Developers have launched a new app aimed at getting Londoners talking to one another on the Tube.
TubeChat is a short-range messaging app designed to work underground, away from phone signal and wifi.
Using Bluetooth, the app can connect with other mobile devices using TubeChat up to 30 metres away.
Commuters are then able to chat one-on-one or in a group with other London Underground passengers, or play classic games such as I Spy.
TubeChat founder, 26-year-old Nina Tumanishvili, said: ”I was on the Tube one day and realised that people were buried in their phones, lost in a closed world of their own.
"Technology had isolated them. I wanted to change that. I wanted to use technology to connect people and bring them closer."
TubeChat is decentralised, meaning the company does not collect data from its users.
App profiles can be personalised based on how much or how little information a person wishes to share with others.
People can change their usernames at will or stay incognito if they prefer.
The developers, Clerkenwell start-up HelloHub, are hoping to "revolutionise commuting" with the tool.
"Don’t be shy – use TubeChat to break the ice with fellow commuters," the app's description says on iTunes.
TubeChat is available for iOS now and should be available for Android early in the new year.
