# Patio - College Communities > Private college community app for student communication and connection. (iPhone/iPad app by Schiff Adams, Inc..) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/patio-college-communities/id1456404446 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [Schiff Adams, Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/1456404355) - Category: Social Networking, Education - Price: Free - Rating: 4.57/5 from 805 App Store ratings · 50 written reviews indexed - Age rating: 12+ - Requires: iOS 13.0 · 33 MB - Languages: English - Released: 2020-08-26 - Data updated: 2026-06-10 - Monetization: free - User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/patio-college-communities/id1456404446/reviews.md ## What is Patio? Pull up a chair and join us on Patio! Patio is the private community for your college: we make it easy for college students and incoming freshmen to chat in a safe and welcoming space :) With Patio, you can: - Create and join group chats with no member limits - Discover all the group chats at your school in one place (no more spreadsheets!) - Post in the community-wide Feed - View detailed profiles of all your classmates & find their socials - Use the new People Search to find new friends with shared interests - Privately DM your friends - Send videos, files, polls, GIFs, and more! - Stay connected wherever you are with our mobile and web app - Meet and chat with students at other colleges now too! ## Key features - Create/join unlimited group chats - Discover all school group chats - Community-wide feed - View classmate profiles and socials - People search for friends - Private direct messaging - Share videos, files, polls, GIFs ## What do users think of Patio? Overall sentiment: positive **Pros** - 👍 Easy to connect with classmates - 💡 Exclusive to college students - 🚀 Convenient group chat organization - 👍 Safe and secure platform - 💡 Ability to create custom groups - 👍 Helpful for college transition **Cons** - 🐛 Issues with account creation - 🔒 Problems with bullying and harassment - 💡 Need for better notification management **Commonly reported bugs** - Trouble processing account information - Unexpected bans and account restrictions **Most requested features** - Option to create organization profiles - Ability to manage notifications more effectively ## Recent user reviews (10 of 50) All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/patio-college-communities/id1456404446/reviews.md ### 5/5 — Connect and Network with Your Classmates! *2022-08-18, version 1.43.0* Patio is an easy way to connect with classmates at your college! All you have to do is sign up using your college email. Then you get imported into a network of chats created for your college. You can make friends, find roommates, discuss classes, or chat about literally anything! It is the best way to stay connected ☺️ ### 1/5 — Problems with Bullying and Harassment on the App *2022-08-04, version 1.41.0* I am so angry and feel humiliated by the way I was treated by the TAMU class of 2026 on Patio. I was honest from the start and made it very clear that I lived in and went to school in Oregon. I told them that I lived in Texas for several years and that I lived in College Station. I even sent pictures of me proving that I was there. I told them that I know people in College Station and that I was planning on moving back. Still, they were being really nasty to me about me living in Oregon and going to school there. They wouldn’t stop even though I tried to disengage MULTIPLE times. I even have screenshots of the conversation and witnesses of what happened. I just don’t know what to do. ### 4/5 — There’s needs to be a way to Manage notifications. *2022-07-07, version 1.41.0* This app is pretty amazing. A forum where up incoming students at the same college is great. It has made many peoples transition from childhood to adult much easier. However, if you’re in multiple chats with hundreds (or thousands) of people, there needs to be a way to manage notifications. Because your phone will always constantly go off. If there was a way to make notifications appear only when you directly replied to and when someone tagged you, then I would give this app 5 stars. ### 5/5 — Perfect for college students *2022-01-13, version 1.32.1* I first joined patio when I was a senior in high school looking to find friends who would be going to college with me. I met SO many people who are my friends even to this day while I am a current college student, one of them is my roommate!! Patio is great for keeping it exclusive to people in the college so no creeps join the chats- plus every student in the patio has access to join whatever group they want so there is no exclusivity. Whereas, with groupme you have to get a link and anyone can kick you out at any point (I actually had a problem with a groupme chat doing that last semester). Patio has done nothing less than facilitate good community building for incoming college freshman and help them find friends in their interests and I am very thankful for that. ### 5/5 — AMAZING *2022-01-08, version 1.32.1* I’m currently admitted to my dream college. To be honest I’m super scared about all the what ifs: making friends, getting a good roommate, and having a friend group. After I found the patio for my college, it changed my life. Everyone was so active and I’ve made a bunch of friends. The plus side of this app is that you can create a bio, a roommate gc, and honestly, it’s so better than GROUPME. GROUPME had a lot of technical issues and we weren’t able to create a bio and show our interests. To add on to it was just confusing and there wasn’t much to do with it. Creating separate group chats all under the same class is so cool! I honestly love patio and it doesn’t get the Recognition it deserves. ### 5/5 — Best app for college group chats! *2022-01-07, version 1.32.1* I love using Patio! It’s a much safer and easier way to connect with students at your college! I have tried similar apps before but there were always complications with bots and hackers, but I’ve never experienced trouble with Patio. 