Step one: is it Chatiwi, or your connection?
Before anything else, open a different website in the same browser. If that does not load either, Chatiwi is not down: your internet connection is. Turn Wi-Fi off and on, or switch to mobile data, and try Chatiwi again.
If other sites load fine but chatiwi.app does not, go through the symptoms below. Each one has a different cause.
Chatiwi does not load at all
- Reload the page. In the home-screen app, close it completely and open it again.
- Open chatiwi.app in a private or incognito window. If it works there, an extension or old stored data is in the way; clear the site data for chatiwi.app.
- Try another browser: Safari, Chrome or Edge in a recent version.
- If you are on a work, school or hotel network, try mobile data. Some networks block video chat.
Chatiwi opens, but the call stays on "connecting"
Matching depends on who is online at that moment, so at quiet times it can take a little longer. Keep the page open; it keeps looking. If the other person leaves while the call is connecting, Chatiwi matches you again by itself.
If it never connects, the network is the usual cause. Video calls need a connection that allows them; switching from Wi-Fi to mobile data (or the other way) fixes most cases.
Black screen or no sound in a Chatiwi call
- Check that your browser has permission to use the camera and microphone. Look for a camera icon in the address bar.
- On iPhone: Settings › Safari › Camera and Microphone. On Android: the browser's site settings for chatiwi.app.
- Close other apps that may be using the camera, such as another video call.
- Check the camera and mic buttons in the call itself; they can be switched off during a call.
Using the home-screen app? It can ask for camera access separately from the browser. If you tapped Don't Allow, the camera section of the Help Center shows how to turn it back on.
"I lost my account" after reopening Chatiwi
If you were using Chatiwi as a guest, your session lives in that browser on that device. Clearing your browser data, using a private window, or switching from Safari to the home-screen app starts a new guest session. A guest session cannot be recovered. If you signed in with your email, sign in again and everything is there.
When it really is Chatiwi
Sometimes the problem is on our side. If you have been through the steps above, other sites work, and Chatiwi still fails on more than one device or network, write to [email protected]. Tell us your device, your browser (or that you use the home-screen app), and what you see. A person reads every message.
For everything else, the Chatiwi Help Center has quick answers, and the Chatiwi homepage explains how the app works.