OrenChat Voice chat rooms, video, chat and games — in Hebrew and 22 more languages

1.40.1 · Build 88 19 October 2026

• Game invitations — always visible: in a game room, an invitation to you shows as a card at the top of the screen — who invites, which game and how much time is left — with “I'll play” and “Not now”. In the lobby, while watching another table, and when your table has just ended.
• The board on the whole screen: in a game room the board takes the whole screen, and the chat and people are behind one small button. The voice goes on as usual, and a 10×10 checkers board is readable on a narrow phone too.
• Clear messages: whoever invited sees “Waiting for … to accept” on the board, with a countdown and a way to cancel; an invitation not accepted in time is said as such; and after an invitation cancelled before it was accepted, you can invite again after 30 seconds.
• Staff entering and leaving: the announcement of a staff member responsible for the room shows and is heard every time they enter or leave.
• Entry and exit times in the chat: the lines for entering and leaving the room now also show the time.

1.40.0 · Build 87 19 October 2026

• New — the “Games” tab: a third tab at the bottom of the main screen brings the games world together: the live game rooms and which tables are open in each, upcoming events with “Remind me”, and a top-players board for each game room covering the last 30 days — display name, wins and games; whoever doesn't want to appear chooses “Don't show me on the leaderboards”. Whoever has been approved also sees “Open a game room” there.
• Games in a regular room — the room owner decides: “Games in this room” in the room's settings turns games off in the room.
• New — Host quiz: someone asks questions from what they know, gives points to each participant, and at the end the summary — first, second and third place — is written to the chat.
• New — Trivia duel: a fast game for two: the same question appears for both of you at the same moment, and whoever answers correctly and faster gets more points. 8 or 12 questions, up to a minute and a half.
• New — “20 Questions” and “Who am I?”: guessing games out loud for the whole room. In “20 Questions” one person types something in secret and everyone asks yes-or-no questions; in “Who am I?” each player gets a character or a thing that all the other players see, and asks until they guess it. The app now has 20 games.
• Room chat — from all your visits: in a room you see the messages written while you were there, from all your visits within the room's retention period — with “Show messages from your earlier visits” at the top of the chat. The management team also sees the last hour when entering, for proper moderation.
• New — “Bring a friend”: a personal invitation code in your profile. For every 3 friends who join with it and stay active — a month of premium, after the pilot period.
• The privacy notice was updated: a section on the top-players boards and on game data in regular rooms was added; on your first sign-in the app will ask you to approve it again.
• And more — tailored to you: there are plenty of modular options for adapting rooms and features to the needs of users and communities; tell us what you need — in “I have a request” in the ⋮ menu.

1.39.0 · Build 86 19 October 2026

• New — entering and leaving: every time someone enters or leaves a room, a line appears in the chat; and when a staff member responsible for the room comes in or leaves, everyone sees a banner at the top and hears a spoken announcement, with a bell when they come in.
• New — connected to a room, on every screen: Moved to another screen in the middle of a room call? A small bar at the bottom of the screen shows which room you are connected to and who is speaking now, and a tap takes you back to the room. Opening a personal link with a friend who is in that same room? The app first offers “Answer there?” and takes you to the room in one tap.
• Registering from abroad — with a verified email: Once your email is verified you join right away as a temporary member for two weeks; phone verification may be required later. In the first two weeks you can write privately only to the founder and role holders, and anyone who tries to write to someone else sees a clear message with a “Contact us” button.
• New — invitation link: a community manager can now also send a one-time invitation link: open it on your phone, sign up, and join the community automatically.
• Premium for the first 35 (instead of 100): the first 35 people who stick with the app (based on real activity on more than ten days, checked by a smart algorithm) will get a premium badge for a year, counted from the end of the pilot.
• Gold for lifetime premium members: lifetime premium members are marked in gold: a golden frame around the name, and the name itself in gold — in rooms, in the chat, in the friends list and on the profile.
• New — all the videos on one page: the short how-to videos are gathered on the Videos page, in all 22 languages.
• Muting and blocking an account: recorded and managed on the server, with a clear hierarchy.
• The privacy notice was updated: a section on game data in game rooms was added; on your first sign-in the app will ask you to approve it again.
• And more — tailored to you: there are plenty of modular options for adapting rooms and features to the needs of users and communities; tell us what you need — in “I have a request” in the ⋮ menu.

