How to start chatting on Andromede

Pick a nickname and a room. You chat for free, with no account, in the browser of your phone or computer. Start in the welcome room #english-chat or open a room's page from the list of rooms.

Choosing a nickname

Use a name without spaces, commas or colons. If the server says the nickname is taken or reserved, choose another one. Do not put your phone number, email address or anything else you want to keep private in your nickname. Letters without accents work best.

Finding a room

In the list of rooms you can search by name or interest and filter rooms by country, city, expats or topic. A city room is open to everyone: people who do not live there are welcome in the conversation too.

Language of the chat

The buttons and menus of the browser chat are not translated into English yet. For now the chat appears in French, or in Spanish if your browser is set to Spanish. Conversations in the English rooms are, of course, in English. Below are the French names of the main buttons and what they mean.

In the chat, “Trouver d’autres salons” (find other rooms) opens the room search. “Recherche” (search) finds a room, and “Revenir au salon” (back to the room) takes you back to your conversation. You change the language under “Paramètres” (settings), then “Paramètres avancés” (advanced settings) and “Langue du client” (chat language).

Sending a message

Type your message in the box at the bottom and press the send button. On a computer you can also press Enter. A message in a room is public: anyone in the room can read it. If your connection drops, wait for the chat to reconnect before sending your message again.

Private messages and blocking

Open the menu of someone's nickname and choose “Envoyer un message” (send a message) to start a private conversation. Ask first whether it is all right, and accept a no. “Bloquer” (block) blocks someone, and “Débloquer” (unblock) lifts the block.

In the settings you can use message filters to limit new contacts. Closing a conversation does not block the person: use blocking if you do not want to receive new messages.

Keeping your friends

Open the messages window and the friends list. “Ajouter” (add) adds a nickname, “Tous” (all) shows the whole list and “En ligne” (online) shows the friends who are connected right now. From a friend's menu you can start a conversation or remove them from the list.

Without an account, the list is kept in this browser and may disappear if you clear your browser data. With an account, the chat keeps a local copy and syncs the list with your user settings. If you are offline, try again when the connection is back; you do not need to add the nicknames again.

When a room is quiet

The English-speaking community is just starting. Say hello, leave a question and come back at another time. The list of rooms does not invent numbers: it shows how many people are connected only when there is a recent count, and that count may include bots.

If something goes wrong

If you cannot get in, check your connection and the nickname you chose. When you report a bug, give the room, the approximate time and what happened, without sending any password. You will find help on the contact page.