Hohoo Chat is an Android app that offers users the chance to talk with people and businesses nearby without divulging any more information other than the nickname that they choose. No email address, definitely no phone number and no Facebook account; it’s all totally anonymous. The idea behind Hohoo Chat is that users will be able to use the app to choose a location (offered by Google Maps listings, it seems) and talk to people there, allowing users to find out what food is good or what the rooms are like, for instance. Some businesses can even use Hohoo Chat for anonymous one-on-one customer feedback, and users can find people nearby to chat with as well as create groups to talk about a common subject. This seems like a novel concept, so let’s take a closer look at what the app has to offer, shall we?
As with most Android apps, it’s a good idea to download Hohoo Chat from the Play Store. Once installed, users launch the app and are asked just one simple question; what nickname they’d like to use.
From here, users can see what places are nearby and then choose to either chat to them or chat with people that are already there.
Users might be wondering why this might be useful, and luckily the developer has put together a handful of pretty neat YouTube videos that highlight why being able to chat anonymously with both businesses as well as local people can be helpful.
The idea of being able to get quick answers to questions without having to divulge who you are or whatever is a nice touch, that’s for certain, but there will always be the worry that anonymous users might be basically trolling you with false information. Hopefully of course, this isn’t the case, but one way of getting around this is to find out information about restaurants and such directly from within the app.
This allows you to ask questions or comment on a restaurant or establishment, as well as find out where it is, but also connect directly one-on-one with the restaurant as well. This allows users to get answers or to just provide feedback.
One nice feature that Hohoo has is the ability to click the group chat icon on a place page, which allows you to chat with people that are already there, and get a feel for the place before you visit.
Sadly however, I quickly came across a limitation that’s common among all apps like these, which is that not many restaurants and establishments will even use such an app. I found that not one single restaurant or establishment nearby was on the app.
Of course, this is where users can take things into their own hands and create their own groups to talk about local places or to talk about common interests and such.
This seems to be a problem that can only really be solved with time, as more and more people start to install the app and see what Hohoo Chat is capable of, then it only stands to reason that more businesses with jump onboard as well. For businesses reading this review, the developer has a video put together for this as well:
There’s no getting around the fact that Hohoo Chat is a simple app, based around a simple concept, but this is what gives Hohoo so much potential. Leaving feedback or asking simple questions are things that a lot of customers want to do, but many sites ask for an email address, if only just to send marketing material to their inbox. With Hohoo Chat however, these same users will have the confidence to say whatever they want and ask all the questions that they want as well, without needing to give over any information or face any sort of consequences. Sadly for Hohoo, the idea of getting businesses online with one more app that they need to setup and teach employees to use is not something I can see happening en mass. Hopefully however, a lot of businesses will see the value in such a thing and ensure that they pay attention to the feedback and questions that Hohoo users send them.
Ratings
- Speed (4/5) – There are no performance issues with Hohoo Chat and it all runs nice and smoothly.
- Theme (4/5) – The interface is fine, but it’s not exactly the best-looking chat app out there, and it could do with a few touch-ups here and there.
- Features (3.5/5) – This sort of concept isn’t entirely original, and Hohoo faces an uphill struggle to get users and businesses onboard with the idea of maintaining one more app to chat to customers and other users.
- Overall (4/5) – Potential seems to be the key word when describing Hohoo Chat. It has a huge amount of potential, and it’s something that I can see taking off in the future. Its simplicity is easily what makes this so approachable and so much fun, but right now there aren’t enough people on it to make it worthwhile.
Pros
- Super-easy to get up and running, with just the need of whatever nickname you want to use.
- Doesn’t ask for an email address or any sort of personal information.
- Gives businesses a way to honestly and openly connect with their customers using anonymity.
- Users can connect and ask questions of each other without having to divulge who they are or anything like that.
Cons
- Can easily be screenshotted and shared online, even though this can be blocked in Android.
- Needs many more users to become useful for connecting businesses and users together.
For the most part, Hohoo Chat has a lot going for it, but right now this is more of an app that has a lot of potential on offer. More users and businesses need to come online for this to work as the developer intended, but this is a good concept and one that can genuinely be quite useful when it works right.