1.38.1 · Build 85 18 October 2026

• New — the app in 22 languages: 16 languages join Hebrew, English, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian and Arabic: Amharic, Czech, German, Persian, French, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Romanian, Swedish, Turkish, Vietnamese and Traditional Chinese. Choose in “Accessibility and display” → “Layout and language” → “Language”; in Persian, as in Arabic and Hebrew, the whole app reads right to left. In Vietnamese, Persian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese and Amharic the text is shown in the phone’s own font, which suits their script. The translations are new — found a mistake? Write to us in “Suggestions and bug reports”.
• New — the site and the guide in 22 languages: this site and the “Step-by-step guide” are available in every language of the app. Choose a language with the 🌐 button at the top of the page, and “About” in the app opens the site in your language.
• New — the charter in every language: the “Charter of Respect and Against Antisemitism” now exists in all 22 languages. Whoever is asked to approve it reads it in the language of their app, and every translation is faithful to the Hebrew text.
• Notifications in your language: notifications — calls from friends, invitations, community announcements, event reminders and updates about your account — arrive in the language you chose in the app.
• Read-aloud in every script: “Select to read” now also recognises Persian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese and Amharic, and reads every text in the voice of its own language, when such a voice is installed on the device. The settings screens, read-aloud settings included, are translated into every language too.
• New — “Contact us”: in the ⋮ menu on the home screen — our email and a number to reach us by chat, in one tap.

1.38.0 · Build 84 12 October 2026

• New — a game room: a room of the “games” kind, with no camera and with voice in the background. The lobby shows the open tables; anyone in the room opens a table — picks a game and invites players — or joins a table as a spectator. Voice goes by table: you hear and talk only with the people playing or watching at the same table, and the lobby is one more table. Spectators talk too, a player can send a spectator away from the table, and when a game ends — “Another round”.
• New — ten games: Reversi, five in a row (Gomoku), Mancala, Battleship, War (cards), Dominoes, Yaniv, Hangman, Trivia and Eretz Ir (categories) — on top of chess, checkers, backgammon, tic-tac-toe, connect four and dice. In a regular room, as before, whoever manages the game starts it; in a game room — anyone in the room.
• Chess — a clock, and the board doesn't jump: whoever opens a game chooses no time limit (the default) or a clock by FIDE rules — Blitz 3 min + 2 s, Rapid 15 + 10, Classical 90 + 30; the server keeps the clock, and two clocks sit next to the board. The “On air now” bar keeps one height even when several people talk, so the board does not change in the middle of a game.
• New — photos in the private chat: between friends, from the gallery or the camera, like in rooms. “Block photos from…” blocks photos only — the person can still write and talk — and a photo can be reported. Every photo sent — in a room or in private — has its location, camera and time data (EXIF) removed before it leaves the phone.
• New — stickers for everyone: the stickers button in the chat — in rooms and in private — is now open to every user, with three packs: Israeli sayings, feelings, and holidays — plus more modular theme packs that can be tailored to users’ needs.
• Personal link — you see whether your friend hears you: a line under the talk button says “X is connected and hears you”, “X isn't in the link yet — they were notified” (when their app is closed or in the background), “Connecting” or “Retrying through a relay server”; “Talking — X hears you” appears only when the friend is really connected. The floating button is no longer cut off by a small finger movement, and if the microphone permission is missing — a message with “Fix”.
• Only a phone call mutes: a regular phone call still mutes the room and closes the microphone. Another app that grabs the audio for a moment — WhatsApp, a voice message, another walkie-talkie — no longer mutes OrenChat, and the sound comes back at once. In rooms and in the personal link.
• Blocks — for a limited time or permanently: whoever blocks in a room chooses: permanently, or for a limited time — 10 minutes, 20 minutes, an hour, two hours, 5 hours, a day, a week or until a date and time — and the block lifts by itself when the time is up. Removal from a room is not a block.
• A permissions screen anyone can understand: wherever permissions are granted — in a room and in the app — every permission has a simple name and a line explaining what it gives, and the “Grant permissions to others” switch shows at once what may be given.
• A prominent microphone, always: the microphone button is large and prominent in every room and every call — in open talk too — and the call bar stays visible even while a game board is open.
• A notification for a private message: a new private text message arrives as a notification with the sender's name only — without the content of the message.
• New — deleting your account, in your hands: in “Security & sign-in” → “Delete my account”, and also from the Delete account page on this site. The account is blocked at once and deleted for good after 30 days; until then, signing in again cancels it. Whoever deleted disappears from friends lists, and their messages in rooms show as “Deleted user”.
• The privacy notice was updated: the providers by name — Google (Firebase and Google Cloud), Cloudflare and SMS4Free — and what each receives; security and enforcement logs are kept for a year after an account is deleted. The permissions on this site are described anew as well: contacts are read only when you ask to “Find friends from your contacts”.
• And more — tailored to you: there are plenty of modular options for adapting rooms and features to the needs of users and communities; tell us what you need — in “I have a request” in the ⋮ menu.

