

Updated to use a new server