Imagine getting all the visceral thrill of Chatroulette without the anxiety brought on by actually having to hold a conversation with another human. It looks a little like Rando, an iOS app that lets you take photos that are shared with exactly one other randomuser. In return, of course, you’ll occasionally receive photos from your anonymous friends around the world in return.
It all sounds pretty utopian and great until you remember dicks. How many dicks? So far, it’s too early to tell (I haven’t gotten any yet), but I’d be willing to bet the answer is: so many dicks. The developers thoughtfully included a way to flag photos as inappropriate, but unless they’ve gotten a hold of Chatroulette’s magic dick-detecting software, I’d imagine a few will slip through the cracks.
Aesthetically, the thing is as pretty as can be, with clean, minimal design and a neat circular crop that gets put on every photo. And creator Matt Miller has his heart in the right place, hoping the anonymity will get people thinking more about the photos they take. He’d like Rando to be “more about giving than bragging,” with users “reflecting on why they use social media more generally.”
Get Rando free in the app store.