1.37.1 · Build 83 8 October 2026

• The floating button stays put: a press or a small finger movement no longer moves it. To move it: long-press (a tick), then drag — also onto the X to close it.
• Talk lock in “Pull out mic”: hold and talk; a quick slide up locks the talk so you can let go; one tap releases it, and the lock releases by itself after 2 minutes.
• “Who to talk to” on the floating button now opens with a double tap (instead of a long press).

1.37.0 · Build 82 7 October 2026

• New — interests: in your profile you pick at least 3 topics (up to 25); on the friends screen, “People who share your interests”, a choice of who sees your topics, and the option not to be suggested.
• New — “Find friends from your contacts”: on the Friends tab. The permission is asked only on tap, only a name and photo are shown, never numbers, and the numbers are not stored. In “Security & sign-in”: “Don't find me by phone number”.
• New — side rooms: inside a room, “Open a side room” for a side conversation. Only people in the room see and join it, inside you hear only the side room, and “Back to the room” returns you. An empty side room closes after two minutes.
• A “Rooms | Friends” bar with an unread count. In a private chat: voice messages up to 5 minutes (slide up to lock), and a walkie-talkie — hold, drag up to lock, and the floating button carries on.
• New — “Invite friends” and a room link: an icon at the top of the room (once you have joined) and a row in the participants list, several at once, up to 25 an hour; and “Share a room link” in the ⋮ menu — the link opens straight in the room when the app is installed, and otherwise on a page of this site.

1.36.1 · Build 81 7 October 2026

• New — quiet hours, each person sets their own: ⋮ menu on the home screen → “Quiet hours” (also from “Friends live — alerts”). Turn them on and choose from what time to what time — the default is 23:00–07:00, and a range past midnight works too — by your phone’s clock. During those hours no notifications reach you, with no exceptions — not even community announcements or event reminders — and nothing is lost: messages and requests wait for you in the app. You can choose “Calls from friends still come through”, and a tag of your name in a room and urgent security alerts about your account always come through.
• New — “I'm busy”: next to your name on the home screen, or in the ⋮ menu on the home screen right after “Quiet hours”, mark yourself busy — for half an hour, an hour, two hours, until the morning (07:00), until you turn it off or until a time you choose — and the mark goes away by itself. During that time no notifications reach you, exactly as in quiet hours. In a room your microphone closes (you can open it again any time) and everyone in the room sees “Busy” next to your name; outside a room only your friends see it. During a call you can also do it straight from the “Connected to room…” notification, with the “Busy for an hour” button. It replaces the “busy” mark of earlier versions.
• New — a visible speaking queue: in a room with a stage or with taking turns, everyone now sees the queue — a strip that stays under the stage, with a gold circle holding each person’s number and their name in bold; tap the strip to open the full list. Whoever is waiting sees “You are number N in the queue”, and gets a “You're next!” alert when they reach the front and “Your turn — the microphone is open” when they go up to speak. For the stage manager: “Next in queue”, reordering, removing from the queue and clearing it, and a speaking time per speaker — 1, 2, 3 or 5 minutes, or no limit — with a clock everyone can see; when the time is up the next person goes up automatically, or there is just a reminder, as the manager chose.
• New — “Pull out mic”: a button in every call — in a room, a sub-room and a personal link. The app goes to the background, the call keeps playing, and the floating button becomes press-and-hold: hold it to talk and release it to listen. Under it, “To:” and the name of the conversation. In an open-talk room only your own microphone becomes press-to-talk. “Return mic” or the X ends it. The first time, you allow “Display over other apps”.
• New — the app in six languages: Hebrew, English, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian and Arabic. Choose in “Accessibility and display” → “Layout and language” → “Language”; in Arabic the whole app reads right to left. The translations are new — found a mistake? Tell us from inside the app, in “Suggestions and bug reports”.
• New — the site and the guide in six languages: this site and the “Step-by-step guide” are now also available in Spanish, Portuguese, Russian and Arabic, alongside Hebrew and English, and “About” in the app opens the site in your language.

