Houseparty has become a massive hit since the coronavirus lockdown was put in place. There has been a surge in downloads from an average of 130,000 a week in February to more than two million a week last month. Express.co.uk brings you the latest information on how safe the app is and whether someone can hack your account.
What is the Houseparty app?
As a general rule, we suggest all users choose strong passwords when creating online accounts on any platform
Houseparty
Free-to-use app Houseparty is owned by a Fortnite developer and allows users to play in-app games and quizzes via video chat.
Houseparty users can also make video calls with contacts in what has been designed to mimic a real-life house party.
When Houseparty contacts arrive online, a push notification arrives to let others know so a Room can be organised for others to join.
Houseparty Rooms can be locked to limit conversations to people who know each other or can be left open for strangers to join.
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Is Houseparty safe to use?
Numerous Houseparty users have voiced concerns on social media about the enormously-successful video chat app.
This has reportedly allowed hackers to access their Spotify and Netflix accounts.
Users have claimed the smartphone and desktop application enabled the hack – and told everyone to “delete your Houseparty account” as soon as possible.
Houseparty has however, announced it has found no evidence of a hack.
The more likely scenario is people using the same email address and password combination for a number of services have fallen victim to cyber crooks who have stolen their login details and used them to gain access to other online services.
This highlights the importance to always use a different email-password combination for every online account in order to prevent these issues.
Password managers can help people keep track of their online accounts and safeguard themselves against hackers.
Can you control who is added to Houseparty?
Houseparty users have to add each friend on the app before they can chat together.
When signing up to Houseparty, users can connect their Facebook or Snapchat account.
Users do not have to add all their contacts – if they do, they significantly increase the risk of random users entering Houseparty chats.
However, people will receive a notification upon first signing up.
Users can fortunately always deny requests to be friends on Houseparty.
People can also prevent people from going into each conversation by locking a Houseparty Room when everyone welcome to talk has entered.
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How to avoid being spotted on Houseparty:
Whenever users open Houseparty, they are connected with on the app will receive a ping notification.
This can result in numerous people arriving for a conversation and, due to the nature of the app, there is no warning or accept button.
There is, however, a way to avoid being seen this way on Houseparty.
Hold the app icon down on Android or iOS, and a Sneak In option will become visible, which will prevent a notification being sent.
Users can also stop individual people from receiving a notification by ghosting them.
This can be done by selecting a user’s name, selecting the cog icon and switching Ghosting On.
How to delete a Houseparty account:
The process of deleting a Houseparty is actually straightforward Apple iPhones.
To delete a Houseparty account, click on the user icon in the screen’s top left corner and tap the Settings button.
Click through to privacy and tap Delete account in the Houseparty app.
Houseparty users will next be asked whether they are certain they wish to delete their account.
Click yes and enter your password, then select Delete.
There is currently no direct way to delete the Houseparty app on Android.
Users should next email [email protected] to request for their account to be deleted.
Houseparty users should also ask for their personal details, including an email address, profile picture and phone number, to be removed from the app.
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