Omegle App Review

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What is Omegle?

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Omegle was an online chat website that allows users to communicate with others without the need to register. The service randomly pairs users in one-on-one chat or video sessions. There’s an app that uses the yellow logo (which seems to be changing every week) and also a browser-based version of Omegle at www.omegle.com.

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How Does Omegle Work?

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Essentially, Omegle would pair you up with a random person in a roulette of video calls. From one stranger to the next. It was often mature content from others that would be randomly shown to whoever joined.

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It’s an app that literally just pairs you up with strangers. “Text” chats are exactly what they say. A conversation with a random individual.

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Finally, Omegle is officially shut down. Here's a quick news article about it, and the according lawsuit (contains slightly graphic images). Omegle caused so much harm. We are glad it's gone! However, Monkey, seems to be reviving this genre of random video chats. See our app review here.

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What Do Parents Need to Know About Omegle? 

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There’s tons of live nudity. The ability to be paired up with anyone, anywhere in the world should throw up tons of red flags for parents. Even the creators of Omegle warn that anyone under 18 using the app should be monitored by parents. The iPhone version of the app works like this:

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At Omegle.com through a browser, users are given the opportunity to participate in an “unmoderated video” chat, an “adult video” chat, a “monitored video” chat, or a “text” chat. A warning box appears if you click the “unmoderated” or “adult” links, making sure the user is at least 18 and is aware that sexual material is coming. And, beware, because it is absolutely true.

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Immediately upon joining one of the “unmoderated” or “adult” video chats, the user is confronted with live nudity from random webcams. Even in the “monitored” video chats, you will occasionally run into a simulated webcam where someone has inserted a still image of a naked woman, or there are guys who are disgustingly pleasuring themselves on a webcam just waiting to have a video chat.

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What often happens is someone will start a chat and offer their KiK username (or other social media sites) where the conversation continues with all of Kik’s features. We have tested this site through a browser, posing as different people of different ages, and the level of depravity is shocking. When there is anonymity, anything goes.

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How to Make Omegle Safer:

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Regardless of the app, three actions mitigate the risks we’ve shared. We teach these actions in our parent presentations:

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1. Require approval for all app downloads.
2. Follow the 7-Day Rule
3. Enable in-app controls and settings

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We explain each of them briefly below. If you’ve already set up approvals for downloads and have used the app, please skip to the In-App Controls & Settings.

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Require Approval for App Downloads

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You can control app stores by requiring permission for apps to be downloaded. This is ensures your child doesn’t have access to an app without your knowledge. Here are the steps (for Apple and Android users):

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For Apple Devices:

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To require permission to download an app, you’ll need to set up Screen Time and Family Sharing (Apple’s Parental Controls). We explain this process step-by-step in our Complete iOS Guide (click here).  

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Once Screen Time and Family Sharing are established, here’s how to require permission to download apps on an Apple device:

1. Go to your Settings app.
2. Select your Family.
3. Select the person you want to apply this setting to.
4. Scroll down to “Ask to Buy” and enable.

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For Android Devices:

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You’ll have to use Family Link (Android’s parental controls) to ensure you retain control over what apps are downloaded. We explain this process step-by-step in our Android Guide (click here).

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Once Family Link is established, here’s how to require permission to download apps on an Android device:

1. Go to the Family Link App
2. Select the person you want to apply this setting to.
3. Select “Google Play Store”
4. Select “Purchases & download approval” and set it to “All Content.”

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Follow the 7-Day Rule

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This is our tried-and-true method of determining whether a specific app is safe for your specific child.

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Before you let your child use it, download the app and use it for 7 days.

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Create an account with your child’s age and gender and use it for 7 days. Play through a few levels, review the ads, see if anyone can chat with you, and poke around like a curious child.

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After a week, ask yourself, “Do I want my child to experience what I did?”  Even if you decide to allow them to download the app, now you have a basis for curious conversations about the app when you check in.

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Enable In-App Controls & Settings

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Omegle never had any controls, but now that it's shut down, we don't have to worry about that anymore!

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Bottom Line: Was Omegle Safe for Kids?

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There’s absolutely nothing good about Omegle, which is why it was shut down.

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Parents should take extreme caution when deciding if their kids should use similar apps offering video chats with strangers, such as Monkey.

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What if I have more questions? How can I stay up to date?

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Two actions you can take!

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1. Subscribe to our tech trends newsletter, the PYE Download. About every 3 weeks, we’ll share what’s new, what the PYE team is up to, and a message from Chris.
2. Ask your questions in our private parent community called The Table! It’s not another Facebook group. No ads, no algorithms, no asterisks. Just honest, critical conversations and deep learning! For parents who want to “go slow” together. Become a member today!

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