1.35.1 · Build 79 6 October 2026

• A chirp right on press: in a push-to-talk room, the talk button chirps right when you press and when you release — from every button: on the screen, on the headset, the floating button and the notification.
• The floating button: drag it down to the X to close it; under it, “To:” and who you are talking to; and a long press shows the room and your recent personal links.
• New — “Personal link”: a private walkie-talkie between two friends who approved each other. Approve once, and from then on either of you opens it with one tap and is heard at once, even with the screen off. You can both press and talk at the same time, unlike Zello. If the friend’s app is in the background, they get a “Join” notification and join with one tap.
• New — sub-rooms: inside a room, a “Sub-rooms” strip shows each sub-room and how many people are in it; tap to move, and “Back to ...” returns. In the room list, a sub-room’s card says “Inside” and the room’s name.
• New — “About”: at the end of the ⋮ menu — opens this site.

1.35.0 · Build 78 6 October 2026

• Walkie-talkie — several people talk at once: in a push-to-talk room several people press and talk at the same time, with no waiting for the mic to free up, and the “On air now” indicator shows them all. In the “Walkie-talkie” settings: talk with the headset button, by holding volume-down (when turned on) and with a floating button over other apps (with permission); “Talk” and “Leave room” buttons in the persistent notification; the room plays in the background even with the screen off; and radio chirps.
• “What did I miss”: inside the room — up to the last 5 minutes you heard, in the phone’s memory only; erased right after listening or when you leave the room.
• “Who’s on air” and friends: a strip at the top of the home screen, a notification when a friend enters a room, “Call me in” and a daily summary. How much is up to you in “Friends live”, including “don’t tell my friends when I enter”.
• Community announcements and gatherings: the community manager sends up to 3 announcements a day, two hours apart (more only with the founder’s approval), and gathers the community in a room.
• Stage, events and topics: raise a hand to the stage, scheduled events with “Remind me” and WhatsApp sharing, and 12 topics to follow (up to 3 topic pushes a day).
• A personal touch: a welcome voice message from Oren, “I have a request” with tracking in “My requests”, and “Personalize” — text size, colours and contrast, sounds volume and simple mode.
• A premium badge for the first 100: a place is decided by real activity in the app, and the year of premium counts from the end of the pilot.
• FOUNDER ROOM and the premium rooms: Oren’s room has a gold “PREMIUM ROOM” badge, and every new room the founder opens is a premium room — up to 100 participants and up to 3 cameras with no permit and no quota.

1.34.4 · Build 77 6 October 2026

• Room rename request: a room owner taps the pencil icon next to their room, enters a new name and a reason, and the request reaches the founder and their community manager. One of them approves — and the name changes. The owner is told the decision.

1.34.3 · Build 76 6 October 2026

• Release notes for beta testers: every beta version comes with "What to look at in this version" — new things, fixes and what to test — on the update screen and in "Beta versions", in Hebrew and English. Security updates are listed there in general terms.

1.34.2 · Build 75 6 October 2026

• Closing a room for good — only on purpose: a room owner closing their room, and anyone entitled to close another room, first sees a warning: "there is no way back", ticks "close anyway", and only then does the button work.

1.34.1 · Build 74 6 October 2026

• Beta versions — like any update: a beta programme member gets a new beta as a mandatory update, exactly as everyone gets a regular version: the app shows the update screen, you tap to download, install and carry on. No addresses and no files to look for.

1.34.0 · Build 73 6 October 2026

• Room chat is now kept for a week (instead of 90 days): older messages were deleted with this update. A room owner can ask Oren for an extension (a month, 3 months, half a year or a year) from the room settings.
• Quick reactions on messages: long-press a message — 👍 ❤️ 😂 😮 😢 🙏 🔥 👏 — one reaction per person, shown under the message.
• Video — new and clear: 10 minutes of camera a day per user (instead of a minute per six hours), up to 2 cameras in a room (3 when a role holder presents), and video is limited automatically when the load could hurt the voice quality — the phone protects the voice first.
• Tenure in the profile: "With us X weeks / months" shows in every user's profile and updates once a week.
• Beta programme: whoever wants versions before everyone asks from the personal menu ("Beta versions"); Oren approves, and the next versions reach them first.
• A push on every new version: when a version comes out, everyone gets a notification — and the app still asks to update on opening.

1.33.0 · Build 72 5 October 2026

• Friends — easier: add friends straight from the room's participant list, "My friends" is in the personal menu and inside the room, a friend request arrives as a notification you accept or decline from, and whoever was not available sees the pending requests when opening the app.
• "Room owner" always shows: the owner's name under the room's name is kept with the room itself, so it appears at once in every room.
• The privacy notice was updated: the registration text and the site explain exactly which sign-in details are kept (internet address, provider, kind of device and time), that they are accessible to Oren alone, and that every look at them is recorded.
• The microphone mark left the video square: it no longer hides the person on camera — the microphone state shows next to the participant's name in the participants list.

