Random chat with strangers, one conversation at a time

How random matching works on Bubbles

When you start a chat you join a queue. If you picked any interests (gaming, music, books, travel and so on), Bubbles first looks for someone waiting who shares one of them. If nobody with a shared interest is free, you are paired with the next available person, so you are never stuck waiting for a perfect match.

Matching is one-to-one. There are no group rooms full of people talking over each other in the random flow, and nobody else can read your conversation. If the chat is not working, you can leave and be matched with someone new in a few seconds.

• No account, email or phone number needed to start.
• Text chat; you can share photos with a small credit system, but there is no video or webcam.
• Optional interests steer you toward people who care about the same things.
• Leave any time; the other person sees that you disconnected, nothing else.

Why text instead of video

Video random chat sites became known for one thing: you never know what the next camera will show you. Text changes that. Nobody sees your face or your room, it is much harder to record or screenshot anything identifying, and moderation can actually read what is being said before it reaches you.

Text is also better for real conversation. People are more willing to say what they actually think when they are not on camera, and you can take a moment to answer properly instead of filling silence.

What keeps random chat from going bad

Random chat only works if the worst people do not get to ruin it for everyone else. Bubbles is 18+ only and asks you to confirm your age before you chat. Messages are screened by automated moderation, and sexual content triggers a consent prompt: the conversation can only go there if both people agree, and either person can revoke that agreement at any time.

You can report or block anyone in one tap. Reports are reviewed and accounts that break the rules are banned. No system is perfect, so the usual rules still apply: do not share your full name, address, school, workplace or social handles with someone you just met.

How to get a good random chat

The first message matters more than anything else. "hi" gets you "hi". A specific question gets you a person. Try something that is easy to answer but not a yes or no: what they are doing right now, the best thing they ate this week, a place they would move to tomorrow.

If you want more ideas, our list of icebreaker questions is sorted from light to deep, and the guide to talking to strangers online covers what to do when a conversation stalls.

Is random chat private?

Bubbles does not ask who you are, and the person you are talking to only sees what you choose to type. Connections to Bubbles are encrypted in transit with HTTPS/TLS. Messages are not end-to-end encrypted, because automated moderation has to be able to read them. One-to-one chats are not kept as a history you or anyone else can scroll back through; content that is flagged or reported is logged for moderation. The privacy policy has the details.