Lumi for teens: a lane without adults
You want to talk to people your own age. Not with adults in the pool, not recorded, and not lectured. Most sites that say "teens" have a checkbox and nothing behind it.
A separate lane for ages 13 to 17, with a selfie age check that adults cannot pass into. No ads, no influencers, and shared video only when Lumi switches it on for teens, YouTube only.
Lumi is pseudonymous: you pick a nickname, or use none, and nobody asks for your name. Everyone you meet has been age-checked and verified into the same lane as you. The lane is enforced by the server on every match and every room, not by a promise on a sign-up form.
How it works
- Pick text, audio, or video, and a nickname. Camera-on is never required. In video, the cameras open only when you both tap Show my camera.
- Pass the selfie age check, once. You enter your birth year and look at your camera for a moment. Software on Lumi's own servers reads your age group from several photos and tests it against the year you typed; a year that does not fit is sent back to you, and a person looks over the software's decisions afterwards. The photo is kept for 90 days at the latest, on Lumi's own servers only, and may be kept longer to train Lumi's own age model if a person has ruled on the check; no face template is ever stored.
- Talk. You are paired with another teen, or you join a teen room. Skip any time. Report is one tap, and a person reads it.
What is different in the teen lane
- Teens only ever meet teens. Adults (18 and over) are in their own lane, and there is no query on Lumi's servers that joins the two.
- Shared video only when Lumi switches it on for teens, and then YouTube links only, every link recorded, and anyone in the room can report the video. No paid extras, and nothing to buy. Nobody under 18 is ever monetized.
- No public headcounts or lists. Teen rooms are never counted or shown on the public pages.
- Every room has a rules card pinned at the top, written so a 13-year-old can read it, and posted as the first line when you join.
- Regulars, message requests, and calls are yours too, inside the teen lane. A regular of yours is always another teen, and all of it is mutual: wave at someone after a chat, and nothing happens at all unless they wave back within 7 days. Nobody is told about a wave that is not returned. Communities need an account, which needs a verified adult, so those are not in the teen lane.
- Nobody under 13. A check that reads as under 13 is refused.
The safety facts
- 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.
- 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 kids' app, and it is not a place to arrange to meet anyone. Never share your school, your address, your full name, or your social handles, and never move to another app because someone asks you to. If someone does ask, that is what the Report button is for.