Chai

Chai is no longer available for download. This site documents what the project was about, how it was designed, and why it was eventually shut down.

1000 installs on google play open to all regions

400 installs on app store over span of about 6 months in just US and Canada

marketing, indie hacker

Design Process

have the animation we used ;)

sketch of how the app would work

design iterations, there should be screenshots, you can use that youtube video

Architecture

What Went Wrong?

What is Chai?

Chai is an anonymous messaging app for people to talk about anything.

Who is Chai for?
Anyone who wants to talk about stuff and hear from lots of different people

Who is Chai NOT for?
Chai is not a professional service and the people you talk to are just normal everyday people. If you need professional help please talk to a therapist or other professional.

How does it work?

Lets say you have something on your mind. Perhaps you are living in the middle of a pandemic and need to talk about it.

1. Open up Chai - it should take you to the home tab. The header says "So, what's on your mind."

2. Click on the text that says "What you want to talk about..."

3. Type what's on your mind, in this case "How have you been coping through the pandemic?" 

4. Chai will then create a new conversation and notify a random user. Now all you have to do is wait for someone to respond to you.

If you don't want to start a new conversation, you can check out the open conversations.

1. Go to the explore tab with the magnifying glass on the bottom. 

2. You'll see a card with a question on it

   1. Swipe right to open the question and join the conversation. You won't actually be part of the conversation until you send a message. At this point this conversation should show up in your messaging tab (bottom right button).

   2. Or swipe left to go to another question

3. You can swipe through cards until you've found interesting conversations.

4. Important things to know:

   1. Conversations only last 24 hours. This means if someone joins your conversation they will be removed in 24 hours and someone new will be able to join. If you joined someone's conversation you will be removed from their conversation in 24 hours.

   2. Any conversations that are open and have not been responded to in 7 days will be deleted. This is to keep stale conversations (by people who deleted the app or don't respond for some other reason) out of the explore tab.

   3. You always have the option to end a conversation you are in by opening the side menu in the conversation and clicking resolve.

Features to enhance your experience

If you have something on your mind that you want to get multiple opinions on, Chai makes this easy

1. Create a conversation or go to the conversation you want a new opinion on.

2. Swipe left on the conversation (or click the menu button on the top right) to open the side menu.

3. The side menu will give you options to get a new opinion.