A Safer Monkey App Alternative

After Omegle closed down, Monkey rose quickly, and it was based on a unique format-a short, timed video match with a stranger, about 15 seconds, that continues only if both parties decide to do so. The gamified, swipe-style feel picked up a large share of the audience Omegle left behind.

However, there are a few well known problems that drive people to seek an alternative. The biggest: Monkey was banned from the App Store for safety reasons after reports of inappropriate content and exposure of underage users, and it has yet to make a comeback. iPhone only has the browser version, and Android is still the only one to have the app. This is enough to make Monkey an insecure base.

The other ones have to do with friction and trust. Monkey does not keep you anonymous, but requires you to sign in, usually with a Google or Snapchat account or a phone number. It requires an 18+ and asks for a date of birth, but does not do anything meaningful to verify the age. Plus, it's freemium: ads are shown in the free version, and features such as filters are behind a Monkey Plus subscription.

StrangerLine is designed to eliminate any of those that pushed you to look elsewhere.

StrangerLine is compatible with all modern browsers, so there's nothing to install to get started, and nothing that disappears if an app-store listing changes. That's significant here in particular: Monkey's departure from Apple's store is the sort of thing that leaves users stuck on one platform and app-less on another.

StrangerLine avoids the entire issue. It's the same in a browser on an iPhone, an Android phone or a desktop. Want to use a specific app? There's an Android version - but it's a convenience, never the only way in. You don't have to remain in any store's good graces to gain access.

Monkey will prompt you to log in with a Google or Snapchat account or a phone number. That does give you a level of responsibility, but it also makes your random conversations less anonymous since they're linked to your name or picture.

StrangerLine is a free service. No account, no social login, no phone number, no profile. You are anonymous from the initial click and there is no information about you that remains between chats. That's the whole idea of random chat for many people, to meet someone new without being associated with your real name. StrangerLine maintains that.

Connect with individuals without signing up - begin a talk or go to video.

Monkey is free to start, but it's a freemium product: the free version displays lots of ads, and features such as preference filters are behind a Monkey Plus subscription, which costs about $10 per month.

The basic experience of StrangerLine, which is text, voice and video chat with strangers, is just free. No subscription to unlock the parts you actually want to use and no experience that encourages you to upgrade to a paid version. You receive the complete product without having a card on file.

Monkey has an age rating of 18+, but it doesn't actually verify age; users simply input their date of birth and reviews show that it has always had a younger than average age audience. That, along with the App Store ban, is the essence of why people doubt that it is a responsible place to be.

From the ground up, StrangerLine is created for adults 18+, and report based moderation and a one-tap report button in each chat are just two of the features that make it so. While no random-chat site can guarantee a spotless experience, a responsible alternative should be clearly an adults-only site, with real reporting and no gamification for younger users.