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What’s old is new again. When the internet exploded in the late 1990s, it took communication and information along with it. No longer were people stuck underneath their covers at 2 AM having conversations on their touchtone telephones, but rather in front of the computer staring at a large CRT screen chatting with anyone else who had internet service the world over. Over the last fifteen years, these chat rooms fell out of favor to social networks which in fairness had a narrow window of interaction, which is anyone else in your network. Chatbox for Android brings back the retro flair and hysteria by allowing you to join chat rooms to discuss anything with anyone from anywhere!

What Is Chatbox

Chatbox brings old school style chat rooms to your Android device with an easy to use interface. A quick load up, you are instantly taken to the main chat room. There are a few.  “Chatbox” is the default room, with others including “Role Play”, “Flirt”, “LGBT”, “Messenger”,  and “Multilingual”. Each room is moderated. While only these rooms currently exist, the app developers are requesting that anyone interested in moderating rooms apply to do so. Each room is moderated to ensure that users adhere to the app’s strict terms, which is very welcome. Unlike the uncarved landscape of yesteryear, Chatbox works hard to ensure there is no cyberbullying, threats or any other inappropriate or illegal activity.

The fun begins when you swipe right. There is a level of anonymity with Chat Box, you can create a different screen name each time you sign in. Swiping right brings up the main settings menu. Here you can switch rooms, set your name, choose your font size, font color and username color to add a bit of variety. You can lock rotation and toggle your user ID. You can also reset all of the parameters with a simple tap.

In Practice

Chatbox is so easy. Simply type away. There is a huge retro feel to the app. There are no fancy colors or backgrounds (though you have control over both). It’s just raw text. If people are in the room, you can chat with them. If you have ever been in a chat room, this you will feel familiar. We signed on at 3 in the morning and were surprised at all of the activity, When we entered the default chat room, we announced ourselves and everyone responded in kind. Not bad.

Verdict

Chatbox is a very simple and straight forward app with lots of potential. We would like to see more chat rooms added and hope that many more moderators jump on board. If you are looking for  a quick escape and want to discuss literally anything, then Chatbox should be on your short list.

GMA