1.32.7 · Build 71 4 October 2026

• The founder deletes his own messages at any time: fixed — after the first hour too, the founder (and in a room, whoever is authorized to remove messages) deletes his own message or picture directly, without the "only at your request" notice.
• "Conversation type" opens again: the white screen that appeared when tapping "Conversation type" inside a room is fixed — the room-controls sheet opens as usual.

1.32.6 · Build 70 4 October 2026

• Bigger video in the test room: the video gets half the screen by default (you can still drag it), and the explanations shrank to one line by the countdown — tap it to open the full explanation.

1.32.5 · Build 69 4 October 2026

• Choose a community already at registration: from a list, or “I haven’t decided yet”, or a request to set up a community of your own. The choice takes effect when Oren approves.
• A request to set up a community: after the registration is approved, a conversation with Oren opens with a form — background, why, the ability to run a community over time, and a commitment to the values of ethics and integrity.
• Community managers: are alerted about every new applicant who chose their community, and those Oren has authorized can block a device of a member of their own community.

1.32.4 · Build 68 4 October 2026

• Registration details visible only to those who need them: Oren and your community’s manager see your registration details on a clear screen — full name, email, age, phone and when you registered — so they can look after you. Managers of other communities and friends do not see them, and every view is recorded.

1.32.3 · Build 67 4 October 2026

• Voice messages in the chat: up to a minute per message. While you record and listen, the room’s sound is muted for you and your microphone is closed, and an icon appears next to your name.
• Tagging with @, chat search and slow mode: whoever is tagged is notified even outside the room; search a word or a name within what you may see; the room’s managers can set the pace of messages.
• Automatic word filter: a message with a forbidden word is blocked and not sent.
• “Busy” and muting the room’s sound: mark yourself busy for the time you choose, or mute the room’s sound for yourself — and everyone sees you are not available.
• A phone call in the middle of a room: the microphone closes, the room’s sound is muted, and a phone icon appears next to your name.
• “Sound check” in the test room: talk for 20 seconds and hear yourself; and every message in the test room is deleted after 3 minutes.

1.32.2 · Build 66 3 October 2026

• A new ״חדר בדיקות״ (“Test room”): a room for checking your camera and microphone — two people at the same time, each for up to 3 minutes with a countdown, and then you can come back half an hour later. When the room is busy, it shows how many minutes to wait.
• ״אורן וחברים״, the founder’s room: open to everyone, up to 100 participants. Anyone turns a camera on without a permit, up to three at the same time, and the pilot’s video minute does not apply in it. Only Oren and the moderators he appointed for this room manage its participants.

1.32.1 · Build 65 3 October 2026

• Every manager sees only what they are allowed: on the permission screens — for users, in a room, for room owners and for game managers — a manager sees only permissions they hold themselves and that Oren allowed them to pass on. A permission they do not have is not shown to them at all. A room owner in their own room sees all of the room's permissions, as before.
• Permissions only Oren grants: reading private messages, security alerts, immunity and handling reports — only Oren grants and revokes them, and they cannot be passed on. So they are also not shown on the screen where Oren decides what others may pass on.

1.32.0 · Build 64 3 October 2026

• Room entry by community: Oren can decide which rooms each community's members may enter. A community's own rooms are always open to its members. On top of that, he decides two things separately: whether they may enter general rooms, and whether they may enter other communities' rooms. A personal setting can also be set for a specific member, and it overrides the community's setting. A member of several communities gets the most permissive setting among them. Until Oren sets something, nothing changes.
• A locked room in the list: a room you may not enter appears with a padlock and no count of people. Tapping it explains why, and does not take you in. Private and secret rooms of other communities stay hidden, as before. The restriction does not apply to Oren, to a room's owner in their own room, or to role holders within the scope they were given.
• The font is built into the app: text shows in the app's own font from the very first launch, even without internet. The app no longer contacts Google's font server, so that server does not receive your IP address — a privacy improvement.

