Tinder and its rivals are rapidly losing their audience — that’s a fact. And this is visible to the naked eye. After a very rapid increase in popularity amid the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic, Tinder lost about 5% of its active users in 2021. But this is not so much compared with statistics for previous years.
Looking deeper into the past, we can see that between 2013 and 2022, Tinder ratings on the App Store dropped by 42%. A similar situation can be observed with other popular dating applications.
So what’s the reason?
It’s simply that the young and active generation does not enjoy the format of communication via text, which is offered by the vast majority of dating sites and applications. In addition, users are very bored of such services increasingly trying to make money off them, making almost all functionality paid.
It’s not surprising that the usual web dating services have been replaced by an alternative — video chat roulette.
Chat roulette refers to a site or application that connects random users via video and allows you to chat on a variety of topics. A wonderful format for those who crave new friends and do not want to be limited just to texting.
Table of Contents
Popular video chat roulettes we recommend
CooMeet
Main features
The key feature of https://coomeet.com/chatroulette is an exclusive gender filter, thanks to which the system can connect men with just girls and never make a mistake. That’s already enough to consider this chat roulette an excellent platform for promising romantic acquaintances.
Features of use
Everything is as simple as possible: go to the site or application, agree to the terms of use and in literally one click connect to a random person. No complicated settings, filling out a profile, or the like. Only live chat.
History of appearance and functionality
CooMeet was first launched in 2011 and has been one of the most popular chat roulettes ever since, largely due to its gender filter, which is never wrong. For many users, this is a must-have.
Advantages and disadvantages
In addition to the gender filter, the advantages of CooMeet include a user-friendly website and mobile applications, a built-in message translator, excellent moderation, and high quality video and sound even with a mediocre internet connection. The disadvantage is paid access. But this is a necessary measure for high-quality moderation and the absence of intrusive advertising on the site. Plus all new users have a free trial period.
Azar
Main features
Azar is not just a video chat roulette, but a whole multimedia package that combines random video chat, a video streaming platform, a social network and a messenger.
Features of use
The Azar service is aimed at a young and active audience that wants to get the most useful features and functionality in one application. Azar is available in a web version (not very popular), as well as mobile applications for iOS and Android.
History of appearance and functionality
Development of Azar began in 2015, and since then the application has been evolving very actively, filled with fresh features and useful tools for meeting and communicating with new people. With every update, Azar introduces new functionality, which pleases many of its users.
Advantages and disadvantages
The main advantage of Azar is obvious — the service can replace several applications at once, providing users with the widest opportunities for meeting and communicating with new people, or just having a good time. On the other hand, for many users, such functionality may seem frankly superfluous, and they are more likely to choose a less functional but simple and understandable application.
Chatroulette
Main features
Chatroulette is the first video chat roulette in history, launched in the fall of 2009. Some may object that the Omegle chat roulette appeared earlier, but they would be only partly right. The Omegle website was indeed launched earlier, in the spring of that year. However, there was no video chat at the time, only text chat. So Chatroulette is rightfully considered the first video chat roulette. And this is the most typical chatroulette with all its advantages and disadvantages.
Features of use
Chatroulette is a very minimalist video chat in which you simply give the system access to the camera and microphone, press “Start” and after a couple of moments you’re chatting with a random person. Please note that Chatroulette does not have a mobile app, but the web version is well optimized for mobile devices, so you’ll definitely not experience any discomfort in using it.
History of appearance and functionality
The Chatroulette website was created in 2009 by Andrey Ternovsky, a Moscow schoolboy. Already in 2010, Good Morning America, The New York Times and other popular publications had written about chatroulette. In the spring of the same year, the daily audience of Chatroulette often exceeded 1.5 million people. Subsequently, due to poor moderation, the site began to rapidly lose its audience, and the emergence of worthy alternatives only accelerated this process. And only in 2020, the situation improved markedly after the implementation of a moderation algorithm based on artificial intelligence.
Advantages and disadvantages
The advantage of Chatroulette is simplicity and convenience. This is a very minimalistic chat roulette, which even a beginner who has not used similar sites before will figure out. But Chatroulette still has a lot of disadvantages: lack of mobile applications, inadequate moderation system, rare functionality updates, and not the most active audience.
Chatous
Main features
Chatous is another example of the classic chatroulette. But if Chatrandom has just a web version and no mobile applications, then Chatous has the opposite — only applications for iOS and Android.
Features of use
Everything is very simple. You launch the application, register in a few clicks, make a list of your interests and immediately start searching for other users. The principle of operation is totally the same as in most other video chat roulettes.
History of appearance and functionality
The Chatous service has been around since 2013 and remains quite popular. Here you can chat with random people via video, chat and exchange multimedia files in the built-in messenger, search for like-minded people by hashtags and add users as friends.
Advantages and disadvantages
The main advantages of Chatous are convenient mobile applications and an intuitive service interface. It is very easy to understand and a pleasure to use. But some users may miss the web version, and the functionality seems poor for a modern video chat roulette.
Bazoocam
Main features
Bazoocam is a typical chat roulette with basic functionality and a set of settings. It has a minimalist, even slightly primitive site, but for many this is enough for comfortable communication.
Features of use
Everything is extremely simple. You go to the Bazoocam website, press “Start” and wait for a connection to a random user. Registration is not required. At any time you can switch to the next person. There’s also a separate section for communication only with girls, but it redirects the user to another section of the site with video streams.
History of appearance and functionality
The Bazoocam website does not indicate when exactly this video chat roulette was launched. But if we use the Whois service, we will see that the bazoocam.org domain was registered in 2010. That is, very soon after the appearance of Chatroulette. In addition to classic chat roulette functionality, Bazoocam offers online mini-games and a built-in 18+ video streaming platform.
Advantages and disadvantages
The advantages of Bazoocam include lack of registration, ease of setup and an active audience. The disadvantages include a lack of full-fledged gender filters and mobile applications, mediocre moderation, an outdated interface, and extremely rare launch of new features.
Tinychat
Main features
Tinychat is a video streaming platform where you can stream your own or watch other users’ videos.
Features of use
On the Tinychat website, you can instantly see current live broadcasts and connect to any of them. For your convenience, there is a People Near You tab, where broadcasts by users who are close to you are automatically collected.
History of appearance and functionality
The Tinychat platform was launched in 2012 and has remained a highly sought-after streaming platform ever since. Even despite its rather limited functionality, Tinychat is still relevant and attracts thousands of users from all over the world.
Advantages and disadvantages
The main advantage of Tinychat is the ability to find like-minded people, share your thoughts and ideas to a huge audience, stay in the spotlight and gather loyal viewers. On the other hand, it should be understood that Tinychat is not particularly suitable for finding new acquaintances with the prospect of developing a romantic relationship.
So which one to choose in the end?
There’s no single answer to this question and there can’t be. There is no perfect dating site or perfect chatroulette. Any service has obvious advantages and disadvantages. It is up to you to decide which functions and features are your priority, as well as what shortcomings and disadvantages you are ready to put up with.
The only sure way is to try different options, compare them and use what works best for you. Yes, you’ll have to spend some time on making such a selection. But in the end, all your efforts will pay off, and you’ll find a site that will best suit all your requirements. Good luck and have fun online!
