As the world practices social distancing in an attempt to "flatten the curve" and slow the coronavirus outbreak, an unlikely digital hero has arrived on the scene in the Houseparty app. Combining features of many social platforms, this app seems to have the perfect feature set for maintaining a social life while staying at home for long periods of time.
The Houseparty app has been available since 2016 but the recent increase in people communicating from home via the internet has dramatically increased its popularity. Video chat programs like Zoom, Skype, and FaceTime have all experienced an increase in activity but, compared to Houseparty, they come off as much more intimate and less focused on fun. The simplicity of Houseparty seems to connect with s more than a typical face-to-face chat.
At its core, the app's greatest strength is accessibility: accessibility to the app's tools and between the s themselves. After g up, Houseparty asks the to import friends from other social media platforms like Twitter. Once those connections have been established, the next key of Houseparty is that it alerts a when their friends sign in. can open up a chat party that functions similarly to a lobby in an online video game. It's open, meaning it doesn't require inviting specific people, so from there, people on that 's friends list can hop in and out of the chat at will. This system creates a candid, flowing, group video chat conversation that feels less like a meeting and more like a group of people just... chilling. Of course, it's possible to lock a chat to limit who can enter, but overall, being set as ready to chat opens the door.
Houseparty further differentiates itself from other video chat services by offering games. These aren't complex, progression-focused games, but they work well within the casual chat setting. There's a simplified version of the Apples-to-Apples game, for example, that can be played endlessly since it derives its entertainment value from the mix of personalities playing. Because friends of friends can the chat, it's possible to meet strangers, further enhancing the potential of Houseparty's social games.
The value of social interaction seems to increase daily as we distance ourselves to fight COVID-19. Having a true group social experience can be incredibly helpful for maintaining mental health and a positive outlook, or just for having fun. If nothing else, Houseparty gives people a reason to groom themselves and look presentable every day, which can hopefully lend us some semblance of normalcy in this unusual moment.
Houseparty is available for free on Apple's App Store and Google Play.