1.31.1 · Build 63 3 October 2026

• Everyone chooses what to see in the room: a thin row at the top of the room has toggles for video, people, chat and game, and the same toggles are also in the ⋮ menu. What you close is closed for you only, and the sound goes on even with the video closed. Your choice is remembered for each room on your phone.
• Game layout: when a game starts, the video, the participants list and the chat close by themselves, and the board gets the screen. Everyone reopens whatever they want for themselves. The chat opens as a layer over the lower part of the board. Anyone who does not want to watch hides the game and gets the normal layout back, and the game goes on for the others.
• Leaving the game: a “Leave the game” button is always in the game panel. A player in the middle of a game is asked to confirm, because leaving mid-game is a forfeit and the opponent wins. While the game is still at the invitation stage, leaving declines the invitation. A spectator just closes the view. You leave the game only, not the room.
• The board fits the screen: chess, checkers, backgammon, tic-tac-toe and four in a row fit the size of the screen, with no scrolling, on phones and tablets, also with a large font.
• Drag to choose the space: the video can shrink to a thin strip, and the participants list can be made wider.
• A tidy participants list: first whoever raised a hand, in the order the hands went up. After them whoever is speaking, the role holders and everyone else. The display name shows in full, on up to two lines, and the role as a coloured badge. When a room has more than 10 participants, a search field appears.
• Locking the microphone in push-to-talk: press the microphone and slide up a little. The microphone stays open after you lift your finger, and the button shows a lock and the word “Locked”. Another tap releases it. A plain press works as before.
• Soft mute also for the founder and super admins: if someone forgot an open microphone, any manager in the room who may mute can soft-mute them, even the founder or a super admin. The muted person turns the microphone back on with a single tap. A full mute, removal or ban of them is still not in the room managers' hands.
• A title attached to the name: Oren can give any account a small title attached to the name, much like his own “Founder” tag. He picks one from a list (General admin, Community manager, Development team, Dispute resolution) or writes his own, in a colour chosen for each person and in a rounded font. The title shows in the participants bar, the chat, the profile and the friends list. It is for display only and grants no permission.
• Fix: saving a password works again. In version 1.31.0 a server fault prevented changing a password or adding a password to a Google account. The fault has been fixed.
• Fix: a false "call server is off" message. Anyone who signed in after opening the app (for example after signing out and in again) could see the server as off and be unable to join a call until reopening the app. This is fixed.
• A clearer password change screen: every failure is shown on the screen, next to the save button, with an explanation of what to do. A password that was saved is no longer reported as a failure by mistake. If you do not remember your current password, tap “I forgot my current password” and a reset e-mail is sent to the account's address. Typing Hebrew letters in a strict password shows a hint to switch the keyboard to English. A space at the start or end of the password is pointed out clearly. After the change, other devices signed in to the account are signed out, and the device you changed it on stays signed in.

1.31.0 · Build 62 2 October 2026

• How many people are in each room — before you enter — every room card on the home screen shows how many people are in it right now, in real time.
• Editing a message in a room — a message you wrote in a room can be edited within the first hour (long-press → “Edit”). An edited message is marked “edited”, and the previous wording is kept on the server for 90 days for safety.
• Messages that delete themselves — before sending, in a room or in private, you choose whether the message is deleted after half an hour, two hours, a day, two days or a week. Deleted messages are kept on the server for 90 days for safety, and are then deleted.
• Reports also reach the community manager — a regular report reaches Oren and the community manager, who can handle it; if you prefer, tick “Anonymous report — to Oren only”.
• Stronger passwords — at least 10 characters, with a letter and a digit, for everyone; a strict password for role holders and permission holders. Anyone with a weak password gets a reminder for 30 days, and is then asked to change it at sign-in.
• Writing to the team in private — you can write freely, even without a friendship, to Oren and to role holders for whom Oren has opened an inbox; Oren can write to anyone.
• See who is who — role badges now stand out in the participants bar, the chat and the profile: founder in gold, super admin in purple with a shield, room owner in turquoise with a star, deputy in orange with a half-star, and moderator with a shield.
• A new role: deputy — the room owner appoints up to two deputies, also for a limited time. While the owner is away they run the room day to day, including “Lock for new arrivals”; the moment the owner returns, their powers shrink by themselves to moderator powers, and moderators a deputy appointed expire with them.
• Closer oversight for safety — Oren can appoint a trusted reviewer for a limited time, and every oversight action is logged.
• New: the site in English and a step-by-step guide — this whole page is also available in English, plus a guide of 26 short slides in Hebrew and English, from download to managing a room. The screenshots on the site are new — in the dark scheme; everyone picks the colour scheme that suits them in “Accessibility and display”.

1.30.2 · Build 61 1 October 2026

• Simpler, clearer wording of the terms of service. At your next sign-in to the app you are asked to accept them.

1.30.1 · Build 60 1 October 2026

• An update to the terms of service. At your next sign-in to the app you are asked to read and accept them again.

