Over 60, and the house is quiet
You would like a conversation with a grown-up, not a grandchild's five minutes on the phone before they have to go. You have read about the scams. You are not sure about the technology, and you do not want to be a burden to anyone.
Text, audio, or video in an ordinary browser. Nothing to install, no account, no money ever asked for, and a Report button that reaches a person.
Lumi pairs you with one other adult for a conversation, or lets you sit in a room that is always open. Nobody has a profile and nobody knows your name. If you do not like the person, you press Skip and someone else comes along.
How it works
- Open lumichat.io in the browser on your tablet, phone, or computer, and choose audio or text. Make the text as large as you like; Lumi follows your browser's zoom.
- Pass the selfie age check, once. You type your birth year and look at the camera for a moment. Software on Lumi's own servers works out your age group and a person checks its decisions. The photo is deleted the moment a person has reviewed the check, and after 90 days at the latest whatever happens.
- Talk. As long as you like. Skip if you do not care for them. If you get on, wave at the end, and if they wave back within 7 days you are regulars and will see when they are in a room you can join.
About scams, plainly
Nobody on Lumi will ever ask you for money, a bank detail, a gift card, or a code from your phone. Nothing is for sale inside a conversation, and Lumi itself asks for nothing to chat. Anyone who asks is breaking the rules: press Report, and a person will read it. The person you talk to cannot see your IP address, your email, or your phone number, because Lumi never has them.
The safety facts
- Every person you meet has passed the selfie age check. Adults (18 and over) are matched only with adults.
- The person you meet never sees your IP address: audio and video are relayed through Lumi's own servers.
- Lumi does not record your conversations. Automated screening on Lumi's own servers may sample camera frames and check text to catch abuse; what gets flagged is kept as evidence for 90 days and reviewed by a person, the rest is discarded.
- Skip or leave at any time. Report is one tap, and a person reads every report. Bans stick to the device and the connection, and a ban is never lifted for money.
- No account, no ads, no trackers, no data sale, and no third-party vendors.
What Lumi is not
Lumi is not a dating site, and it is not a befriending service with a waiting list. It is a conversation, now, with whoever is there.
Why the same person, again, matters
Age UK's telephone friendship service pairs an older person with the same volunteer for a weekly call; nearly everyone who uses it says they enjoy it, and the waiting list runs to weeks. Lumi cannot promise a weekly appointment, but it can let you find the same person again: when two people have both waved, they are regulars, and an adult with an account can open a small community of up to 8 people with a weekly time everyone can see.
Sources: Age UK, Telephone Friendship service; the U.S. Surgeon General's 2023 advisory on loneliness and isolation.