Pyre.Chat for Android

Pyre.Chat for Android is the same Pyre.Chat you use in a browser, in an app of its own. Your tabs, merged channels, moderation, history and settings are the ones you already have, because the chat itself comes from pyre.chat. A change we ship there is in the app the next time you open it.

It is a separate app from Pyre, the Pyre.Stream app for going live. Pyre.Chat has no streaming in it and never uses your microphone. It asks for the camera for one thing only: scanning a sign-in QR code, when you tap Sign in with QR.

Coming to Google Play

Pyre.Chat for Android is coming to Google Play. This page describes the app as it will ship, and we will add the link here once the listing is live.

Sign in

1. Install Pyre.Chat from Google Play and open it.

2. Sign in with your Pyre account. Use your email or username and password, Twitch, Google or Kick. Twitch, Google and Kick sign in opens in your phone’s browser and comes back to the app. You can also skip typing entirely:

   • Sign in with QR: on a computer where you are signed in to pyre.chat, open Settings and find Sign in on another device, then scan the code it shows. This is the only time the app uses the camera.
   • Enter a code instead: paste the link or type the code from that same panel, if you would rather not use the camera.

If you said no to the camera, the scanner tells you so and points you at Enter a code instead, which works without it.

Open stream links in Pyre.Chat

Tap a Twitch, Kick or YouTube channel link anywhere (a message, Discord, a browser) and that channel’s chat opens in Pyre.Chat as its own tab, merged with the streamer’s other platforms the way pyre.chat already merges them. A short note says Opened name’s chat, with Watch to start the stream and Undo to put things back the way they were.

Links to a video or a clip open the channel too. A Twitch clip or past broadcast link does not name the channel, so Pyre asks Twitch whose it is first, which needs Twitch connected in Pyre.Chat (without it, the link opens in your browser). Links Pyre.Chat cannot turn into a channel, like a category page or a Kick past broadcast link without the channel name in it (kick.com/video/...), open in your browser instead.

If a link arrives while you are signed out, Pyre.Chat keeps it and opens it as soon as you have signed in.

Android needs you to switch this on once

Android only opens these sites in an app the site has approved, and Twitch, Kick and YouTube approve only their own apps. So on Android 12 and newer you allow it yourself, once. Pyre.Chat shows a setup screen after you first sign in, and you can open it again from App settings:

1. Tap Open settings. Android opens “Open by default” for Pyre.Chat.
2. Tap Add link and tick every site.
3. Come back. Each site shows Opens here once it is on.

If the Twitch, Kick or YouTube app is installed, also turn off Open supported links in that app’s settings (Android settings, Apps, the app, Open by default). Otherwise the official app keeps opening its own links.

On Android 11 and older there is nothing to set up: Android asks which app to use the first time, and you can pick Pyre.Chat and Always.

pyre.chat links in a browser

The same kind of link works on pyre.chat itself, in any browser. Because a link can come from anyone, a browser asks first: Open name’s chat? Nothing is connected until you say yes. The app skips that question, because opening the link in Pyre.Chat was already your choice.

Share into Pyre.Chat

From the Twitch, Kick or YouTube app, or anything else with a channel link, use Share and pick Pyre.Chat. It opens the channel exactly like tapping the link. If what you shared has no Twitch, Kick or YouTube link in it, the app says so (That share has no Twitch, Kick or YouTube link.), and any other link opens in your browser.

Watch on your phone

Watch is the pyre.chat player, laid out for a phone:

• Upright: the stream on top, chat below.
• Turned sideways: the stream on the left, chat on the right.

The player’s toolbar gets three icon buttons:

• Sound: turns the stream’s sound on or off. On Kick the player reloads to switch the sound, so the picture blinks for a moment.
• Picture-in-Picture: shrinks the stream into a small floating window.
• Full screen: the stream fills the whole screen.

Leave the app while a stream is playing (Home, or another app) and it keeps playing in a small window you can move around. Tap the window to come back. Swipe it away to stop the stream.

App settings

Tap App settings at the top of Pyre.Chat for the settings only the phone has:

• Keep screen awake (on by default): the screen stays on while a chat is open.
• Open stream links in Pyre.Chat: how many of the three sites are switched on (On, Off, or for example 2 of 3 sites), and a tap opens the setup screen. This row only appears on Android 12 and newer.

The bottom line shows the app’s version, which is the number to quote in a bug report. Everything else is in pyre.chat’s own Settings.

What it does not do yet

• No notifications. Mentions and mod alerts do not reach your phone while the app is closed.
• No iPhone app.
• No streaming. To go live from your phone, use Pyre.Stream for Android.
• Kick past broadcast links without the channel name in them (kick.com/video/...) open in the browser.
• A YouTube channel link adds the channel to your YouTube list. If they are not live, the note says Their chat opens here when they go live.