Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, completely free. No subscription, no paywall, no in-chat ads, and no signup required. Open flashchat.fun in your browser and start chatting in seconds.

No. Core chat works without any account. You're given an auto-generated random username on every visit. Optional features like FlashBuddies and email recovery require a profile, but those are entirely opt-in.

No. FlashChat runs in any modern browser on Android, iPhone, tablet, and desktop. There is nothing to install from the Play Store or App Store. You can add FlashChat to your Home Screen for app-like behaviour as a Progressive Web App.

Open flashchat.fun, hit "Start" for instant text matching, or tap the camera icon to begin a video chat. You're matched with a random stranger and given a vibe-themed random username automatically.

Yes. No personal information is required for core chat. You're assigned a vibe-themed random username, your real identity stays private, and chat messages are never written to disk. Other users never see your IP address or any device identifier.

No. Chat messages live in server memory only during your active session and are dropped the moment you disconnect. They are never written to disk or to a database. Full details in the privacy policy.

Your IP is visible at the network level (every internet service sees this) and is used internally for rate limiting and abuse prevention. It is never shown to other users, never linked to a profile, and never stored in chat logs.

Open the profile sheet from the header avatar, scroll to the Account tab, and tap Delete. Account deletion is immediate and irreversible: profile, FlashBuddies, and Flash Cards are all removed.

FlashChat uses WebRTC, the open standard for real-time video built into every modern browser. The call attempts a peer-to-peer connection first; if that fails (common on Indian mobile networks due to CGNAT), it falls back to a TURN relay server hosted in Hyderabad. See the random video chat guide for the full breakdown.

Yes. Indian mobile carriers use CGNAT, which blocks direct peer-to-peer connections most of the time. FlashChat detects this automatically and routes the call through a TURN relay so the video call still works on mobile data.

Roughly 4 to 6 MB per minute at the default 480p / 20 fps cap. A 30-minute call uses about 150 MB. If your connection drops, FlashChat reduces bitrate and falls back to audio-only before disconnecting.

Yes. FlashChat works in Safari on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Open flashchat.fun, allow camera and microphone the first time, and you're set. Add to Home Screen for an app-like experience.

Yes. Start with text, escalate to voice notes or self-destructing photos, or skip video entirely. Video is opt-in for both sides — neither party sees the other's camera unless both agree.

FlashChat layers a five-engine text moderation system, an on-device NSFW image classifier, one-tap reporting, instant skip, and ephemeral messaging. Combined with sensible behaviour — never sharing personal information with strangers — it's substantially safer than unmoderated alternatives. See the safety page for the full breakdown.

Five layers on text: profanity filter, flood protection, spam detection, URL allow-list, and join-velocity throttling. Images are run through an on-device TensorFlow.js NSFW classifier (MobileNetV2) before they can be sent. Reports trigger admin review, with severe content (CSAM, threats) causing immediate disconnection.

FlashChat is intended for users aged 18 and above. The Terms of Service prohibit use by minors. Suspected minors should be reported through the in-chat report button or the published grievance officer.

Tap the report button in the chat header. One tap surfaces a category picker and submits the report with full session metadata to admin tooling. You can also skip first and report after — skipping is instant.

Photos sent in chat automatically disappear after a 3 to 10 second timer. Once the timer expires the image is permanently removed from the session and is never stored on the server.

Tap and hold the microphone to record up to 10 seconds. The voice note plays once for the recipient and then auto-deletes. Like all media, nothing is persisted after playback.

Flash Cards are anonymous public posts. Share thoughts, memes, or questions for the community to heart, comment on, or start a Spark Chat with you — all without revealing your identity.

FlashBuddies are persistent anonymous friend connections. Add someone you click with as a buddy and they get priority in your matchmaking queue, so you can reconnect with them in future sessions without exchanging any contact information.

Rooms are topic-based group chat spaces. Up to 6 people can join, share text, photos, voice notes and GIFs, and even start group video calls. Rooms can be public or private with shareable invite links.

Yes — and it's built for India. Servers are hosted in Oracle's Hyderabad region, keeping latency under 50 ms across most of India on Jio, Airtel, BSNL and Vi. FlashChat operates under IT (Intermediary Guidelines) Rules 2021.

The interface is currently English-first. Hindi support and additional Indian language interfaces are on the roadmap. The chat itself works in any language — type in Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, Telugu, or anything else and the message relays as-is.

FlashChat is inspired by Omegle's stranger-chat concept but rebuilt from scratch with stronger privacy defaults, India-specific infrastructure, and modern features Omegle never had — self-destructing photos, voice notes, Flash Cards, FlashBuddies, group Rooms, and full IT-Rules 2021 compliance. See the Omegle alternative comparison.

Omegle shut down on 8 November 2023 after 14 years. Founder Leif K-Brooks cited rising moderation costs, sustained legal pressure, and abuse of the platform in his closing letter. The site went offline globally on the same day.

FlashChat publishes a grievance officer with contact details and response timelines per the IT-Rules 2021. The takedown policy covers DMCA, CSAM reporting, government orders, and user-initiated content removal.