1.30.0 · Build 59 1 October 2026

• Chess, checkers and backgammon inside the room — chess with all the rules, checkers in three styles chosen by the game manager (flying kings, English, international on a 10×10 board) and backgammon with dice rolled by the server. The board offers only legal moves, and the server checks every move — nobody can cheat.
• Age-based rooms — the room owner can set the room for ages 20+ up to 60+, in steps of five years. Anyone below the room's age gets a message, without anyone's age being revealed.
• Adult-content rooms — the room owner can mark a room as adult content. Such rooms are hidden, and anyone who wants to see them turns this on themselves and confirms. The whole app is for ages 18 and up.
• Security — the app's code is obfuscated so it is hard to decipher, and repeated attempts to perform management actions without permission are detected and reported.

1.29.0 · Build 58 30 September 2026

• Room chat — from the moment you entered — whoever enters a room sees what has been written since they arrived, not before and not while they were not in the room. What you have already seen is kept on your phone. Fewer misunderstandings and less gossip.
• One account, one device — when someone signs in on another phone, the previous phone is disconnected from it immediately and gets a clear explanation. This way one account cannot be used from several phones.
• Screenshots in reports — you can attach up to three screenshots to a report, and they reach Oren only.
• Protection from harassers — when there is a suspicion that someone is being abused, Oren gets a full picture of the case and reviews it himself. An artificial-intelligence service helps with the analysis, without names.
• Security — detection of suspicious technical signs (frequent switching between devices, several accounts from the same network), and new tools for the team to handle inactive rooms and rooms without owners.

1.28.0 · Build 57 30 September 2026

• Clearer voice in every room — voice gets priority over video, is more resilient to packet loss on a weak network, and is not cut off during silence. The relay server refreshes for every new connection, so even in a long session nobody disappears in the middle.
• Where the sound goes — you choose — a "Sound" button in the call bar: speaker, earpiece, Bluetooth headphones or wired headphones. Every call starts on the speaker at full volume, and if headphones are already connected — through them.
• A new, calm and clean design — a dark or light theme of your choice, text size in five steps and a separate size for the chat, a call bar with names under the icons, and thin gold bars you drag to resize the participants column and the chat.
• Foldable phones — on an open screen the video and chat are shown side by side and the home screen in two columns; on a closed screen the header fits without being cut off.
• Communities and community managers — Oren can assign users to a community and appoint a manager for it, who looks after the members and their rooms with the powers Oren has set.
• Temporary membership — with clear limits — in the first two weeks you take part in rooms by voice and nickname only, until the introductory call and approval.
• Notifications that arrive — account notifications (approval, reminders, sign-in from a new device) now reach your phone even when the app is closed, and stop arriving after you sign out.
• Security hardening — a full security review before publishing, and all the findings were fixed and tested. Role holders are asked to sign in again after 30 days without a sign-in.

1.27.0 · Build 56 29 September 2026

• Games inside the room — tic-tac-toe and four in a row for two (everyone else watches, talks and gives advice during the call), and dice for the whole room. The server checks every move, so nobody can cheat.
• Game manager — a room owner who has been given the permission appoints a user to run a certain type of game. The permission is given separately and grants no other authority in the room.
• A clear message about the video limit — when the pilot period's minute of video runs out, a message appears with the time when you can turn on a camera again.
• Clear icons in the call bar — "Call check" and the camera flip are now colored dark and are clearly visible.

1.26.0 · Build 55 29 September 2026

• OrenChat moved into a home of its own — the app's server and database moved to a separate cloud project dedicated to it alone. Users, rooms and messages moved with it; after the update you continue from the same place.
• A call relay server — when phones on different mobile networks have no direct connection, the call goes through a relay server, and voice and video still get through. "Call check" shows "Call relay: available".
• A new icon — "Oren" inside a golden ellipse, and "Chat" in blue. You will see it on your home screen after the update.

1.25.7 · Build 54 29 September 2026

• Who's hosting — at the top of every room you see the room's name and the room owner's name.
• A microphone you can't miss — in a "push-to-talk" room the microphone button is large and orange, and turns green while you talk.
• Getting ready for a relay server — the app can pass a call through a relay server; "Call check" shows whether it is available.

1.25.6 · Build 53 29 September 2026

• Identity verification for those registering from abroad — anyone without an Israeli mobile number can ask to verify their identity another way, for example in a WhatsApp call, and continue right after verification.
• More orderly management — a clear definition of what each role holder may do themselves, and what they may grant to others.

1.25.5 · Build 52 29 September 2026

• The camera works in both directions — fixed an issue where, between some participants, only one side saw the other's camera.
• Call check — a new button in the call bar that shows, for each participant, whether voice and video are going out and arriving. When something can't be heard you see right away in which direction the problem is, and you can copy the result and send it to us.
• A link to the site on the home screen — after installation the app offers to add a link to the OrenChat site to your home screen, and you can also add it from the account menu.
• Phone verification — anyone asked to verify their phone number sees a clear screen with an SMS code, and can continue right after verification.

