In a nutshell
- Chatty is a desktop chat software compatible with Twitch
- It has a ton of features to create a truly customized chat experience
- The software is particularly useful for moderators, but anyone on Twitch can benefit from its features
Twitch is a unique platform for several reasons. There’s a channel for almost every kind of niche and interest there is out there. Anyone from creators to other users has the chance to find a community they can relate to on the platform. There’s an overwhelming sense of community and interaction that isn’t seen on many other online platforms.
A huge component of the community aspect of Twitch is chatting. Streamers and users stay connected through Twitch chat. Many chat right on the platform, but some use platforms such as Discord to connect. There are other chat apps out there as well, such as Chatterino and Chatty. Really, there is something out there for everyone. Today, we’re going to delve into Chatty and what it has to offer.
What is chatty?
Chatty is a free desktop app specifically designed for Twitch. The software is only designed for and compatible with Twitch and doesn’t work with other platforms such as YouTube or Facebook. Chatty brings a load of useful features to the table and brings back the retro IRC client look and feel. IRC — internet relay chat — might be an unfamiliar term for Millennials and Gen Z. IRCs were used to chat back in the early 2000s, you know, before social media. IRCs actually came onto the scene in the late 80s believe it or not. Essentially, IRCs are text-based chat servers. Now, we have texting, social media, apps like Slack and a million other ways to connect. Now that we’ve covered the basics let’s talk about what features Chatty has to offer.
Chatty’s features
According to Chatty, the app has loads of features to benefit not only streamers but viewers and moderators:
Basic features:
- Join several channels in tabs, split views or separate windows
- Channel favorites and history
- Log to chat file, TAB-Completion and Input History
- Flexible message highlighting and ignoring
- Customizable chat colors, font, line spacings and alternating backgrounds
Watching:
- Get notified when channels you follow go live
- Easily open streams in your browser
Streaming:
- Set your stream title, game and tags, and run commercials
- Write current stream uptime to a file and create Stream Marker to assist in making Stream Highlights
- List your 100 most recent follows/subs
- Viewer history graph of your current streaming session
Moderating:
- Click on nick to open customizable User Dialog, showing recent messages and basic account info
- Optional pause-chat-on-hover to avoid misclicks
- AutoMod support to approve/deny filtered messages
- Create Custom Commands and customize Context Menus
Emotes and Badges:
- FrankerFaceZ Emotes and BetterTTV Emotes (No Personal Emotes)
- Emote Dialog with Favorites, Subemotes, Channel-specific emotes
- Emote TAB-Completion using shift-tab (configurable)
- Enter emoji codes like :thinking:, aided by TAB-Completion
Other features:
- Use Chatty in several languages
- SpeedRunsLive Race Viewer
- Global Hotkey support
Source: chatty.github.io
Chatty is a cool software for anyone on Twitch to use, but it is particularly useful for moderators. Moderators can see what is happening in the chat, execute demands, set up highlight words and more. Chatty can also be configured to use a pause feature. Overall, Chatty simplifies things for moderators and allows them to focus on what they need to.
How to get started using Chatty
There are a few steps you need to take to get started on Chatty. Overall, the process is fairly simple.
Download the software
The first step to getting started on Chatty is downloading the software. You can download it at chatty.github.io. There are various downloads available for different OSs. For Windows users, there is a Windows Standalone installer that contains its own version of Java. For other OSs, such as Linux and MacOS, you’ll have to download the JAR-Version, which requires Java 8 JRE or later to be installed on your computer.
Chatty is maintained and updated regularly, so users can install updates as they are released.
Create a login
When connecting to Chatty for the first time, users need to request login data from Twitch, so Chatty can connect to chat. After downloading and installing, go to the connect dialogue, click configure account and then request login data. From there, you just need to follow the instructions. Once you’ve done that, you’re ready to go. You can join multiple channels at once and get notified when the streams you follow go live. Follow Chatty’s guide for assistance on getting started.
Is Chatty worth using?
Chatty offers so many features and customizations that Twitch streamers and users don’t have on Twitch chat. For some, Twitch chat is good as is, but many people enjoy more customization. The software is a big plus for moderators as well. The only thing some may consider a downside is that it needs Java to run. If that is a deal breaker, Chatterino offers a wide range of features and doesn’t require Java to run. Otherwise, we would say it’s definitely worth looking into if you want more out of your Twitch chat.