How ChillHub works, from the first tap to the second call

Two things, both quick. First the browser asks whether ChillHub may use your camera and microphone. This is the browser protecting you; say yes and your camera switches on. Second, the site begins looking for a match.

You did not have to do anything before this. A guest session was created when the page loaded, which is why no form appeared. The five steps below are the entire journey from arriving to having someone to call tomorrow.

At random, from the people who are online right now. You do not pick. The site finds one person who is online and connects the two of you.

Random is a feature, not a shortcut. It is how you end up talking to someone you would never have chosen from a list and are glad you met.

If you would rather choose, there is a second route. The Who's online list, described further down, lets you look through the people around and start a call from a profile. The page on the 1 on 1 video call compares the two routes. The list is also there if a match takes a while to arrive.

Mostly, talk. The other person fills the screen and you sit in a corner of it. Around the picture are a few controls, among them the text box, a way to go to the next match and a way to end the call.

The text box is more useful than it looks. Use it for a name that is hard to spell, a song title, or a first hello if you are shy. Typed messages can translate automatically, which carries you through a conversation with someone who speaks another language.

You can end a call whenever you want. What a new match draws on, and what happens when the free time on a call is used, is explained on Is ChillHub free?.

For the times you want to pick. Who's online shows the people on ChillHub at this moment. You can scroll through it, view it by country, and tap anyone to open their profile.

A profile is a small page about one person. From it you can follow them, send them a message, or start a video call with them directly. It is also where you return to people you already know, which brings us to the part after the call.

Follow is a bookmark for a person. Follow someone you enjoyed talking to, and they are added to the list of people you follow. That list is how you find them again; without it, a random match would be the only route and the odds would be poor.

Messages are notes you leave from a profile. The other person does not have to be online; they will see it when they next open the site. This is what keeps a new acquaintance alive between calls, particularly across time zones.

Put together, the two give you a second day. You come back, open your list, see who is around, and call or write. The features page lists everything available at each stage.

The Reward Center is at the top of the match screen. It gives out free matches several times a day, and what each claim gives is shown there.

It works alongside the free matches every new person starts with. Between the two, your first conversations are covered before coins come into it. Where the free part stops is explained on Is ChillHub free?, and the coins page covers what follows.

No. Guests can start straight away, and you can use the site as a guest for your first calls without logging in at all. Signing in becomes worth it once you have people you follow and would not want to lose them, since a guest session lives in the browser you used.

If you want ChillHub one tap away, add it to your home screen. And before a first call, the safety page is a short, useful read.