1.25.4 · Build 51 29 September 2026

• Faster approval of new registrations — anyone waiting for approval is clearly marked in the user list, and can be approved as a regular user, or the request declined, directly from the user card, without giving them any special permission.

1.25.3 · Build 50 29 September 2026

• Approving registrations works again — fixed an issue where new requests to join did not appear for review, and the applicants stayed waiting.
• One-tap update — when an update is required, the button downloads the new version directly, without going through the page.

1.25.2 · Build 49 29 September 2026

• An update check that doesn't stop you — if it isn't possible to check whether a new version is out (for example without internet), the app keeps working and shows a small message with a link to the site. A mandatory update kicks in only when a new version really is available.
• Privacy of applicants — the personal details of whoever registers are revealed only to those explicitly given permission.
• Improvements to the management tools — appointing role holders is faster and more orderly.

1.25.1 · Build 48 29 September 2026

• Stronger protection of your details — a thorough security review following the OWASP standards went over the app, the server and the build process. This version includes the fixes on the app side.
• A mandatory update that covers every screen — when a new version comes out, even someone in the middle of a room or a private chat is asked to update, not only those on the home screen.
• The download link always comes from the official site — the update screen opens only the OrenChat home site, and no other address.
• Privacy on the lock screen — notifications don't show names and details while the phone is locked.
• Safe phone transfer — when you transfer data to a new phone, your OrenChat sign-in details don't move with it; on the new phone you sign in again.

1.25.0 · Build 47 28 September 2026

• You're heard even when the screen is off — during a call the app keeps the microphone active, even when the phone is lying on the table and the screen locks, or when you briefly switch to another app. During a call a permanent “Active call” notification is shown; this is an Android requirement and cannot be avoided.
• Cleaner sound on the speaker — echo cancellation moved to processing suited to speaker mode, instead of the hardware processing that on some devices cut the voice or sent echo back to the other side.
• A “Transmitting” indicator — next to your name in the room a green “Transmitting” indicator appears when the microphone is really picking you up. This way you can see for yourself whether you are being heard.
• Other people's cameras open reliably — fixed an issue where another participant's camera was sometimes shown as a black tile, depending on timing.
• A more stable connection after a short drop-out — a participant who was disconnected for a moment comes back to the list and the call by themselves; quickly re-entering a room doesn't get mixed up with the previous call.
• A clear message when the room's call mode changes — switching between open talk, push-to-talk and the queue is shown to everyone in the room as a prominent message, with an announcement for screen readers and a short vibration, so that nobody is left wondering why their microphone went silent.
• Mandatory automatic updates — from this version the app checks on every launch, every return from the background and once an hour whether a new version is out here on the site. When there is a new version, the app stops working until it is installed, so that everyone in the room is on the same version.

1.24.0 · Build 46 15 September 2026

• Personal read-aloud on the user's choice: texts and button labels are read aloud on the device, with stop, adjustable speed and a clear selection mode.
• Three call modes in one place: open talk, push-to-talk and a visible queue with raising hands, a stage and an audience.
• 16 room backgrounds, with a reminder to consider accessibility needs, keeping the personal contrast preference.
• More protection of participants' identity: stronger checks of the sender's details, and their identity is kept when a message is edited.

1.23.0 · Build 45 15 September 2026

• Surveys that shape further development: choice, rating and free text, with an invitation in real time and also at the next sign-in, and a clear end date.
• The improvement suggestions button is available inside the room too, with tracking of the handling and the replies in the same request.
• Video in rooms by permit: a request with a number of cameras and a duration, a message when the quota is full, and clearer connection messages.

1.20.3 · Build 42 14 September 2026

• Neater and clearer screens, adaptation to narrow screens and enlarged text, labels for buttons and keyboard testing.

1.20.2 · Build 41 14 September 2026

• A user list that is readable on the phone, even in a view with enlarged text.

1.20.1 · Build 40 14 September 2026

• A participant list next to the chat, taking turns and raising hands, improvements to the room layout and to joining.

1.18.2 · Build 37 13 September 2026

• Fixed the order of messages in the room and in private chat: the newest message next to the input box, and you scroll up for the history.

1.18.1 · Build 36 12 September 2026

• Fixed an issue in the voice connection between participants; the call opens on the speaker; participants who were disconnected without leaving disappear from the list within about a minute.