If you've finally grown bored with
harassing Apple representatives through FaceTime tests on your iPhone 4, then worry not. An application has just been released that allows iPhone 4 users to embark upon a Chatroulette-style game with one another
through their iPhone 4 handsets.
For those of you who've been living in a shell for the past year: Chatroulette is an online game-of-sorts that connects your computer's webcam with the webcam of another Chatroulette player who could be anywhere in the world. So far the game is mostly associated with curious costumes, practical jokes, and indecent exposure - but every now and then you do find somebody who just wants to talk.
With the release of Apple's iPhone 4, which comes with
FaceTime - a video calling app that utilizes the handset's front-facing camera - many Chatroulette fans have been calling for a Chatroulette app for iPhone 4. And while that hasn't arrived (yet), the next best thing has just bounced into the App Store.
It's called
iChatr, and - though it doesn't connect to Chatroulette's network - the concept is pretty much the same. Here's the basics:
You launch up the application (which is free, and available now in the App Store), ensuring that you're connected to a Wi-Fi network. You plug in your headphones - otherwise you won't be able to hear the person you connect to. Then iChatr finds another person who's just launched the app (or is in-between chats) , and connects you to them through sight and sound.
If you get bored with your iChatr-friend, simply swipe the screen and the app will fine somebody else, Chatroulette-style.
The good news with iChatr is that it seems (at first glance) to be pretty safe, albeit relatively unpopulated. My first round brought me up against a dark room, a silent man sat at a desk, and a sock puppet. My iPhone then went on to revisit the dark room and the silent man, though I wasn't so fortunate to encounter the sock puppet again. However, as the app was only released yesterday, not many are going to have heard about it - indeed, the amount of users can only grow.
The app itself is quick and easy to use. The video image is good, though the screen does display two videos; one of you (top half of the screen), and one of your random friend (bottom half of the screen). Connecting with other people happens very quickly, and launching the app itself is lightening-fast.
So if you're the Chatroulette-type, be sure to
check out iChatr in the App Store now! It's completely free, and all you need to play the game is an iPhone 4, a Wi-Fi network, and a sense of adventure. Let us know what you think of iChatr in the comments box below!
