We've spent years building Chatrio around one idea: you shouldn't need to hand over your identity just to talk to someone new. Today we're extending that idea to something a lot of people have asked for — a way to meet people near you, not just anywhere on the planet.
It's called Circles, and it's live now at chatrio.app/circles.
📋 What's Inside
What Circles Actually Is
Circles is anonymous local chat. It shows you people currently nearby, lets you send a one-shot intro message, and — if they're open to it — opens a real conversation. There's no dating profile to fill out, no friend graph to build, and no exact address ever shown to anyone, including us.
Think of it as the local layer Chatrio was missing. Random chat connects you with a stranger anywhere in the world. Circles connects you with a stranger a few minutes away — someone who might actually end up at the same coffee shop.
How It Works
- Pick a nickname. No email, no phone number, no account required — just an anonymous device ID stored on your phone.
- Confirm you're 18+. Circles gates location sharing behind an age check before anything else happens.
- Share your general area. Not your GPS pin — see below.
- Browse who's nearby. You'll see nicknames, an avatar, and a rough distance bucket like "very close" or "~3 km away."
- Send a one-shot intro, or join a local group room if you'd rather ease in with a crowd first.
The Location Trick: Near, Not Exact
Most "people near me" apps quietly plot your exact coordinates and let anyone reverse-engineer where you live. Circles does the opposite on purpose: your location is snapped to a coarse grid before it's ever compared to anyone else's, and what you see is a distance bucket, never a pin on a map, never a precise number of meters.
📍 Why "Fuzzing" Location Matters
A distance bucket like "~3 km away" tells you enough to decide whether someone's worth talking to — without telling either of you (or Circles) exactly where the other lives, works, or sleeps. It's the difference between "nearby" and "trackable."
One-Shot DMs Instead of Open Inboxes
Circles doesn't give strangers an open line into your inbox. A DM starts as a single intro request. The recipient can accept — which opens a real thread — or decline, which auto-blocks the sender so they can't send a second request. No slow-burn harassment, no repeated cold messages from someone who wasn't interested the first time.
Local Group Rooms
If one-on-one feels like too much too fast, Circles also has local group rooms — public-ish spaces pinned to a rough area where several nearby people can chat at once. It's a lower-pressure way to see who's around before committing to a private conversation.
Safety, By Design
Beyond fuzzed location and one-shot intros, Circles includes an 18+ age gate before any location or nearby feature unlocks, plus report and block tools that both immediately cut off future contact from that person. For a deeper look at how anonymous chat platforms should think about safety in general, see our guide on whether anonymous chat is safe.
🌐 Try Circles
Open Circles → See who's nearby, join a local group, or send a one-shot intro — anonymously, in a couple of taps.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Circles free to use?
Yes. Circles is free, requires no account or email, and works with just a nickname and an anonymous device ID.
Does Circles show my exact location to other people?
No. Your location is fuzzed to a coarse area before it's compared to anyone else's, and other users only ever see a rough distance bucket like "very close" or "~3 km away" — never a map pin or exact coordinates.
Can someone message me repeatedly if I ignore them?
No. Circles DMs are one-shot intro requests. If you decline one, that person is automatically blocked from sending another.
Do I need to be 18 to use Circles?
Yes. Circles requires an 18+ confirmation before location sharing, the nearby list, or DMs become available.
How is Circles different from a dating app?
Circles isn't built around romantic matching — there's no swiping or profile-building. It's a lightweight way to discover and talk to people near you, one-on-one or in local group rooms, for whatever kind of conversation you're looking for.