10/10 would recommend!! ### 5/5 — Amazing app!! *2022-01-04, version 1.32.0* Such an amazing app! Easy way to connect with people from my campus and get to know people with the same interests as me! It’s very easy to use. It’s nice creating my own groupchat and having the ability to make it private or public to others on campus! I recommend downloading ### 5/5 — It’s amazing! I do have a suggestion *2021-10-05, version 1.26.0* I absolutely love this app! Easy to use and I love all the numerous group chats. I would like tho if there was an option to create “profiles” for organizations that are on campus. For example instead of having to use our personal profiles to promote an event we can use an organization profile to promote it! ### 1/5 — Won’t let me create an account *2021-07-20, version 1.16.2* I first downloaded Patio in April and had an account and was in my college groupchats. One day, I went on the app and was brought to the “Create an account” page and tried to re-create an account. However, I kept getting the message “We’re having some trouble processing your information” and “An error occurred while creating your account”. I’m unsure why this keeps happening, as I try to redownload the app months later and I still get the same error. ### 1/5 — banned for no reason *2021-07-12, version 1.16.0* The patio app seemed to be appealing at first, but lacks a complete set of morals. I downloaded this app after I got admitted to a school and later joined (I also was an active user on their competitors app btw). I made a friend through patio and we spoke in the gc for a few hours, but before I knew it is as automatically kicked out of the gc (which is fine because I’ve committed to a different school, but I wanted to start a gc on patio) Ambassadors were speaking poorly about me in their chat calling me a troll saying I was promoting their competitor’s app (which I did not once mention), thus kicked me and completely banned my IP from the app. I have dm’d them via insta but they have failed to acknowledge it. I have screen shots and screen recordings of the entire chat since I joined, and not once did I “troll” or mention their competitor. ## Frequently asked questions about Patio ### What is Patio? Patio is a private community app designed for college students and incoming freshmen. It provides a safe and welcoming space to connect with classmates, join group chats, and discover social opportunities within your university. ### What are the main features of Patio? Key features include creating and joining unlimited group chats, discovering all available group chats at your school, posting in a community-wide feed, viewing detailed classmate profiles, searching for friends with shared interests, and privately messaging others with support for various media types. ### Is Patio free to use? Yes, Patio is a free application. There are no costs associated with downloading or using its core features for connecting with your college community. ### Can I use Patio on different devices? Yes, you can stay connected wherever you are as Patio offers both a mobile app and a web app, ensuring accessibility across various devices. ### How can Patio help me meet new people? Patio facilitates meeting new people through its group chat functionality, community feed, and a dedicated People Search feature. This allows you to find classmates with shared interests and discover their social profiles. ## Version history (last 5 releases) ### 1.53.1 — 2023-03-22 Minor fixes and performance improvements. ### 1.53.0 — 2023-03-14 Minor fixes and performance improvements. ### 1.52.0 — 2023-03-06 Minor fixes and performance improvements. ### 1.51.1 — 2023-02-28 Minor fixes and performance improvements. ### 1.51.0 — 2023-02-22 Minor fixes and performance improvements. ## Apps similar to Patio | App | Rating | Price | Category | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [LU Admitted Student Community](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/lu-admitted-student-community/id1559805360) | — | Free | Social Networking | | [EduSocial App](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/edusocial-app/id1582001080) | — | Free | Social Networking | | [Partaker](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/partaker/id1568529820) | 4.8 (19) | Free | Social Networking | | [HUMAPP](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/humapp/id1575301920) | — | Free | Social Networking | | [The Autism Helper](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/the-autism-helper/id1557724340) | 4.9 (19) | Free | Social Networking | | [ISCAE Alumni](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/iscae-alumni/id1575514900) | — | Free | Social Networking | --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-06-10.*