# VanChat — yr friends crammed in a van!

> yr friends crammed in a van! (iPhone/iPad app by Prosocial Design Corp..)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/vanchat/id6759498628 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Prosocial Design Corp.](https://appshunter.io/developer/6778498720)
- Category: Social Networking
- Price: Free with in-app purchases
- Age rating: 17+
- Requires: iOS 15.0 · 11 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2026-03-10
- Data updated: 2026-09-09
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/vanchat/id6759498628/reviews.md

## What is VanChat?

VanChat is a Canadian-hosted communication platform for friend groups that value trust. Run your own community, create threaded channels, and chat in real time.

REAL-TIME MESSAGING
Send and receive messages instantly with WebSocket-powered delivery. See typing indicators, get mention notifications, and react with emoji — all updating live across every device.

CHANNELS & DIRECT MESSAGES
Organize conversations into public or private channels. Send direct messages to individuals. Jump between channels with instant message loading and full history.

PRIVACY BY DESIGN
No third-party data collection. No ads. No tracking. Messages are managed and moderated by your own community.

Terms of Use (EULA): https://docs.vanchat.ca/eula/
Privacy Policy: https://docs.vanchat.ca/privacy/

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: Free.

**Subscriptions**

| Subscription | Price | Period |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Donation | $4.00 | per month |
| Monthly $10 | $7.00 | per month |
| Monthly $25 | $19.00 | per month |
| Monthly $50 | $40.00 | per month |
| Yearly $5 | $4.00 | per year |
| Yearly $10 | $7.00 | per year |
| Yearly $25 | $19.00 | per year |
| Yearly $50 | $40.00 | per year |

**One-time purchases**

| Purchase | Price | Type |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Donate $25 | $19.00 | one-time |
| Donate $50 | $40.00 | one-time |



## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 1.194.9 — 2026-09-08

- Ended or cancelled events can now be scheduled again on a new date in the same Van — members, channels, and chat history all carry over, so nobody has to be re-invited (RSVPs reset for the new date)
- Channels now recover on their own after a dropped connection instead of getting stuck on an error screen — cached content stays put and refreshes as soon as you're back
- Images load more reliably everywhere: one that fails to appear now retries and refetches instead of leaving a permanent blank square
- Video attachments are now checked for safety before they're shown, with a placeholder while that finishes
- Broad security hardening across sign-in, uploads, and payments, including tighter limits on repeated login attempts and a fix for a privilege issue on specific desktop and mobile platforms

### 1.186.0 — 2026-07-22

- Highway now has a People panel showing everyone in the shared Van — tap a name to open their profile, and the feed itself only shows people from shared Vans, not just DMs
- Invite people from your other Vans directly from the invite flow
- Events can now be canceled or cleaned up after they end, and added to your calendar with one tap
- Event attendee list moved into the People panel for easier browsing
- Sign up for the mailing list right from the invite-only waitlist screen
- Feedback form's "Send Logs" is now an "Attach Logs" toggle
- Fixed Highway feed cards blending into the background and the event header overlapping the top of the screen

### 1.184.0 — 2026-07-10

- The Highway now supports video posts — share a clip up to 50MB with a post and play it back inline in the feed
- Opening an image in a message now opens a gallery: browse all of that message's photos and videos with the arrow keys (or on-screen arrows), with a position counter
- Invite people by email address or phone number, not just username — from a cleaner, streamlined invite dialog
- Fixed a rare issue that could unexpectedly sign you out after an app update
- Fixed a bug that could wrongly show an "Update Required" screen and block access even when your app was already up to date

### 1.180.4 — 2026-07-08

- Fixed a bug that could prevent push notifications from reaching some Android devices

### 1.179.0 — 2026-07-05

- New Font size setting (Default, Large, or Chonky) in Options > Theme scales text across the whole app, and syncs across your devices
- Themes have been refreshed around a cleaner, more cohesive colour pairing, with a new swatch picker that previews each theme before you pick it
- Tapping a notification now reliably opens the right conversation, even when it arrives right as the app is updating
- Push notifications are more dependable on mobile
- Removed hover effects that served no purpose and never showed up for touch users

## Related topics

[dtchat](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/dtchat)

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*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 2026-09-09.*