Push-to-talk for loud rooms
Hold to talk and keep the background noise out of everyone else's ears.
Casual hangout room
A room where nothing has to happen
Leave it open in a tab, say something when you feel like it, and go quiet for as long as you want.
- Mic optional
- Silence is fine
- Up to 30 people
Audio keeps running in the background while you get on with something else.Illustration generated with AI
- People max per room
- 30
- Mic modes: open or push-to-talk
- 2
- Audio in background tabs
- On
- Things you have to say
- 0
01
Every call expects something from you
A call has an agenda even when nobody wrote one. Somebody has to fill the silence, everyone watches everyone else, and the moment it goes quiet it starts to feel like something has gone wrong.
Real hanging out is not like that. You sit in the same room as your friends, one of you cooks, one of you scrolls, and every so often somebody says something. Nobody minds the quiet because the quiet is the point.
An online hangout room puts that feeling in a browser tab. The room stays open, people drift in and out, and talking happens in bursts instead of in a meeting-shaped block of time. If you want to meet new people instead, try social conversations.
02
How a hangout room runs
- 1
Open the tab and leave it
Audio keeps playing in a background tab, so you can switch apps and carry on with what you were doing.
- 2
Set your mic once
Use open mic in a quiet room, or push-to-talk when the kitchen, the kids or the washing machine are loud.
- 3
Talk in bursts, not sessions
A comment now, another in twenty minutes. The room is built for conversation that comes and goes.
AI-generated03
Silence is allowed here
Nobody gets pinged for going quiet and nothing tracks how long you have been silent. You can sit in the room for an hour without saying a word and still be part of it.
People arrive and leave without an announcement, and the small controls stay private: if one voice is too loud for you, you turn it down and nobody else knows.
- Go quiet, no pinging
- Long silences carry no social penalty.
- Come and go freely
- No join sounds to apologise for, no goodbyes.
- Per-person volume
- Your volume sliders are only visible to you.
- One-key self-mute
- Mute instantly when the doorbell goes.
04
The parts that make it work
AI-generatedOpen mic for low chatter
Comment hands-free while your hands are busy, without reaching for a button.
Speaking indicators
Light rings show who is there and who is talking, with no eye contact needed.
Room chat for the links
A text panel for the recipe, the song and the screenshot you mentioned.
Background tab audio
The room keeps running while you work in another tab, the same idea behind virtual body doubling.
05
What people are doing while they're here
- 01
Cooking dinner
Forty minutes of company while the onions go soft.
- 02
Drawing or making something
Hands busy, the occasional show-and-tell in the chat.
- 03
Chores and admin
Laundry, tidying and email go faster with voices in the background.
- 04
Scrolling and unwinding
The same evening, just a little less alone.
06
Questions before you join
What is an online hangout room?
It is a voice room you can leave open while you do other things. People talk when they feel like it and stay quiet when they don't, like sitting in the same room as friends.
Do I have to talk?
No. You can listen, type in the room chat, or just be there. Silence is normal here.
Is it awkward when nobody's talking?
Not in a hangout room. Quiet stretches are expected, and nobody is pinged or tracked for going silent.
Can I use this with just my friends?
Yes. You can run a private room for your friends as well as joining group hangouts.
Will it keep running if I switch tabs?
Yes. Audio carries on in a background tab, so you can use other apps while you are in the room.
One person's mic is far too loud. Can I fix it?
Yes. Use their per-person volume slider. The change only affects what you hear, and nobody else can see it.
How many people is a hangout room good for?
Up to 30 people can be in a room, though small groups of friends are the most common.
Sit in a room with people
Open the tab, set your mic, and get on with your evening in company.
Create a hangout room