Show HN: Back to one-time end-to-end encrypted anonymous chats in 2025
31 comments
·March 10, 2025latexr
It’s a bit awkward that “in 2025” (your words) you’re focusing so heavily on gender, especially with a subpar implementation: You only allow “male” and “female” (which right off the bat will make many people close the website, even if they identify with either), have zero checks (as if people didn’t lie about that on the internet all the time), and make people type it themselves (when it should be a dropdown or radio button, if you only allow limited choice).
Why be so adamant about it? It’s not like you built a dating service. The website has a shady vibe in general, I expect most women will be put off by the very thought of outing themselves to thirsty creeps.
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kaliqt
[flagged]
givinguflac
I logged in to say the exact same thing as the parent comment. There’s no bias; just common sense and respect for others in 2025.
anonzzzies
I agree with the assessment; also, the implementation is really strange; why are we typing it?
wordofx
[flagged]
cedws
>Gender includes the social, psychological, cultural and behavioral aspects of being a man, woman, or other gender identity. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social constructs as well as gender expression.
What you are referring to is sex.
shakna
There's also more than just two sexes. Bunch of people with more than two chromosomes around.
wordofx
[flagged]
4ggr0
this is giving me "anonymous chat for horny people", probably because of the immediate gender choice.
i can imagine most first messages looking like "a/s/l?"(age, sex, location).
source: was once a teenage boy with internet access.
AnyTimeTraveler
I genuinely have no idea what to chose in the gender-screen (since neither option applies) and can't just say "You don't get to know that".
Why is this needed?
Edit: clarification
kennysoona
You could just use what's on your license or ID.
The site seems to be a kind of dating/singles chat, if that's the case having genders/sexes makes some sense, although indeed it could be better.
latexr
> You could just use what's on your license or ID.
Not only could that not match your real gender, there are places where IDs allow for more than those two options.
https://www.bustle.com/p/12-states-with-a-third-gender-optio...
kennysoona
> Not only could that not match your real gender,
If it doesn't, choose the other or closest option. It's unlikely there isn't one.
> there are places where IDs allow for more than those two options.
Sure, like here in NYC. That's really more of a personality thing IMO, which gets conflated with sex. Wherever necessary, things still reduce down to a binary choice, with the rest being details.
wordofx
[flagged]
AnyTimeTraveler
My ID says D for "diverse". Equivalent to X in the US.
What now?
kennysoona
You likely still identify as masc or femme in some sense, so chose the closest option.
My point is simply that there is likely a 'closest option'. Obviously people don't have to use any service they feel doesn't cater to them, but when a service doesn't always offer more than the binary it doesn't have to always be a "woe is me, how could I ever proceed" scenario.
GranPC
Even if it's "end-to-end encrypted", what stops me from opening two connections simultaneously and connecting them to one another in order to eavesdrop?
sharperguy
It's clear to me that the criticism is coming from people who had never used omegle. While it's all valid, it was extraordinarily popular anyway.
kaliqt
They all have the exact same vibe of "criticism", popping up all at the same time.
I think they're from the same place brigading this post to harass the project.
latexr
Consensus on criticism you don’t like does not equal brigading. Everyone so far has been respectful and commented on the thing that is most salient about the website. And of course it’s around the same time, the post was just submitted.
If everyone keeps saying you reek, consider giving your armpits a sniff before accusing everyone of ganging up.
kaliqt
Your comment was extremely dismissive and disrespectful to OP, so you'll have to forgive us for being suspicious when they all pop up at the same time with the exact same tone.
wordofx
[flagged]
Fethbita
Changing the app on iOS causes the WebSocket to fail, which made it so that my chat was lost. Sending new messages didn’t make me connect automatically, which is a shame.
kaliqt
The UI is nice and clean but the chat partner takes a while (closed out of it while waiting), I'd say try to add indication of estimated wait times, and honestly? A mini game while you wait like the dinosaur on Chrome. Or, at least a request to notify you when someone does get connected.
Little things go a long way in UX.
mcherm
Why on Earth would I trust this?
yaps[dot]chat - one-time end-to-end encrypted anonymous chats