Sochat Review – Social Messaging Meets Dating

When it comes to dating sites unlike this Sochat review, I’m usually the first one to complain, “Not another one!” I’ll be honest. Yes, I may have turned to them in the past but, that was a long time go… when dinosaurs roamed the earth. Okay, not that long ago. Back in the day you went to a site on your Windows 98 PC and you registered a dating profile.

Then came the worst part of it. Most of these chat sites wanted a monthly subscription, just so you can have full access to their list of “great pretenders.” I must say, I did eventually go on a few blind dates with one or two of the men I met in these rooms, but… That’s a story for another day.

Sochat review – What you need to know

Okay, seeing as we are living in a more “technologically advanced” era than ever before, it’s no surprise EVERYTHING is done online these days. It makes sense that people are preferring to interact behind their screens. I get that, but times have changed and I found out just how much through my Sochat review.

Now, I was quite excited to be doing this Sochat review, since the last time I went onto any dating site was about 10 years ago. I was very excited to experience a mobile app for dating. So I downloaded the app to see what all the fuss was about.

The download was fairly simple, but once I opened the app, I was in for a nice surprise. I honestly thought it was just going to be another boring dating site, but was I wrong. The entire format was different. The app had a similar layout to a Social Media and messenger app.

The features

The features were just as impressive. Sochat uses a new Bluetooth low-energy, which allows the app to work within hundreds of feet, saves battery power and is super-fast. Messages can be sent offline, thanks to this free device-to-device technology. The setup is relatively easy and painless. You register using your mobile number and they send you a confirmation text with a unique code.

Sochat offers the option to link with your Facebook and also to find friends via your address book. Activate your location setting on your mobile to enable searching for people who are currently nearby you. It will bring up a list of profiles, and tell you exactly how many miles away from you, they are. Which is neat, if that’s what you want, but not exactly innovative.

Once you have installed Sochat, you will come to find that it’s incredibly user-friendly. It has a fabulous layout, creative interactions and is very convenient. Truly the best part of it all is that it is a Messaging App, however, with its built-in “Swipe chat” and “People nearby” – it allows you to find and match up with potential love interests. A two in one.

Official Sochat review – The Stats

Sochat founder and CEO, Lukens Orthwein, had previously worked for the well-known Chinese messaging app “WeChat.” Orthwein left the company to start Sochat in Hong Kong but later relocated to San Francisco with his team. Sochat was officially released to the public mid-2015. According to Play Store and Twitter. It seems that according to Playstore, Sochat has already reached between 5 000-10 000 downloads. Currently, its largest audience is in America and Asia. The app is available for download in English, Chinese, Japanese, German and Spanish.

One of the best things about this app is that it’s for everyone, not just for dating or romantic encounters. Sochat can become a versatile platform for making friends, as well as daily social interactions. Once you have made use of its features to find your Mr or Mrs. Right, you won’t need to remove the app or deactivate your profile. You can continue using Sochat long into the future.

I found out, while doing my Sochat review, since the app is so versatile, it’s perfect for ages above 18 years. I do not suggest any minors making use of social apps – especially since people are able to access your location. Your parents and grandparents can make also use of it. It’s available for free download, for both iOS on Itunes, and Android devices on Google Play Store.

Sochat review – What it packs

Sochat uses less power, because of its Bluetooth technology. It doesn’t need Wi-Fi or a person’s phone number to begin chatting with people nearby. Sochat works online and OFFLINE. Either with WIFI, data or Bluetooth wireless communication technology.
With the Swipe chat interactions, you can select PASS or LIKE when each person’s profile appears, letting the other person know you fancy them. Sochat offers millions of Built in GIFs, with the option to download more. Sharing YouTube videos while you are chatting in the app- no need to leave and connect to another. The option to send your love interest a voice note instead of texting.

Magic words

Sochat also has this very cool interaction called “Magic words” which are short keywords which enable certain actions. So typing certain letters of the alphabet into your conversation will activate various actions, such as “Animal surprises”. Which makes it rain various animals down your screen, even raining unicorns.

Enable location settings and swipe to see friends nearby and meet prospective love interests. You can also set a self-destruct timer and obliterate any message within a set time-frame of it being read, to keep confidential messages secret.

I found when I tried and tested the “Swipe function” it brought up one profile at a time and was really taking its time to load. Also, finding others through their location lagged quite a bit, but once a profile appeared Sochat sped up. Sochat brought up quite a few people at a time on the “Find people nearby” function. It shows their username, photo, and their distance. When clicking on another person’s profile it shows a numeral score which goes according to a number of messages you send, photos you add, etc.

Sochat review – The last word

I’m usually skeptical about any kind of dating app. Although I must admit, I found that Sochat incorporated the best of both worlds. It has the features of a messaging device yet with a built-in “date app” – if you could call it that. For those who do not want just anyone being able to pick up their location – as this could potentially pose a safety risk – I suggest turning your location settings on your mobile and your in-app “radar” off so that no one is able to track you through your location and vice-versa.

However. Once you do this, it becomes more like a social networking app as the “dating” function (“Swipe” and “find people nearby”) is basically removed. My advice would be to only switch it on in places where it’s not creepy to be found and “confronted” my people finding you trough an app like a bar or a restaurant.

Users will use this app at their own risk as it gives away way too much personal information for my liking. For that reason, I will not be activating my radar, nor be making use of the “swipe” function. For socializing, I found it convenient and user-friendly with a great list of interactions.

Unfortunately, it does comes across more as a Messaging app than a dating app. It seems to be geared more towards social networking than dating. I do think the concept is great, but it’s not for everyone. Especially private people who will NOT want to share their location, and unfortunately if your radar and location settings are turned off you won’t have access to people unless you do a manual search for them – which would be more like Facebook.

Sochat review -Rating

There’s no doubt about it, Sochat is a good app, with a great concept and decent technology. However, they do fall short when it comes to the fact that you need to activate your location to be able to search or be found by potential suitors. This is a problem every app with location based services has to deal with.
As well as the fact Sochat’s design and layout appears to resemble that of a familiar social networking’s messenger layout and lacks uniqueness and individuality in its appearance. The app’s functionality acts too much like a Messenger app for social media than a dating app. Which is an advantage if you ask me.
The great thing about Sochat is that instead of having all these various apps on your phone taking up space and time, Sochat is the all-in-one app, and it allows you to meet new people in a very relaxed and convenient way. For these reasons, I have decided to give Sochat a 3,5-star rating.
However, I would recommend this app to those daring enough to use it, for making new love connections, and even just for general social networking.

Download from

App Store 4.5/5

Google Play 4/5