Words arrive while you type them.

Yes. Chatting, photos, videos, voice messages and games cost nothing. A few extras use Sugar, and you get 10 Sugar for free every day when you open HotTea.

No. You only pick a username. HotTea doesn't ask for your phone number, email address or contacts, so nobody finds you through their address book. People find you by your username or your chat link.

Yes, that's the idea. Your text shows up on their screen a moment after you type it and disappears there when you delete it, though they may have read it by then. Leaving the chat or emptying the text field removes your draft from their screen. Press send to keep a message in the chat.

They are deleted, on our server and in the app, including photos, videos and voice messages. If you save a message, it stays as long as you or your contact keeps it saved. Once the last save is removed, it gets another 24 hours.

No. Messages, photos and videos are encrypted on your device, and only you and your contact can decrypt them. Our server stores and forwards encrypted data. It does know who chats with whom and when, because it has to deliver the messages. To check that nobody is in between, compare the security fingerprints in the chat options with your contact, ideally in person.

Anyone who knows your username. A new chat arrives as a request first. You decide whether to accept it, and you can block someone at any time. Blocking works in both directions.

HotTea's in-app currency. You get 10 Sugar for free every day, and more when you finish a Daily Duo together. You can spend it on Hot Messages, very high quality videos and presents, or put a Sugar price on your photos and videos so your contact pays to unlock them.

Yes. On a device where you are signed in, open Profile → Settings → Add another device. The new device is paired with a QR code and a six-digit code. You can also sign in with your login file. And you can keep up to five accounts on one device and switch between them.

Nothing bad, as long as you are still signed in somewhere. Export a new login file there, or move your account with "Add another device". On iPhone, iCloud recovery can also bring your account back. If you have lost every device and have neither a login file nor an iCloud backup, the account is gone. HotTea has no password and no email reset, so we can't restore it either. In that case, create a new account.

The login file works like a key: whoever has it can sign in as you. Keep it somewhere private. If you think someone else has it, delete your account under Profile → Settings and create a new one.

Yes. No app can reliably stop screenshots or someone filming the screen with a second phone. View once makes sure a photo or video leaves the chat after it has been opened, and everything else is deleted after 24 hours. Only share what you'd be fine with someone keeping.

We are working on them and will add the links to this page as soon as they are in the stores. Until then, the web chat runs in any current browser, on your phone too.